(LifeSiteNews) — Imagine joining a conversation between Bishop Joseph Strickland and George Farmer, CEO of Candace Owens’ podcast. Then imagine walking over to a hotel coffee machine and overhearing LifeSiteNews’ Vatican correspondent Michael Haynes updating Editor-in-Chief John-Henry Westen on the very latest news from the synod in Rome before disappearing to write the story. Nearby, apparitions expert Xavier Reyes-Ayral and the Fatima Center’s David Rodríguez are discussing the prophecies of St. Jacinta Marto.
Those are the kind of convergences and conversations that happen at the Rome Life Forum, whether in the Eternal City itself, or “in Exile,” this year in Kansas City, Missouri. When you’re a keen reader of conservative or Catholic news media, there’s nothing like being able to put faces to the names you spot over interesting articles and then having the confidence to say hello. It’s a rare treat to introduce yourself to newsmakers like Bishop Strickland and news editors like John-Henry Westen. And sometimes, as happened with attendees at last year’s Rome Life Forum, you’re on the spot when a speech – or the reading of a letter – changes the course of a life or takes the battle for the Catholic faith onto open ground.
If the allusion escapes you, I’m talking about Bishop Strickland’s bold speech in which he read a fiery letter from a friend who called Pope Francis a usurper and ordered the then-Bishop of Tyler, Texas “not go to Rome and play nicely.”
“The Queen of Martyrs has called you, and you cannot parcel out truth in pieces,” the bishop read aloud. “After all, were we not told that the truth would set us free. The Synod has gathered cowards in Rome, those who not only refuse to die for our Lord and His Church, but indeed demand that His eternal truths be changed. And if you play nicely with these, then you mock the martyrs.”
Bishop Strickland’s audience was rapt, welded to our chairs, and days later, Pope Francis removed the good bishop from his See of Tyler, Texas. And this is a small thing, but I’ll always remember that I had handed the bishop a cup of coffee that morning.
Bishop Strickland is once again the Rome Life Forum keynote speaker this year. Another presenter associated with recent headlines is George Farmer, the CEO of the “Candace” podcast, someone who has preferred to keep a lower profile than his father, Michael Farmer, a British businessman now a life peer in the House of Lords, and his wife, Candace Owens.
In an April 2024 interview with the U.K.’s Catholic Herald, Farmer discussed his intellectual conversion to Catholicism at university, his spiritual conversion when he met Owens, and his “exclusive” interest in faith. Farmer prefers not to get “dragged into political whirlwinds” that he believes distract him from his “end goal, which is cultural renewal of the West.” It would be interesting to find out what he thinks of the whirlwind that followed his wife’s bold declaration that “Christ is King.”
George Farmer is someone whose expanded opinion on modernism – the recovery from which is the theme of this year’s Rome Life Forum – you will want to hear in person. In a recent interview with LifeSiteNews about modernism, Farmer said that it is “totally antithetical to the teachings of the Church.”
“As Catholics, as followers of Christ, we must only seek to be guided by the eternal truths that have been handed down to us through the word of God and through tradition,” he declared.
Another person very much worth hearing on the subject is Dr. Janet E. Smith, a recently retired seminary professor and theologian. Smith could have been describing the Rome Life Forum when she responded to a gathering for “recovering traditionalists” by wittily pointing out the much greater need for a conference for those wounded by modernism.
Dr. Smith has written a number of books of interest to pro-lifers and family activists in particular, including four works on Pope Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae, and is a widely respected public speaker. In the words of one LifeSiteNews reader, Tihamer Toth-Fejel, “Most people, when you ask them a question, give you the intellectual equivalent of a popsicle. Janet hands out acorns that grow into majestic oak trees.”
That reminds me of LifeSiteNews, which grew from an acorn of an online message board to the flourishing multimedia presence it is today. We have our Canadian co-founders Steve Jalsevac and John-Henry Westen to thank for that, and John-Henry will be speaking at the Rome Life Forum in Exile.
John-Henry has been at the helm of LifeSiteNews for 27 years, a period spanning the twilight years of St. John Paul II, the short-lived hopes of the Benedict papacy, and the unprecedented chaos led by Pope Francis. He is certain to keep listeners spellbound when he discusses the current modernist crisis. Recently, John-Henry told a reporter that the “crisis of this papacy has reached epic proportions outweighing all former crises in the Church’s 2,000-year history.” He added that the Rome Life Forum “has, from its inception in 2014, been a clarion call warning about the crisis of the Francis papacy. It is the longest-standing consistent opposition to the Francis agenda to push a novel gospel.”
You can certainly expect such plain-speaking at the Rome Life Forum in Exile on October 17 and 18 at the InterContinental Kansas City at the Plaza hotel.
Meanwhile, as mentioned above, there will be two experts on Marian apparitions at the Forum. The first is Reyes-Ayral, a French author who has written an encyclopedic tome on reported sightings and messages of Our Lady, especially in France, and David Rodríguez, the brother of Father Michael Rodríguez (who unfortunately will not be speaking after all), from the Fatima Center.
There have been many sobering messages from Fatima, Akita and other key places concerning dark days for the Church and humanity, and Reyes-Ayral and Rodríguez are certain to talk about how these apply to the times we are living through.
The Rome Life Forum in Exile roster also has a late addition in film producer and humanitarian Jason Jones of the Vulnerable People Project. Long-time LifeSiteNews readers will remember that Jones was an executive producer for the 2006 hit pro-life film Bella, which starred Eduardo Verástegui.
Finally, attendees will have the opportunity to hear and speak with Haynes, LifeSite’s senior Vatican correspondent. He has had a wealth of experience in his young life, having been brought up in England, educated at a faithful Catholic college in New England, and then sent to Rome by LifeSite to report on location. In addition to his journalism, he has also written works of Mariology and theology, and as well as telling behind-the-scenes stories about the Press Office of the Holy See, he is sure to have something important to say about recovering from modernism through Mary’s intercession.
Time is running out, however, for getting a good deal on room at the InterContinental Kansas City at the Plaza hotel. To take advantage of the discounted hotel rate, you will have to book before Wednesday – that is, October 3. The Rome Life Forum in Exile itself begins two weeks from Thursday, so you will want to buy your tickets ASAP. And if you can’t go yourself but want to sponsor someone who can, you can buy them a ticket at our Rome Life Forum page HERE.
The event is presented by LifeSiteNews and sponsored by UbeCube, The Fatima Center, the Coalition for Canceled Priests, the Vulnerable People Project, and the author of Catholic Voting and Mortal Sin.