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Articles by Mark Pattison
Mark Pattison to Keynote TEDx Dallas, Debuting New Executive Framework Following Record-Breaking Sports Illustrated Turnaround Original
DALLAS, TX / ACCESS Newswire / May 9, 2026 / Mark Pattison, the former NFL wide receiver, Emmy Award winner, and the first NFL player in history to scale the Seven Summits, has officially announced he will headline the upcoming TEDx Dallas event. During his keynote, Pattison will debut a new executive leadership framework derived from his historic turnaround of Sports Illustrated, where he led the digital brand from a #17 ranking to #1 in the marketplace.
Learning while leading, McKnight brings flexibility to Kansas City Archdiocese
9 hours ago A new stadium battle is brewing on both sides of the state line as Kansas and Missouri pitch competing proposals to keep the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals in the metro. Kansas is offering a plan that could cover up to 70% of stadium project costs using STAR bonds, a financing mechanism that lets future tax revenues pay off public debt.
Learning while leading, McKnight brings flexibility to Kansas City Archdiocese
Bishop Shawn McKnight of Jefferson City, Missouri, in September 2024. McKnight is now archbishop-elect for the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas. (OSV News/ The Catholic Missourian/Jay Nies) Last fall, Bishop Shawn McKnight of Jefferson City, Missouri, faced a backlash after he decreed that a dozen hymns could no longer be used at churches in his diocese.
Faith leaders respond to anxiety, fear of fired federal employees
Faith leaders are raising their voices in both protest and prayer over the thousands of federal government employees who have been fired or put on leave since President Donald Trump took office.
America's well-being is not feeling too well
It’s clear that America is in the process of reassessing, and probably revolutionizing, its public health policy. That’s the expectation after the confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. He brings a famously jaundiced eye to the government’s cozy relationship with pharmaceutical companies, to the politics of medical research, and — most notoriously — to vaccine schedules.
Pope no longer on mechanical ventilation after respiratory crises
The morning after suffering two acute episodes of respiratory crisis, Pope Francis no longer needed oxygen through a breathing mask, the Vatican said. The crises March 3 led doctors to again put the pope on "noninvasive mechanical ventilation" -- a treatment that delivers air with added oxygen through a tightly fitted face mask and using positive pressure to assist breathing.
Pope's spirit 'remains vigorous,' nuncio tells faithful at basilica Mass, rosary for ailing pontiff
WASHINGTON (OSV News) — As worshippers entered the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington for the noon Mass March 2, they saw at the base of the sanctuary a large portrait of a bespectacled, smiling Pope Francis, with a vase in front of the portrait bearing gold and white flowers — the colors of the Vatican flag. The pope’s health was the prime focus of the Mass, celebrated by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the Vatican nuncio to the United States.
Missouri bishop backtracks on hymn ban, opens dialogue on liturgical music
Maybe "All Are Welcome" after all. Less than a week after it had taken effect, Bishop W. Shawn McKnight of Jefferson City, Missouri, rescinded his decree that blacklisted a dozen liturgical hymns from use in the diocese, the most popular of them being "All Are Welcome" by Marty Haugen, the diocese told the National Catholic Reporter Nov. 6. In its place, McKnight issued a new decree calling for a consultative process in the selection of liturgical music for the central Missouri diocese.
Missouri Catholic diocese issues blacklist of hymns
For generations, Catholics had to navigate their way around the Index of Forbidden Books. Now, some Catholics will have to do the same with the Index of Forbidden Music, Liturgical Division. Bishop W. Shawn McKnight of Jefferson City decreed Oct. 28 that a dozen hymns no longer be used at churches in his mid-Missouri diocese.
U.S. Presidential Election 2024: Latinos reflect on key issues
To find the common good to help them vote in the upcoming U.S. election, one may want to start by looking at the Latino voter. According to figures released from the 2020 U.S. Census, half of all first-time voters will be Latinos. "In Rome, religious are meeting to talk about listening, walking together in discernment,” said Aleja Hertzler-McCain, a reporter for Religion News Service.
