The GIVEN Institute and the Corruption of Catholic Womanhood
The National Catholic Register reports on the 2026 GIVEN Catholic Young Women’s Leadership Forum, a five-day gathering in Washington, D.C., dedicated to “activating the gifts of Catholic young-adult women” through leadership training, mentorship, and a year-long accompaniment program. The event bestows the “Fiat Award” upon Mother Agnes Mary Donovan of the Sisters of Life, honoring women who embody “the response of Our Lady through faithful leadership, service and love.” The forum’s rhetoric centers on the idea that “you are a gift,” a phrase repeated by Dominican Sister Mary Madeline Todd, who told attendees: “God reveals ‘you are the gift’ and ‘you are the love.’” This language, while superficially pious, reveals a profound anthropocentric shift that reduces the supernatural life of the Church to a program of feminine self-actualization.
The Cult of the Self Disguised as Feminine Genius
The GIVEN Institute’s entire program is built upon a foundation of naturalistic humanism, a direct assault on the Catholic understanding of womanhood as defined by the pre-conciliar Magisterium. The forum’s executive director, Jennifer Cole-Schaefer, states: “We hope women will take away an understanding, on a much deeper level, that they are a gift. They are a beloved daughter of God.” This statement, while containing a grain of truth, is immediately corrupted by its context. The “deeper level” is not the supernatural life of grace, the theological virtues, or the call to sanctity, but a psychological affirmation of self-worth detached from the Cross. The forum’s purpose is not to form women in the virtues of humility, obedience, and purity—the hallmarks of the Blessed Virgin Mary—but to cultivate a “personalized ‘action plan’ designed to serve the Church and their community,” a phrase that echoes the corporate jargon of secular leadership seminars.
The concept of “feminine genius,” a term popularized by John Paul II—a heretic and apostate “canonized” by the conciliar sect—is here emptied of its supernatural content and reduced to a program of self-fulfillment. The forum’s language of “gifts” and “leadership” is a direct import from Protestant-influenced corporate culture, which has infected Catholic institutions since the 1960s. The true Catholic understanding of womanhood, as taught by the Church for centuries, is rooted in the vocation to motherhood—both physical and spiritual—and the call to a life of hiddenness, sacrifice, and obedience to the divine will, as exemplified by the Blessed Virgin Mary, who said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). The GIVEN Institute’s program, by contrast, is a form of naturalistic activism that substitutes the language of secular feminism for the supernatural vocation of the Catholic woman.
The “Fiat Award” and the Inversion of Marian Spirituality
The bestowal of the “Fiat Award” upon Mother Agnes Mary Donovan of the Sisters of Life is a particularly egregious example of the conciliar inversion of Catholic spirituality. The award’s name, “Fiat,” is taken from the Blessed Virgin’s words at the Annunciation, yet the criteria for receiving it—“faithful leadership, service and love”—are defined in terms of visible, worldly achievement. The true “fiat” of Our Lady was not a program of leadership but a total surrender to the divine will, even unto the foot of the Cross. The GIVEN Institute’s “Fiat Award” is a blasphemous parody of Marian spirituality, reducing the Mother of God to a patroness of corporate-style leadership.
The Sisters of Life, while ostensibly dedicated to the pro-life cause, are a product of the conciliar era and operate within the structures of the post-conciliar sect. Their “charism” of “protecting and enhancing the sacredness of human life” is often divorced from the fullness of Catholic moral teaching, particularly regarding the evils of contraception, the necessity of baptism, and the duty of public submission to Christ the King. The award is not a recognition of sanctity but of institutional loyalty to the conciliar establishment.
