Word on Fire’s Dr. Holly Ordway delivered a talk on famed author J.R.R. Tolkien’s Catholic Faith at Christendom College on January 29, 2024, as part of the college’s Major Speaker Series. Fifty years after Tolkien’s death, his writings are more popular than ever; The Lord of the Rings and his other Middle-earth writings are internationally beloved, loved by millions who do not share his religious beliefs. Yet Tolkien declared, “I am a Christian (which can be deduced from my stories).” His writings were not allegories, so how, then, were his faith and his fiction related? Ordway aims to answer this question biographically, looking at some of the ways that Tolkien’s dramatic life story, including his being raised by a Catholic priest at the Birmingham Oratory, and his experiences in the Great War, shaped his faith and found their way–in a subtle and complex manner–into his writings. Ordway is the Cardinal Francis George Professor of Faith and Culture at the Word on Fire Institute and the author of the award-winning Tolkien’s Modern Reading.

Pro-life advocate and author of the best-selling book Unplanned Abby Johnson delivered an address at Christendom College on Monday, March 28, encouraging the college’s students to take an even greater role in the pro-life movement during this critical moment in America’s history. Johnson spoke directly about the Jackson v. Dobbs case during her address, touching upon what could happen if Roe v. Wade is overturned this year and also on what Christendom students can do to help change the world post-graduation.

Mother Olga of the Sacred Heart, the founder and mother servant of the Daughters of Mary of Nazareth, delivered a talk titled, “In the Church, With the Church, For the Church,” to the Christendom community as part of the Major Speakers Program on Monday, March 25, 2019.