CNA Staff, Mar 9, 2025 /
06:00 am
A Catholic liberal arts college in North Carolina is launching a new student program in Washington, D.C., designed to “amplify Catholic voices in media, politics, and culture.” Belmont Abbey College plans to launch its Intentional Catholic Student Residency Program, the first of its kind for students, in fall 2025.
Student interns will be able to stay at two neighboring properties next door to the college’s new D.C. hub called Belmont House, which now has a permanent location on Third Street, 500 feet from Capitol grounds. The student housing consists of two properties to the right of the Belmont House, one for men and one for women.
The college recently acquired the new location for Belmont House, a step up from its original location first established in 2021. Belmont House’s mission is to “restore civil society and reclaim the rights of people of faith in the public square,” according to a Feb. 28 press release.
About 1,500 students attend Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, North Carolina, just 15 miles outside of Charlotte. The college is located next to the 100-year-old Benedictine monastery, Belmont Abbey, home to a group of Catholic Benedictine monks who serve as spiritual mentors and educators within the college and local community.
The Intentional Catholic Student Residency Program in Washington, D.C., will be open to Catholic undergraduates interning in the capital, beginning with 30 residents, but the college hopes to expand it to 60 students a semester in the future.
Bill Thierfelder, president of Belmont Abbey College, said the new initiatives in Washington, D.C., are about bringing Catholic voices into the public square.
“We are taking Catholic higher education to a new level, we are ensuring that as a faithful Catholic college our voice is heard in the public square,” Thierfelder said in a statement.
Belmont is also looking to launch a series of academic programs targeted at various age levels, including a summer honors program for high schoolers and an online master’s degree in government and public policy and in political journalism. The academic programs are designed “to transform political discourse to equip future leaders to defend the role of faith in our society,” according to the press release.
The initiatives are part of the “Made Strong” element of the college’s $130 million “Made True Capital Campaign.” Made Strong prioritizes the importance of religious freedom in civil society and the goal of “realigning culture with God’s truth.”
“These initiatives will play a significant role in effecting the change needed to foster a culture that upholds faith, community, and the common good,” Thierfelder noted.
Belmont House’s executive director, Emmett McGroarty, hopes that Belmont House will be “an anchor” for Catholics in Washington, D.C.
“This is only the beginning for the Belmont House,” McGroarty said. “The Belmont House will be an anchor for the faithful on Capitol Hill, bringing strong moral leadership and the teachings of the Church into the heart of politics and public life and serving as a home for Catholics on the Hill.”
“We are proud to be a voice for truth, advocating for the restoration of faith in the public square,” McGroarty added.
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Abbot Placid Solari, the Benedictine chancellor of Belmont Abbey College, said the initiatives will help promote religious liberty and faithful contributions to public life.
“We are establishing a place in Washington, D.C., where, building on St. Benedict’s instruction to receive all guests as Christ, we can offer a space for people of goodwill to gather to discuss and promote religious liberty and the important contributions that faith communities can bring to public life,” Placid said.
“As a Catholic college, we can place the insights of the Catholic intellectual tradition and the Church’s social teaching at the service of those tasked with shaping the life of our country,” Solari noted.
Last week, Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, another Catholic liberal arts college, officially opened a center in Washington, D.C., with a similar goal of forming faithful Catholic leaders.
Kate Quiñones is a staff writer for Catholic News Agency and a fellow of the College Fix. She has been published by the Wall Street Journal, the Denver Catholic Register, and CatholicVote, and she graduated from Hillsdale College. She lives in Colorado with her husband.
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