Capital punishment numbers in the U.S. dwindling, yet state-sponsored killing continues
In politics, business, and other areas of public life, optics are a significant concern. Case in point: Missouri’s execution of Marcellus Williams on September 26, despite pleas for clemency from civil society advocates – including the prosecutor from Williams’ murder trial – fell on deaf ears.
Spiritual retreats: a battery recharge for the soul
Most of us can think of retreats we may have been to in past years. The secular world has certainly taken the hint, as companies dictate going on staff retreats, sometimes calling them “advances.” The first retreat I remember was in high school, where the drama teacher assembled a retreat to ramp up the quality of a play we were rehearsing.
St. Louis Catholic high school students combine academics with learning a trade
In another time, if there were a reference to "vocational education" at the secondary school level in U.S. Catholicism, it would likely be about a high school seminary. But today, some Catholic high schools are acknowledging that college may not be the ultimate path for all of their students and are teaching them skills and trades to help them find jobs right after they earn their diplomas. One such school is St. Mary's South Side Catholic High School, an all-boys high school in St. Louis.
House committee accuses socially responsible investor groups of breaking antitrust law
After all those stock market upheavals of Aug. 5, not to mention that day's federal court ruling that Google violated antitrust law, now six Catholic investment funds are dealing with their own kind of upheaval.
US bishops announce staff cuts targeting anti-poverty program
The U.S. bishops met in executive session in June during their annual spring meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, to discuss the future - and possibly the fate - of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the bishops’ longstanding anti-poverty program. Based on what leaked out from that session, the bishops gave enthusiastic support to the campaign, known colloquially as CCHD, which is largely funded by a national collection typically taken up the weekend before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.
Lessons from the Summit: How Climbing Everest Transformed My Perspective on Life
Alright, folks, let’s dive in. On May 23, 2021, I found myself in the pitch dark, half-blind, facing the steepest part of Mount Everest. The journey was gruelling, but the lessons I learned from reaching the summit were transformative. Breaking Down Big Goals One of the most critical lessons from Everest was the power of breaking down big goals into manageable tasks. Standing at 26,500 feet in the Death Zone, every step felt impossible. I had to focus on taking just ten more steps.
How today’s journalists live the example set by their mentor
The journalism business has suffered significant setbacks the past generation, with declining revenue due to an outdated economic model, chain purchases, mass layoffs and closures of newspapers and magazines, contentious audiences, and a loss of trust in journalists themselves. Still, the profession, practice and craft of journalism soldiers on, as evidenced by some of today’s journalists, some of whom worked or studied under David Carr, the noted New York Times media critic who died in 2015.
United States: Civil rights may have been gained, but equality is not yet won
The Civil Rights Act of 1964, the 60th anniversary of which is July 2, has long been regarded as a landmark piece of legislation. But it has not been the panacea many then thought it would be. The act banned discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. It also barred racial segregation in schools and public accommodations, employment discrimination, and unequal application of voter registration requirements.
Child labor on the rise in the United States
Read the fine print on that box of corn flakes or that bag of chips. Does it say “Manufactured by,” or does it say “Distributed by”? If it says “Manufactured,” then the company whose name and logo is on the front of the package actually made the food inside. But if it says “Distributed,” then the food company signed a contract with, and paid, another firm to manufacture the food. And that opens the possibility for abuse of workers – including the use of minors in dangerous jobs. Scandalized?
Christian nationalism in the US? It had its start in Switzerland!
You may wonder how the “Christian nationalist” movement got its start. Not with the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection inside the Capitol building. Not with any of Donald Trump’s campaigns for the presidency. Not even with the “Tea Party” movement of about 15 years ago. Think further back. Way back.
