Some 1,000 Catholic men have gathered together to pray in the state of Michigan.
Men of all ages met on Saturday 22nd March at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti for this year's Ignite Catholic Men's Conference.
IGNITE is an annual event designed to inspire and strengthen the faith of Catholic men. It was founded in Central New York and the conference itself was born out of a need for a deeper sense of brotherhood and spiritual renewal among men in the Church.
It's organised by the Diocese of Syracuse and brings together dynamic Catholic speakers, engaging worship, and opportunities for fellowship and personal growth.
This year speakers included Super Bowl champion Matt Birk from the Baltimore Ravens; Dr Jonathan Reyes, senior vice president of strategic partnerships and senior advisor for the Knights of Columbus - a Catholic Fraternity Organisation and Fr Joe Krupp, Pastor of Church of the Holy Family Parish and School in Grand Blanc and St. Mark Parish in Goodrich.
There were talks and stalls as well as Mass and prayer. The conference is designed to "ignite" faith and this year focussed on the topic of Jesus' model of manhood.
Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing's homily spoke about the parable of the prodigal son which he said showed the deep love God had for all men.
Reporting in the detroitcatholic.com he said:
“God throws all (our) sins far away from Himself. He does not cling to them, seeking some opportunity to get revenge on us. He's not mulling over our sins with an attitude of catching us again in sin and saying, ‘Gotcha!'".
Building on the idea that Jesus was of men and for them, Fr Krupp said:
“The best man we know of is Jesus. We don’t have to guess. If our idea of masculinity is running around fighting every fight we see — yeah, that works in eighth grade, but it doesn't work when we're adults. So what do we do? Well, let's look at Jesus.”
He went on to speak of Christ-centred masculinity being one of humility.
Statistics for Catholic men's attendance at Church are limited though overall weekly Mass attendance among U.S. Catholics has declined.
According to the American Magazine National Survey of Adult Catholics in 2021 21% of US adult Catholics reported attending Mass at least once a week.
The same survey suggested - like other Christian denominations - that there are more women than men turning up on Sundays, with 43 per cent of those who self-identified as adult Catholics being men and 57 per cent being women.