Rev. Robert A. Sirico received his Master of Divinity degree from the Catholic
University of America, following undergraduate study at the University
of Southern California and the University
of London. During his studies and early ministry, he experienced a growing
concern over the lack of training religious studies students receive in fundamental
economic principles, leaving them poorly equipped to understand and address
today's social problems. As a result of these concerns, Fr. Sirico co-founded
the Acton Institute with Kris Alan Mauren
in 1990.
As president of the Acton Institute, Fr. Sirico lectures at colleges, universities,
and business organizations throughout the U.S. and abroad. His writings on religious,
political, economic, and social matters are published in a variety of journals,
including: the New York Times,
the Wall Street Journal,
Forbes, the London Financial
Times, the Washington Times,
the Detroit News, and National
Review. Fr. Sirico is often called upon by members of the broadcast
media for statements regarding economics, civil rights, and issues of religious
concern, and has provided commentary for CNN,
ABC, the BBC,
NPR, and CBS'
60 Minutes, among others.
In April of 1999, Fr. Sirico was awarded an honorary doctorate in Christian
Ethics from the Franciscan University of
Steubenville, and in May of 2001, Universidad Francisco Marroquin awarded him an honorary doctorate in Social Sciences. He is a member of the prestigious Mont
Pèlerin Society, the American
Academy of Religion, and the Philadelphia
Society, and is on the Board of Advisors of the Civic Institute in Prague.
Father Sirico also served on the Michigan Civil Rights Commission from 1994
to 1998. He is also currently serving on the pastoral staff of Sacred Heart of Jesus parish in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Fr. Sirico's pastoral ministry has included a chaplaincy to AIDS patients
at the National Institute of Health and the
recent founding of a new community, St. Philip Neri House in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Posts by Rev. Robert Sirico
September 10, 2021
It feels strange to type that it’s been 20 years since 9/11. What happened 20 years ago forced us all to reckon with the expansive scope and seemingly endless depth of evil.
Continue Reading...
May 07, 2021
In his first address to a joint session of Congress, President Biden offered a renewed vision of America, claiming a revitalizing economy, a growing distribution of vaccinations, and efforts to end injustice against race and gender identity.
Continue Reading...
June 23, 2020
Grand Rapids, my home for the last 30 years, a tranquil and polite place, has recently experienced demonstrations and violence like other American cities. A lot of confusion and pain abound.
Continue Reading...
December 25, 2019
All of life is God’s gracious gift. This graciousness applies not only to ourselves and our neighbors, each of whom is made in His image and likeness, but applies as well to the whole of creation which was entrusted to the human family’s care and cultivation (Gen.
Continue Reading...
May 13, 2019
Last month I met with a wonderful family putting Acton Institute resources to good use in the Golden State. Glenn Ballard, the proud father and coach of Katherine (14) and Eliyah Ballard (13), presented me with a case which his girls have been running in their homeschool debate league.
Continue Reading...
April 24, 2019
The first time I met Fr. James Schall it was around 1984 when I was a seminarian at the Catholic University of America in search of a spiritual director. We met and although Fr.
Continue Reading...
February 21, 2019
Having visited Nicaragua just prior to and immediately following the elections which initially ousted the Sandinistas from power in 1990, I was struck by the news this week from Rome.
Evidently sometime in the last few weeks, when exactly remains unclear, Pope Francis lifted the canonical penalties imposed by Pope St.
Continue Reading...
February 11, 2019
At the end of January I had the pleasure to speak with my friend of many years Ricardo Ball about the ongoing crisis in Venezuela. The conversation was livestreamed from the Acton Institute allowing an international audience to listen in as we discussed recent developments from the streets of Caracas.
Continue Reading...
January 25, 2019
The sinister and irreparable nature of gossip is memorably illustrated in the penance St. Philip Neri once gave to a woman who had confessed it to him. He told her to walk through the streets of Rome plucking a chicken.
Continue Reading...
January 16, 2019
Decades ago, when I was first ordained a priest, I shared a prejudice that many people hold: I thought homeschooling families were odd. I believed schooling children at home deprived such children of opportunities to be with other children causing them to be less able to communicate with others, socially awkward and reclusive and narrow in their experience and understanding of the world that they would one day have to grow up in and navigate.
Continue Reading...