US Latinos feel effects of, care more about climate change
Mark Hugo Lopez, Pew’s director of race and ethnicity research, made the observations during a May 22 forum in Washington for young Latino leaders, “Climate Change, Environmental Justice, and Latino Priorities: Hearing the Cry of the Earth and the Cry of the Poor.” The forum was held in conjunction with the ninth anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment, Laudato si’. Lopez said 61% of U.S. Latinos said Congress and the president should address climate change.
Americans practice Catholic social teaching with immigrants in U.S. heartland
It is one thing to understand Catholic social teaching, often described as the church’s best-kept secret. It is another thing to put it into practice. But that is what some Catholics in the heartland state of Iowa are doing with the state’s growing number of Latino immigrants, many of whom were born in Mexico. There are some tall hurdles. One is that many of the immigrants are scattered throughout Iowa’s rural communities.
Baltimore Archdiocese's radical plan to redefine its church presence
In energy circles, people wonder if the world has reached the point of “peak oil,” where more oil has been extracted from the earth than what remains, and how to prepare for such a future. In the United States Church, there is a similar dynamic, but the conversation turns to churches in the diocese’s urban core. Have we reached “peak parish”? The most recent example is the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Maryland, the oldest Catholic diocese in the United States.
FBI memo examined activities of far-right radical Catholics ahead of 2024 election
In January of last year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued an 11-page memo outlining details of an investigation into what it called “radical traditionalist Catholic,” or RTC, elements within U.S. society. Then the memo leaked. Republicans in Congress used the leak to accuse the Biden administration of persecuting Catholics and conservatives solely because of their beliefs. The memo was quickly “withdrawn from FBI systems,” said an April 18 statement from the FBI.
Young voters have a daunting task ahead of them in 2024
America’s youngest voters, those ages 18-34 -- the last of the millennials and the heart of Generation Z -- have more power than they suspect, according to one panelist speaking at a forum at St. Matthew Cathedral in Washington, D.C. The event was organized earlier this month. “They’re going to be one-fifth of the eligible voting bloc.
United States: Groups help erase student debt so candidates can pursue religious vocations
It’s a particularly American problem. State governments, responsible for providing financial support for public colleges and universities, have cut back that support for decades. As a result, tuition rises, and the burden is on the student to pay the costs of college. That debt rises should a student pursue a master’s degree or a doctorate. Should the student go to a private university, such as a Catholic college, tuition is even higher.
US setting up temporary port for Gaza humanitarian aid
By Mark Pattison A long-standing Israeli naval blockade has kept most aid from reaching Gaza. Humanitarian efforts to bring food to Palestinian civilians has been stymied. Two of the most notable events was February’s tragedy when more than one hundred Palestinians died at a food distribution site – some by Israeli Defense Force bullets, others crushed to death in the stampede to escape the gunfire.
Rescue crews search for survivors after ship destroys bridge in Baltimore
By Mark Pattison Rescue crews are still looking for people who may have fallen into a river in Baltimore, Maryland, after a ship in the Patapsco River hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed. The incident happened Tuesday morning just before 1:30 a.m. local time, 6:30am in Rome. The bridge, built in 1977, spans about 8,500 feet, or nearly two kilometers. It serves as a critical artery for vehicle traffic in and around the Port of Baltimore, one of the busiest ports in the United States.
At start of annual 40 Hours Devotional Prayer, Cardinal Gregory says ‘we lack for no good reason to fall on our knees before’ the Eucharist
Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory noted that “more and more people are seeking opportunities for perpetual adoration of the exposed Eucharist.” And in his Mass homily March 7 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception starting its annual 40 Hours Devotional Prayer, he said, “I suspect that the reasons may be legion.” “Tradition reveals that Catholics have increased our Eucharistic devotional practices during times of crises or as an expression of remorse for sin,”...
On the Church calendar, it really can be a movable feast
If you’re leafing through the 2024 calendar you got at your parish, you may be wondering what’s happened to Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day. There are different reasons for their departure this year, but the same overarching answer behind each reason: a hierarchy of feasts and seasons that means that some feasts take precedence over others. Let’s start with St. Patrick’s Day. It’s being displaced by the Fifth Sunday of Lent.