The Omission of the Supernatural Life
The most damning feature of the GIVEN Institute’s program is its complete silence on the supernatural life of the soul. The forum’s language is entirely naturalistic, focusing on “gifts,” “talents,” “leadership,” and “action plans.” There is no mention of the state of grace, the necessity of the sacraments, the reality of sin, the call to penance, or the final judgment. The Dominican Sister Mary Madeline Todd’s keynote address, which tells attendees, “Your story is a way he’s bringing beauty into the world,” is a form of pelagian self-worship that ignores the fundamental truth that without Christ, we can do nothing (John 15:5). The idea that a woman’s “story” is a means of bringing beauty into the world is a direct contradiction of the Catholic teaching that our sole purpose is to know, love, and serve God in this life and to be happy with Him forever in the next.
The forum’s emphasis on “mentoring” and “accompaniment” is a poor substitute for the traditional Catholic practice of spiritual direction, which is rooted in the theology of the Cross and the call to self-denial. The GIVEN Institute’s program is a form of psychological self-help dressed in Catholic vestments, a direct fruit of the conciliar revolution’s embrace of secular psychology and its rejection of the supernatural.
The Conciliar Context: A Church of “Gifts” Not of Grace
The GIVEN Institute is a product of the post-conciliar sect, which has systematically replaced the supernatural life of the Church with a naturalistic program of “human development.” The forum’s language of “activating gifts” and “leadership training” is a direct echo of the conciliar emphasis on “human dignity” and “the laity’s role in the Church,” which has reduced the lay apostolate to a program of institutional service. The true Catholic understanding of the lay apostolate, as defined by St. Pius X, is the participation of the faithful in the apostolate of the hierarchy, not a program of self-actualization.
The forum’s location in Washington, D.C., the seat of the world’s most powerful secular government, is symbolic of the conciliar Church’s embrace of worldly power and influence. The GIVEN Institute’s program is not a call to sanctity but a call to worldly engagement on the world’s terms, a direct contradiction of Our Lord’s teaching: “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:19).
The “Army of Women” and the New Church
Jennifer Cole-Schaefer’s statement that “we have a whole army of women with some life experience who’ve stepped forward and been trained as mentors to walk with our young women as they discern all the steps” reveals the true nature of the GIVEN Institute’s program. This is not the army of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the “Queen of Heaven and Earth,” but an army of conciliar activists trained in the techniques of secular leadership and mentorship. The “real work” that begins after the forum is not the work of sanctification but the work of “actualizing action plans,” a phrase that could be taken from any corporate leadership manual.
The GIVEN Institute’s program is a microcosm of the conciliar Church’s replacement of the supernatural life with a naturalistic program of human development. The forum’s language of “gifts” and “leadership” is a direct assault on the Catholic understanding of vocation as a call to sanctity, not to worldly influence. The “Fiat Award” is a blasphemous parody of Marian spirituality, and the entire program is a form of naturalistic humanism that has no place in the true Church of Christ.
Conclusion: The Rejection of the Supernatural
The GIVEN Institute and its forum represent the logical endpoint of the conciliar revolution’s embrace of the world. By reducing the Catholic woman’s vocation to a program of self-actualization and leadership, the Institute has abandoned the supernatural life of the Church for a naturalistic program of human development. The forum’s language of “gifts” and “leadership” is a direct contradiction of the Catholic understanding of womanhood as a call to hiddenness, sacrifice, and obedience to the divine will. The “Fiat Award” is a blasphemous parody of Marian spirituality, and the entire program is a form of pelagian self-worship that ignores the fundamental truth that our sole purpose is to know, love, and serve God.
The GIVEN Institute’s program is not a call to sanctity but a call to worldly engagement on the world’s terms. It is a product of the conciliar sect, which has systematically replaced the supernatural life of the Church with a naturalistic program of human development. The true Catholic woman is not a “leader” in the world’s sense but a handmaid of the Lord, who seeks only to do His will and to attain the salvation of her soul. The GIVEN Institute’s program is a counterfeit of this vocation, a direct fruit of the conciliar apostasy that has emptied the Church of its supernatural content and replaced it with the spirit of the world.
