FOCUS co-founders receive 2024 Mother Angelica Award

Michael P. Warsaw, chairman and CEO of EWTN Global Catholic Network, presents the 2024 Mother Angelica Award to Curtis and Michaelann Martin, co-founders of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students, on Dec. 12, 2024. / EWTN

CNA Staff, Dec 13, 2024 / 13:50 pm (CNA).

EWTN Global Catholic Network presented the 2024 Mother Angelica Award to Curtis and Michaelann Martin, co-founders of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), an organization recognized as one of the most influential forces for Catholic evangelization in the United States today.

EWTN Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael Warsaw presented the award to the Martins during a televised ceremony Dec. 12, the 44th anniversary of the founding of the network. (Note: EWTN is CNA’s parent company.)

The Mother Angelica Award honors people who, like the foundress of EWTN, have been witnesses to God’s providence in all they have done in service to the Church and who, by their lives and service, have advanced the cause of the new evangelization.

“Curtis and Michaelann Martin are true witnesses to God’s providence in the way they have faithfully responded to his call,” Warsaw said. “Their passion for the new evangelization, especially in reaching young people on college campuses, is a testament to the enduring power of God’s grace in their lives.” 

“Just as Mother Angelica dedicated her life to bringing souls closer to Christ, the Martins have done the same, and in doing so, they have transformed countless lives.”

Curtis Martin actually announced FOCUS’ founding in 1997 on an episode of “Mother Angelica Live.” Since its founding with just two missionaries at a single campus, FOCUS has since reshaped Catholic campus ministry on more than 200 U.S. and international college campuses.

The apostolate forms and sends young adult missionaries to run campus ministry on college campuses. More than 50,000 FOCUS alumni currently serve in parishes and communities across the world, and more than 1,000 people have entered seminary or religious life after a FOCUS encounter. 

FOCUS also organizes the annual young adult conference “SEEK,” which brought 24,000 attendees to this year’s conference in St. Louis. The next SEEK conferences will take place from Jan. 1–5, 2025, in Salt Lake City and Jan. 2–5, 2025, in Washington, D.C.

Michaelann Martin called the award “a humbling honor for both of us” but noted that “this is not about us.” 

“We are grateful to Mother Angelica for her example of faith and courage, and to EWTN for continuing her work of evangelization,” she said. “But this is not about us. It is about the countless missionaries who have given their lives to this work and the students whose lives are being transformed by the Gospel.”

Previous winners of the Mother Angelica Award include the Archbishop Emeritus of Philadelphia Charles J. Chaput, OFMCap, and former New Orleans Saints wide receiver and football coach Danny Abramowicz. 

The full award ceremony, including tributes from those whose lives have been touched by the Martins, will re-air Dec. 14 at 3 p.m. ET as well as be available for viewing on demand at www.ondemand.ewtn.com.