At Jan. 1 Mass, Cardinal Gregory links Haitian independence, Emancipation Proclamation
On the Jan. 1 celebration of Haiti’s Independence Day, Cardinal Wilton Gregory linked that landmark event – which created the first Black nation in the Western Hemisphere – with the Emancipation Proclamation issued on New Year’s Day in 1863 that declared the freedom of enslaved Blacks in the breakaway Southern states.
Cardinal Gregory, at St. Francis Xavier Parish centennial, says Advent is all about ‘waiting for something dramatic to occur’
Cardinal Wilton Gregory, at a Dec. 3 Mass at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Washington, D.C., marking the First Sunday of Advent that also kicked off the parish’s centennial celebration, suggested that many people are looking for a substitute for Advent. “The shopping season drives people to do some bizarre things,” he said in his homily at the Southeast Washington parish.
Cardinal Gregory lauds Tolton, audience lauds ‘Tolton’
You can take the cardinal out of Chicago, but you can’t take the Chicago out of the cardinal. Cardinal Wilton Gregory, a native Chicagoan, lauded the memory of Venerable Augustus Tolton, the first African American priest in the United States, in remarks made prior to a Nov. 20 performance of “Tolton: From Slave to Priest,” in an auditorium on the campus of the Catholic University of America in Northeast Washington. “Follow not the known path.
Actor says he was ‘destined’ to play Father Tolton, first recognized U.S. Black priest
Jim Coleman had had a decent career in television and movies. Five years ago, he was figuring on retiring and acting in the occasional commercial – if it didn’t interfere too much with his golfing. Lo and behold, but Coleman was asked by a friend to audition for the role of Venerable Father Augustus Tolton -- the first recognized Black U.S. Catholic priest who is now being considered for sainthood -- for a stage show about Tolton’s life and times.
Actor says he was ‘destined’ to play Tolton, first U.S. Black priest
Jim Coleman had had a decent career in television and movies. Five years ago, he was figuring on retiring and acting in the occasional commercial – if it didn’t interfere too much with his golfing. Lo and behold, but Coleman was asked by a friend to audition for the role of Father Augustus Tolton, the first Black U.S. Catholic priest, for a stage show about Tolton’s life and times. Except that Coleman had never performed live theater.
Today’s young people need mentors, cardinal emphasizes at Black Catholic History Month Mass
Youth today, especially Black youth, “desperately need” the guidance and living example of solid role models, Cardinal Wilton Gregory said in a Nov. 4 homily at Our Lady Queen of Peace Church in Southeast Washington at a Mass commemorating Black Catholic History Month. “I am not speaking of another long list of sports figures, movie, or recording artists,” Cardinal Gregory said.
Women from Washington area do their part to stem human trafficking
At the Alliance to End Human Trafficking’s Sept. 28-30 conference in Chicago, three women with ties to the Washington area did their part in helping educate and inform the 100-plus participants about how they can continue in the struggle to eradicate a practice that ensnares an estimated 50 million people day in and day out.
Rain no threat to crowds coming to see Padre Pio relics at Waldorf church
The threat (and reality) of rain did not deter the numbers of faithful who kept coming in from morning to night to venerate the relics of Padre Pio – St. Pio of Pietrelcina – at Our Lady Help of Christians Church in Waldorf, Maryland. And, for their trouble, they might have spied a rainbow from inside their cars on the Capital Beltway. The relics visited Our Lady Help of Christians on Oct.
Young adults discuss living faithful lives in challenging times
Four accomplished young adult Christians freely discussed how their faith has helped them amid trying times in their lives and challenging times in their country during a Sept. 19 forum at Georgetown University.
Catholic young adults discuss living faithful lives in challenging times
Four accomplished young Catholics freely discussed how their faith has helped them amid trying times in their lives and challenging times in their country during a Sept. 19 forum at Georgetown University.
