CAPP-Canada's Lumen Gentium Forum celebrates its inaugural Leo XIII Dinner, while applications open for the 2026 cohort of Fellows

---

CAPP-Canada's Lumen Gentium Forum has had an exciting start in 2026, as we hosted our inaugural Leo XIII Dinner and launched recruitment for our next cohort of Lumen Gentium Fellows.

The Lumen Gentium Forum brings together young Catholic lay leaders and professionals from across industries for nine months of intensive formation in Catholic social teaching and virtuous leadership principles. Fellows read papal encyclicals and other magisterial documents on key themes of Catholic social doctrine, learning how these principles concretely apply to their Christian apostolate in their careers, community and civic engagement, and family life. The aim is to form lay apostles with hearts on fire for animating our culture with Gospel values, most especially through their professional work.

Now in its second year, the Lumen Gentium Forum would simply not be possible without the collaboration and partnership of a growing number of friends: our alumni, current Fellows, financial and spiritual patrons, as well as our many presenters and institutional partners. To bring together this incredible community, we launched the Leo XIII Dinner this past February: a new annual gathering of friends of the Lumen Gentium Forum, taking place at a regular monthly meeting of the fellowship, where guests enjoy a small taste of the Forum's formation experience. In addition to enjoying the fellowship of each other's company and a beautiful home-cooked meal from our friends at the Newman Centre at University of Toronto, we were thrilled to welcome Dr. Cory Labrecque: a professor at Laval University, president of the Canadian Bioethics Society, and a Vatican advisor on issues of bioethics and end-of-life issues. This was Dr. Labrecque's second time presenting in our program. Once again, he offered a passionate and moving presentation on Catholic bioethics on end-of-life and the dark realities of legalized euthanasia in Canada. Despite the difficult topic, the presentation was defined by hope, as Dr. Labrecque offered our listeners concrete ways that we as Christians might accompany those who are dying, and bring fresh perspective to public conversations about the meaning of suffering and what it means to die well.

Our Leo XIII Dinner preceded our announcement that we are now accepting applications for the 2026 cohort of the Lumen Gentium Forum. Interested applicants can learn more on the Lumen Gentium Forum website, and can apply directly through the form on this page. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and will be closed once we have confirmed a full cohort of Fellows. Please apply early for the best opportunity to participate! And please share this with any eligible candidates in your life between the ages of 25 and 40.

With nearly 40 Fellows and alumni having experienced the program, we remain amazed at some of the extraordinary young leaders which have become part of the Forum community. Many of them are leaders of or are in the process of launching new apostolic initiatives, as part of their personal missions discerned and strengthened through their time with the Lumen Gentium Forum. One such young leader is Eden O'Brien, who recently announced the public launch of her new apostolic project: Theopolis. Aimed at the revival of faith and culture in Ontario, Theopolis works to empower a rising generation of Catholic artists while creating space for encounter between the sacred and the secular. The wide-ranging project features a growing artist fraternity, as well as events and public artistic exhibitions. Theopolis is launching at the beginning of May with a new public exhibition and launch event in Toronto. You can buy tickets here. Congratulations, Eden and thank you for your "yes" to God's calling in your life! We are so excited to watch this new apostolate bear fruit for the Church and for our culture.

As mentioned in previous updates, we are exploring opportunities to bring the Lumen Gentium Forum to other Canadian cities. If you would be interested in launching a local chapter of Lumen in your area, you can fill out the form at the bottom of this same link.

In your charity, please pray for our Fellows and for the Lumen Gentium Forum: that we might transform our culture and share the Good News of Christ with others through our missions as lay people, and that the Forum will continue to bear fruit in shaping a new generation of young Catholic leaders.