[Antichurch] The GIVEN Institute and the Corruption of Catholic Womanhood
The National Catholic Register reports on the 2026 GIVEN Catholic Young Women’s Leadership Forum, a five-day gathering in Washington, D.C., dedicated to “activating the gifts of Catholic young-adult women” through leadership training, mentorship, and a year-long accompaniment program. The event bestows the “Fiat Award” upon Mother Agnes Mary Donovan of the Sisters of Life, honoring women who embody “the response of Our Lady through faithful leadership, service and love.” The forum’s rhetoric centers on the idea that “you are a gift,” a phrase repeated by Dominican Sister Mary Madeline Todd, who told attendees: “God reveals ‘you are the gift’ and ‘you are the love.’” This language, while superficially pious, reveals a profound anthropocentric shift that reduces the supernatural life of the Church to a program of feminine self-actualization.
The Cult of the Self Disguised as Feminine Genius
The GIVEN Institute’s entire program is built upon a foundation of naturalistic humanism, a direct assault on the Catholic understanding of womanhood as defined by the pre-conciliar Magisterium. The forum’s executive director, Jennifer Cole-Schaefer, states: “We hope women will take away an understanding, on a much deeper level, that they are a gift. They are a beloved daughter of God.” This statement, while containing a grain of truth, is immediately corrupted by its context. The “deeper level” is not the supernatural life of grace, the theological virtues, or the call to sanctity, but a psychological affirmation of self-worth detached from the Cross. The forum’s purpose is not to form women in the virtues of humility, obedience, and purity—the hallmarks of the Blessed Virgin Mary—but to cultivate a “personalized ‘action plan’ designed to serve the Church and their community,” a phrase that echoes the corporate jargon of secular leadership seminars.
The concept of “feminine genius,” a term popularized by John Paul II—a heretic and apostate “canonized” by the conciliar sect—is here emptied of its supernatural content and reduced to a program of self-fulfillment. The forum’s language of “gifts” and “leadership” is a direct import from Protestant-influenced corporate culture, which has infected Catholic institutions since the 1960s. The true Catholic understanding of womanhood, as taught by the Church for centuries, is rooted in the vocation to motherhood—both physical and spiritual—and the call to a life of hiddenness, sacrifice, and obedience to the divine will, as exemplified by the Blessed Virgin Mary, who said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). The GIVEN Institute’s program, by contrast, is a form of naturalistic activism that substitutes the language of secular feminism for the supernatural vocation of the Catholic woman.
The “Fiat Award” and the Inversion of Marian Spirituality
The bestowal of the “Fiat Award” upon Mother Agnes Mary Donovan of the Sisters of Life is a particularly egregious example of the conciliar inversion of Catholic spirituality. The award’s name, “Fiat,” is taken from the Blessed Virgin’s words at the Annunciation, yet the criteria for receiving it—“faithful leadership, service and love”—are defined in terms of visible, worldly achievement. The true “fiat” of Our Lady was not a program of leadership but a total surrender to the divine will, even unto the foot of the Cross. The GIVEN Institute’s “Fiat Award” is a blasphemous parody of Marian spirituality, reducing the Mother of God to a patroness of corporate-style leadership.
The Sisters of Life, while ostensibly dedicated to the pro-life cause, are a product of the conciliar era and operate within the structures of the post-conciliar sect. Their “charism” of “protecting and enhancing the sacredness of human life” is often divorced from the fullness of Catholic moral teaching, particularly regarding the evils of contraception, the necessity of baptism, and the duty of public submission to Christ the King. The award is not a recognition of sanctity but of institutional loyalty to the conciliar establishment.
