Rev. Robert A. Sirico

Rev. Robert A. Sirico is the President emeritus and co-founder of the Acton Institute for

the Study of Religion and Liberty, pastor emeritus of Sacred Heart of Jesus parish in

Grand Rapids, MI, and president and founder of the St. John Henry Newman Institute

for Catholic Classical Education and Reverent Liturgy.

Under his creative guidance and leadership over the last 25 years, the Acton Institute

has published such curricula and documentaries as The Call of the Entrepreneur, The

Birth of Freedom, Poverty Cure, and most recently, Poverty Inc. Through this media

outreach, and through Acton’s many programs, the Institute has reached millions of

individuals in over 144 countries with the message of liberty and virtue, and free market

principles.

As President of the Acton Institute, Father Sirico has addressed hundreds of groups in

the US and Canada, and in over 30 countries, including Venezuela, Cuba, China, Taiwan,

Australia, Kenya, Lithuania, Argentina, Guatemala and the Philippines, affirming each

individual’s dignity and ability to create wealth and prosperity for their families and

communities, and explains how faith, freedom and vocation are connected and why

they are worth defending.

Rev. Sirico has authored over two hundred articles, and several influential books

including The Entrepreneurial Vocation (Acton Institute 2001), Moral Basis for Liberty

(Foundation for Economic Education, 1996) Toward a Free and Virtuous Society (Acton

Institute 1997), The Soul of Liberty (Acton Institute, 2002), Defending the Free Market:

The Moral Case for a Free Economy (Regnery 2012), and most recently, The

Economics of the Parables (Regnery 2022).

As pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus, Rev. Sirico oversaw the refounding of the parish

school, Sacred Heart Academy, as a Catholic, classical academy. Since its refounding,

it has gained national notoriety from institutions such as Hillsdale College and the

Classical Learning Test. This transformation inspired Rev. Sirico to found the St. John

Henry Newman Institute for Catholic Classical Education and Reverent Liturgy.