“A little slice of heaven on earth.” This is how Anna Kettele describes her experience at Catholic Worldview Fellowship, but she insists that words could never do it justice.
“Everything I could say would fall so short to the actual experience, and I can’t put into words how incredible the program is.”
Catholic Worldview Fellowship is a month-long summer fellowship program in Germany and Italy designed to form, connect, and empower Catholic college students who want to evangelize culture and seek to contribute to the Church’s effort to spread the Gospel to all corners of society. With its unique and authentically Catholic approach to history, philosophy, leadership, and theology, the program aims to form students to contemplate culture, the world, and reality from the standpoint of faith and in light of the Catholic worldview.
The students’ daily schedule revolves around the four pillars of the fellowship: academic excellence, leadership, cultural outings, and spiritual foundation. Lectures are given by experts in the fields of history, religion, philosophy, and ethics, and students will receive three academic credits through the accreditation of Benedictine College. Leadership is fostered through seminars, workshops, and one-on-one coaching sessions through which students learn to identify their strengths and employ these to evangelize and transform culture. Cultural outings in Germany, where the students spend the first three weeks of the program, guide them in exploring historical sites like Aachen, Cologne, Trier, and Xanten, while the final week of the program is spent in Italy, visiting the major landmarks, sites, and basilicas in and around Rome, like the Vatican museums and gardens, the Colosseum and Roman Forum, St. Peter’s Basilica, the catacombs, and the Trevi Fountain. Spiritual formation includes Mass and daily communal prayer and adoration, as well as ongoing spiritual accompaniment by Legionary priests and Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi.
Anna was a sophomore at Benedictine College when she first heard of the fellowship program from Fr. Ryan Richardson, LC, who serves as the college chaplain. Anna attended the program in the summer of 2022, after a difficult school year during which she struggled to live her faith fully and integrate it into all the aspects of her life. “Before the program, my faith life had been very compartmentalized, and it was really hard for me to show my faith, but when I went on the program where we integrated our spiritual life into everything we were doing, it became the center of my life,” says Anna. “Through the community, whether we were together in the chapel or in the classroom, playing music and dancing, or hanging out and having meals, the faith become fully alive for me, and I realized that I can live my faith in an attractive and authentic way.”
The following fall, when Anna returned to Benedictine College for her junior year, she felt empowered and motivated to bring her faith into all areas of her life. As captain of the cheer team, she began starting practices in prayer and even implemented a bible study for her team members. Her summer at Catholic Worldview Fellowship also inspired her to became more active in Regnum Christi, and Anna began not only attending regular encounters, but hosting them in her home. Besides Fr. Ryan, who serves as the Executive Director of Catholic Worldview Fellowship, the program leadership team is made up of a number of Legionary priests, like Fr. John Bartunek, Fr. Brett Taira, Fr. Michael Baggot, and Fr. John Klein, as well as Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi, Mary Schwarz and Tammy Grady. “There is such a fullness of the Regnum Christi charism at Catholic Worldview Fellowship, with Legionary priests, consecrated women, and lay RC members all working together toward this common goal of building the kingdom and building up these students to be leaders and formators. When the whole RC spiritual family works together and the fullness of the charism is present, it’s very powerful and it bears fruit.”
In the summer of 2023, Anna returned to Catholic Worldview Fellowship as staff. Serving as assistant logistics coordinator, Anna had the opportunity to take care of the small details that had meant so much to her in her previous year as a student, anticipating the needs of the fellows and taking care of the behind-the-scenes set up, all in service of the students. And just this past summer, Anna served as assistant to the program director. “Both years working with Catholic World Fellowship have been such a gift, to be able to see how anointed the program is, to witness the depth and love that the Lord has for each and every single one of our students and staff, to get to see their growth over just one month, and to then accompany them as they go home and bring this back into the world around them,” says Anna. “You enter the program as strangers, and within the first week, you’re family. It’s really beautiful to be able to develop these friendships with the staff and students every year, to get to experience and encounter Christ through one another.”
And this fall, Anna takes on a new role with Catholic Worldview Fellowship as marketing and communications coordinator, where she will be accompanying potential fellows as they go through the application process and discern whether the summer program is right for them. But for Anna, this new position is less of a job than it is a mission to which she has been called, and an opportunity to give back some of what she has received in a tangible way. “I had more growth on that one month program than I’d ever had in my life,” says Anna. “You really can’t leave unchanged, because it’s not just a study abroad course, it really is forming you how to be a leader, how to think, how to pray, how to be in community with one another, how to integrate your faith into everything you’re doing, and how to be a Catholic in a way where you can be truly and fully alive. Catholic Worldview Fellowship is like heaven on earth, and I can’t put into words the divine grace that I received through this program that continues to blossom and flourish in my life today.”
The 2025 Fellowship Experience will be held June 27 – July 24, and registration is open to students currently enrolled in undergraduate studies, including graduating seniors. Fellows will spend the first three weeks of the program in Germany, staying at Schloss Wissen, a 14th century castle on the banks of the Niers River. The last week of the fellowship takes place in Italy, where students stay at Casa Maria Immacolata, a retreat house run by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, located in the beautiful neighbourhood of Prati in Rome.
To find out more about Catholic Worldview Fellowship, visit their website at catholicworldview.com or email [email protected] for more information, or start your application here!
