Tepeyac Leadership, Inc. (TLI) announces the upcoming release on October 1, 2022, of its short documentary film, The Hour of the Laity, about the urgent need for lay Catholics to engage society as civic leaders. The 11-minute film will be available on TLI’s YouTube and Facebook accounts.
As part of the organization’s mission to deliver civic leadership development to lay Catholic professionals in the U.S. and beyond, TLI’s upcoming film seeks to create a sense of urgency to challenge the laity to take on leadership roles in the secular world (i.e., board service). TLI’s CEO, Cristofer Pereyra hopes the documentary will reach the hearts and minds of Catholic professionals around the world “who have been given the gifts, talents, and resources to influence society as civic leaders.” Pereyra has stated, “We live in a cynical, corrupt, and confused world. The Church continues to bring light into it, but the world’s hostility against the Gospel requires that lay Catholic leaders work to create a more fertile ground through civic leadership.”
Who’s in the film?
One of the ecclesiastical advisors to TLI, the Bishop Emeritus of Phoenix as well as TLI’s founder, the Most Reverend Thomas Olmsted, is a primary protagonist of the documentary. The other priest in the film is the vicar of Opus Dei in California, Fr. Luke Mata. Also telling the story is entrepreneur, podcast-host, and influential Catholic leader, Deacon Charlie Echeverry. A longer list of lay protagonists is led by the authors of the ground-breaking book Catholic Leadership for Civil Society, Cristofer Pereyra and Erin Monnin.
Commentary from the Clergy
About Pereyra’s work through TLI, the Most Reverend José Gomez, Archbishop of Los Angeles, and ecclesiastical advisor to TLI, has said, “As the founder of Tepeyac Leadership Initiative, Pereyra has a deep concern for the formation of Catholic leaders who can bring the Church’s principles and values to bear on their work in public life and in their professions.”
The Most Reverend Thomas Olmsted, Bishop Emeritus of Phoenix has said, “The true call of the laity, the authentic vocation of lay Catholic men and women, is to be ambassadors of Christ in the world, living among everyone else in secular society, while striving for holiness, sanctifying the world, and witnessing to the Gospel wherever they go. This is the aim of TLI.”
The Hour of the Laity shows that lay Catholic leadership is not meant to be lived out within the confines of the Catholic community exclusively, but instead serve as a guiding force which illuminates every aspect of secular society with the Truth of the Gospel. The documentary explains why lay Catholic professionals have a unique responsibility and privileged opportunity to influence the world for Christ. It’s not an optional prerogative, but their duty as baptized children of God. The film goes on to explain that chance and coincidence are not compatible with the Catholic Faith. If God has blessed some lay Catholics with a professional career, then their career must obligatorily become those Catholics’ field of mission. Ultimately, the documentary explores specific fields and concrete ways to carry out Catholic leadership for civil society.
The Hour of the Laity will be available to the public on October 1, 2022, on YouTube and Facebook .
The documentary will be available for private media review on September 20, 2022. Please submit your request for the private link to media@tepeyacleadership.org
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