Labor Day Mass at St. Camillus Church honors, celebrates workers
This year’s Labor Day Mass Aug. 30 at St. Camillus Church in Silver Spring, Maryland unlike most liturgies, was sprinkled throughout with both celebrations and homilizing. After receiving three unsatisfactorily muted replies to his “Good afternoon” greeting following the processional hymn “All Are Welcome,” St. Camillus pastor Father Brian Jordan, a Franciscan, said even more loudly, “This is not a wake.
Speakers at Georgetown forum say Church must not be silent concerning racial justice
Sixty years to the day after the original March on Washington, panelists at a Georgetown University forum on the march’s effects and legacy said the Catholic Church and its leaders have muted their voices on racial justice.
African National Eucharistic Congress: ‘Have courage to be African in a different culture’
WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The African National Eucharistic Congress allows Africa-born Catholics in the diaspora to do something that would have been nearly impossible to do in their homelands: to meet fellow African Catholics and learn about their cultures while growing in love of God. Some of the estimated 500 participants in the congress – which met in Washington, D.C. July 21-23 at The Catholic University of America – shared the stories of what brought them together to celebrate their faith.
Eucharistic Congress a way for African Catholics to bridge continents, cultures
WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The African National Eucharistic Congress allows Africa-born Catholics in the diaspora to do something that would have been nearly impossible to do in their homelands: to meet fellow African Catholics and learn about their cultures while growing in love of God. Some of the estimated 500 participants in the congress – which met in Washington July 21-23 at The Catholic University of America – shared the stories of what brought them together to celebrate their faith.
Congreso Eucarístico: puente entre continentes y culturas para las naciones africanas
El Congreso Nacional Eucarístico Africano permite a los católicos nacidos en África en la diáspora hacer algo que habría sido casi imposible en sus países de origen: conocer a sus compañeros católicos africanos y aprender sobre sus culturas mientras crecen en el amor del Señor.
African Eucharistic Congress delegates encouraged to return home ready to go on a mission
The closing Mass of the fourth African National Eucharistic Congress on July 23 sent an estimated 600-plus participants home equipped with courage, reverence for the Eucharist, and a sense of mission.
Eucharistic Congress a way for African nations to bridge continents, cultures
The African National Eucharistic Congress allows Africa-born Catholics in the diaspora to do something that would have been nearly impossible to do in their homelands: to meet their fellow African Catholics and learn about their cultures while growing in the Lord's love. Some of the estimated 500 participants in the congress – which met in Washington on July 21-23, 2023 at The Catholic University of America –shared the stories of what brought them together to celebrate their faith.
Eucharistic Congress a way for African Catholics to bridge continents, cultures
The African National Eucharistic Congress allows Africa-born Catholics in the diaspora to do something that would have been nearly impossible to do in their homelands: to meet their fellow African Catholics and learn about their cultures while growing in the Lord's love. Some of the estimated 500 participants in the congress – which met in Washington on July 21-23, 2023 at The Catholic University of America –shared the stories of what brought them together to celebrate their faith.
African Catholics make a joyful noise unto the Lord at opening Mass
If there was ever a group ready to burst out in praise, it was the 600 or so African Catholics who gathered at The Catholic University of America for the fourth African National Eucharistic Congress. Nearly a half-hour before the start of the opening Mass July 21, the worship space for the congress was more than half full. In mere moments, participants would clap their hands in rhythm and sway, mostly in place, to worship and praise music before the Mass.
Writing about Georgetown's history of involvement in slavery has not shaken author's Catholic faith
WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Since 2016, Rachel L. Swarns has been researching Georgetown University’s involvement in the slave trade, including the 1838 sale of 272 enslaved people to help pay off debts the Jesuit priests incurred in running the university. There were some detours along the way. A pandemic for one. A career (and literal) move from Washington for another, leaving her job in The New York Times’ Washington bureau to be a professor at New York University. But the story needed to be told.
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