McDonough, Stefanick to highlight Catholic Men’s Conference 

The Catholic Diocese of Wichita 2026 Men’s Conference is not only about what happens at the altar and podium, reflects Anthony Keiser who – along with his leadership roles at the Spiritual Life Center, Camp Kapaun, and Totus Tuus – serves as one of the conference’s organizers. What attendees will hear and see up front may draw them to the March 28 conference, but Keiser expresses hope the event will also help foster and strengthen bonds between Catholic men.

“We want to help bring them to brotherhood,” Keiser said. “Rather than just being a conference that people come to, we want to connect them to men’s groups, within or outside of their parishes, so that men can truly bond with each other in their Catholic faith. Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.”

Another conference organizer, Office of Family Life Director Jake Samour, concurs. “It helps when you’re with other men who are also trying to live a virtuous life,” he said. “You know you’re on a journey with other men who are all striving in the same direction. That helps reinforce everyone.”

The conference is scheduled for Saturday, March 28 at Bishop Carroll Catholic High School and – along with Mass, confessions, and lunch – will feature keynote remarks from actor Neal McDonough as well as author and media host Chris Stefanick. 

Transformative

Social sciences have, in recent years, noted increasing isolation among men, Keiser and Samour point out. 

“We are made for communion,” Samour said. “Sometimes when we try to find community with others, we don’t find the right group. It’s important to spend time with people who help us form good habits and live good lives.”

“Fathers, and men in general, may feel like they’re going it alone,” Keiser said. “Even as they provide for their families, the loneliness epidemic is particularly high among men.”

In an increasingly digital world that has eroded the need for face-to-face interaction, the Church – including conferences and groups for men – remains one of the few remaining avenues in which men can meet and form deep relationships, Keiser reflects, citing examples such as Kapaun’s Men and The Knights of Columbus. 

“We have seen that transform entire communities,” he said. “Families see the change in Dad and know men need good and holy friendships among themselves just as they need good, holy relationships within their families. If you strengthen husbands and fathers, you strengthen the family, which strengthens the Church. Strengthen the Church and it transforms the world.”

Keynoters

Even with the emphasis on connecting attendees with one another, the formal proceedings are rich, Keiser relates. They begin with Mass celebrated by Bishop Carl A. Kemme, and also include an opportunity for confession and a lunch from Chick-fil-A. Meanwhile, he suggests, McDonough and Stefanick meet the high standard set by previous years’ headliners.

“This men’s conference has had some amazing speakers during the last 15 years,” Keiser said. “We’ve always worked to bring in good speakers that a lot of men would want to hear.”

McDonough, who has played significant parts on major films and television series such as “Tulsa King,” “Band of Brothers,” “Yellowstone,” and “Captain America,” will arrive at the conference having intentionally changed the trajectory of his career. McDonough has lost acting roles – including being ‘written out’ of a series – because he will not kiss a woman other than his wife, Ruvé Robertson. In recent years, the Catholic convictions that drive what he will not do have increasingly swayed the projects he pursues. 

“It’s a real conversion of heart about where he needs to focus his work,” Keiser said, citing the example of McDonough’s lead role in Angel Studios’ 2025 feature film “The Last Rodeo.”

Or as McDonough explains, it’s all for God: “I knew that if I was going to go forward in Hollywood, I needed to make sure that my work was always for him and him alone,” he said.

The conference’s other headliner, Chris Stefanick, is returning after addressing the diocese’s 2022 Men’s Conference. Samour’s son, Carlos, joined him at that conference, he recalls, and now the two are eager to hear Stefanick again.

“It was a great blessing to bring Carlos with me, and for us to hear Stefanick’s message together a few years ago,” Samour said. “Now Carlos is a senior in high school, and we are looking forward to hearing him again. I see a lot of fathers and sons at the conference. It means a lot.”

“Chris is one of the best communicators of the gospel in the English-speaking world today, and he’s also a very genuine person,” Keiser said. “I think the attendees will experience that.”

That is because, he notes, the conference keynoters do not merely appear on stage and then vanish. “When we approach speakers, we tell them our men’s conference requires more than that,” he said. “We let them know, ‘Attendees will want to meet you, even if only for a brief minute.’ We want every single person there to have a chance to shake that person’s hand.”

The 2026 men’s conference is scheduled to take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 28 at BCCHS. 

“It always impresses me to see the hundreds of men gather in their Catholic faith, and especially, witnessing the fathers and sons experiencing the broader church,” said Diocese of Wichita Bishop Carl A. Kemme. “It’s always been a dream of mine that the men’s conference can have attendance from 100 of our priests and 1,000 men.”