Introduction

Paul Jarzembowski has worked at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) since 2013 within the Secretariat of Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, and in that role, he has overseen the U.S. bishops’ work around young adults, the laity, and lay ministry, as well as being the United States’ national coordinator for World Youth Day. Paul served as the USCCB’s lead staff for the 2017-2019 Vatican Synod on Young People as well as for implementing Pope Francis’s Christus Vivit and the USCCB pastoral framework, Listen, Teach, Send. He serves in an advisory capacity to the Vatican Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life and consults and speaks on ministry and evangelization with young people for dioceses, organizations, and apostolates worldwide. Paul is a bestselling published author of two books on “moments of return,” Hope from the Ashes (2022) and Hope for the Holidays (2023), both from Paulist Press. He is currently a Cardinal Joseph Bernardin Scholar and doctoral student at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Paul and his wife Sarah live in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC.