Table of Contents
Dear TLI family,
As I write these words, I am reflecting on the remarkable days we have just experienced across Europe. From Lisboa to Fatima and Milan to Rome, from meaningful conversations during the Global State of Lay Catholic Leadership gathering, I witnessed once again that the world is hungry for principled, courageous, faith-filled leadership.
The headlines remind us of this reality every day.
Across nations, we continue to see geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty, cultural fragmentation, declining trust in institutions, and growing loneliness despite unprecedented technological connectivity. The challenges differ from country to country, but the underlying question remains the same: who will lead?
Too often, the conversation focuses on structures, systems, policies, or technologies. While these matter, history teaches us that the future is ultimately shaped by people. More specifically, it is shaped by leaders. Men and women whose character guides their decisions. Men and women who understand that leadership is fundamentally about service and responsibility.
That conviction sits at the heart of the mission of Tepeyac Leadership.
Our recent activities in Europe strengthened my confidence that this mission is not only relevant but urgently needed. Whether speaking with business leaders, educators, entrepreneurs, professionals, clergy, or young adults, the same desire surfaced repeatedly. People are searching for leadership that is rooted in truth, guided by virtue, and directed toward the common good.
This month, we celebrate another important milestone.
On June 27, the 2026 cohort of Tepeyac Leadership will graduate from our flagship program. They represent the ninth generation of Tepeyac Leaders. Each participant has spent the past 18 weeks growing not only in leadership skills, but also in self-awareness, purpose, and commitment to service.
Most importantly, each graduate will present a leadership commitment.
I have always considered this one of the most powerful moments in the entire program. Leadership commitments transform ideas into action. They move leadership from theory to practice. They challenge each participant to identify a concrete way they will serve their community, profession, parish, family, or society.
The world does not change because people attend a program. The world changes when people accept responsibility for their corner of it. They roll up their sleeves and serve.
That's what these commitments represent.
Some of them may appear modest. Others may be more ambitious. Yet all of them share something essential. They are rooted in the conviction that every person has both the ability and the responsibility to contribute to the flourishing of humanity and their own.
In a culture that often encourages spectatorship, Tepeyac Leadership forms protagonists.
As we prepare to welcome these new graduates into the growing family of Tepeyac Leaders around the world, I invite each of us to revisit our own commitments. Whether you graduated one year ago or many years ago, the call remains the same.
How are we leading today?
How are we serving those entrusted to our care?
How are we helping build a truly human society?
The challenges facing our world are real. The headlines can sometimes feel overwhelming. Yet our response must never be discouragement. Our response must be leadership.
Leadership in service of others.
The work before us is significant, but so is the opportunity. Every community needs leaders. Every profession needs leaders. Every family needs leaders. Every generation needs leaders.
Thank you for helping advance this mission. Thank you for your example. Thank you for the countless ways you continue to live out your leadership commitments.
Together, we are planting seeds whose full fruit we may never see. Yet with confidence, we continue the work, trusting that faithful leadership, lived one person at a time, can help renew our institutions, strengthen our communities, and bring hope to a world searching for direction.
Sincerely yours in Christ and Our Lady of Guadalupe,
P.S. Discover the place where Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to St. Juan Diego. See her image. And join Archbishop José Gómez, Bishop Thomas Olmsted and Bishop Timothy Freyer for The Hour of the Laity 2026 in Mexico City.
