DENVER, Oct. 15, 2020 — FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) is collaborating with university chaplaincies to host Eucharistic processions and rosary rallies for college students on campuses across the U.S. and world Oct. 22, the feast day of St. Pope John Paul II, as part of the Unite Our Nation campaign. In addition, FOCUS will host Eucharistic processions that day after two Masses at the Denver Support Center in Genesee, Colorado. Unite Our Nation, founded by the laity, was formed to help bring peace and prayer to local communities, and healing to our nation. The Unite Our Nation website includes inspiring videos from events in Madison, Wisconsin, and San Diego, California.

“FOCUS is excited and honored to join the efforts of Unite our Nation in publicly praying to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and to ask for Our Lady’s intercession in this tumultuous time,” said Craig Miller, President of FOCUS. “Since our founding more than 20 years ago, we have seen the power of the Holy Spirit change the lives of tens of thousands of college students through daily Eucharistic adoration, praying the rosary, and annually renewing our consecration to Jesus through Mary, petitioning especially the graces offered at Fatima and Guadalupe. We are grateful for the leadership of Unite our Nation and encouraged in the hope the Eucharistic processions will bring to our campuses and to our country.”

While some campuses are prohibited from social gatherings at this time, more than 60 of the 171 campuses on which FOCUS serves have scheduled events for Oct. 22, working with campus ministry centers to ensure the events are in accordance with university, state and local regulations. Many campuses are still discussing the possibilities of hosting events. Participating campuses include New York University, University of Southern California, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Colorado State University, and a few international campuses such as University of Southampton and University of Passau.

“As part of the Unite Our Nation campaign, we are collaborating with the Caruso Catholic Center on campus to host a walking rosary for students,” said Katt Redmond, FOCUS Team Director at the University of Southern California. “Since USC is an all virtual learning campus this Fall, we will pray the rosary off-campus, in a ‘nontraditional way.’ As a FOCUS team, we will be walking in a nearby town with our chaplain, Fr. Richard, and having our students call in on our phones to pray along the way. A couple of the team members already pray the rosary with some students each morning – virtually! This has been a powerful weapon of unity and prayer in these tough times. We pray for continued spirits of unity and for peace in our nation as we walk on the feast of St. Pope John Paul II, a true instrument of unity and peace in our world.”

“In collaboration with the Catholic Campus Ministry at Virginia Tech, we look forward to hosting an event for the Unite Our Nation campaign,” said Michael Hynes, FOCUS Team Director at Virginia Tech. “Fr. David Sharland, YA, will lead a Eucharistic procession around campus, and we’ll have a walking rosary with students. When the procession returns to the Newman House, students will continue with Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament until evening Mass. We pray these efforts will bring peace to the hearts of students and all in our community.”

To learn more about Unite Our Nation campaign and find an event, visit uniteournation.net.

About FOCUS

FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) is a Catholic apostolate whose mission is to share the hope and joy of the Gospel. FOCUS missionaries encounter people in friendship, inviting them into a personal relationship with Christ and accompanying them as they pursue lives of virtue and excellence. Through Bible studies, outreach events, mission trips and discipleship, missionaries inspire and build up others in the faith, sending them out to live out lifelong Catholic mission wherever they are. For the 2020-2021 academic year, nearly 800 FOCUS missionaries are serving on 171 campuses and 9 parishes across the U.S. and Europe. Tens of thousands of students have been involved with FOCUS, who after graduation have the opportunity to move into parish life to continue their missionary work. An important blessing of a fruitful partnership between the local campus ministry and FOCUS has been the pursuit of religious vocations. Over the past 20 years, 959 people have entered the seminary or a religious house of formation after involvement with FOCUS on college campuses. FOCUS missionaries are typically recent college graduates who devote two or more years of their post-collegiate lives to reach out to peers on campus. focus.org

About Unite Our Nation

Unite Our Nation, founded by the laity, was formed to help bring peace and prayer to local communities, and healing to our nation. We are passionately patriotic, with a deeply-rooted love for America. We believe in the power of the Eucharist and the serenity of the rosary. In unison with our bishops and priests, we help the faithful plan processions throughout our country, as a balm to violence and fear. uniteournation.net