The Omission of the Supernatural Life
The most damning feature of the GIVEN Institute’s program is its complete silence on the supernatural life of the soul. The forum’s language is entirely naturalistic, focusing on “gifts,” “talents,” “leadership,” and “action plans.” There is no mention of the state of grace, the necessity of the sacraments, the reality of sin, the call to penance, or the final judgment. The Dominican Sister Mary Madeline Todd’s keynote address, which tells attendees, “Your story is a way he’s bringing beauty into the world,” is a form of pelagian self-worship that ignores the fundamental truth that without Christ, we can do nothing (John 15:5). The idea that a woman’s “story” is a means of bringing beauty into the world is a direct contradiction of the Catholic teaching that our sole purpose is to know, love, and serve God in this life and to be happy with Him forever in the next.
The forum’s emphasis on “mentoring” and “accompaniment” is a poor substitute for the traditional Catholic practice of spiritual direction, which is rooted in the theology of the Cross and the call to self-denial. The GIVEN Institute’s program is a form of psychological self-help dressed in Catholic vestments, a direct fruit of the conciliar revolution’s embrace of secular psychology and its rejection of the supernatural.
The Conciliar Context: A Church of “Gifts” Not of Grace
The GIVEN Institute is a product of the post-conciliar sect, which has systematically replaced the supernatural life of the Church with a naturalistic program of “human development.” The forum’s language of “activating gifts” and “leadership training” is a direct echo of the conciliar emphasis on “human dignity” and “the laity’s role in the Church,” which has reduced the lay apostolate to a program of institutional service. The true Catholic understanding of the lay apostolate, as defined by St. Pius X, is the participation of the faithful in the apostolate of the hierarchy, not a program of self-actualization.
The forum’s location in Washington, D.C., the seat of the world’s most powerful secular government, is symbolic of the conciliar Church’s embrace of worldly power and influence. The GIVEN Institute’s program is not a call to sanctity but a call to worldly engagement on the world’s terms, a direct contradiction of Our Lord’s teaching: “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:19).
The “Army of Women” and the New Church
Jennifer Cole-Schaefer’s statement that “we have a whole army of women with some life experience who’ve stepped forward and been trained as mentors to walk with our young women as they discern all the steps” reveals the true nature of the GIVEN Institute’s program. This is not the army of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the “Queen of Heaven and Earth,” but an army of conciliar activists trained in the techniques of secular leadership and mentorship. The “real work” that begins after the forum is not the work of sanctification but the work of “actualizing action plans,” a phrase that could be taken from any corporate leadership manual.
The GIVEN Institute’s program is a microcosm of the conciliar Church’s replacement of the supernatural life with a naturalistic program of human development. The forum’s language of “gifts” and “leadership” is a direct assault on the Catholic understanding of vocation as a call to sanctity, not to worldly influence. The “Fiat Award” is a blasphemous parody of Marian spirituality, and the entire program is a form of naturalistic humanism that has no place in the true Church of Christ.
Conclusion: The Rejection of the Supernatural
The GIVEN Institute and its forum represent the logical endpoint of the conciliar revolution’s embrace of the world. By reducing the Catholic woman’s vocation to a program of self-actualization and leadership, the Institute has abandoned the supernatural life of the Church for a naturalistic program of human development. The forum’s language of “gifts” and “leadership” is a direct contradiction of the Catholic understanding of womanhood as a call to hiddenness, sacrifice, and obedience to the divine will. The “Fiat Award” is a blasphemous parody of Marian spirituality, and the entire program is a form of pelagian self-worship that ignores the fundamental truth that our sole purpose is to know, love, and serve God.
The GIVEN Institute’s program is not a call to sanctity but a call to worldly engagement on the world’s terms. It is a product of the conciliar sect, which has systematically replaced the supernatural life of the Church with a naturalistic program of human development. The true Catholic woman is not a “leader” in the world’s sense but a handmaid of the Lord, who seeks only to do His will and to attain the salvation of her soul. The GIVEN Institute’s program is a counterfeit of this vocation, a direct fruit of the conciliar apostasy that has emptied the Church of its supernatural content and replaced it with the spirit of the world.
Source:
Catholic Women’s Leadership Forum Tells Young Women: ‘You Are a Gift’ (ncregister.com)
Date: 27.06.2026