After a year celebrating marriage and family through the Radiate Love Initiative, the California bishops are hosting Love IRL: A Radiate Love Marriage Summit for Ministry Leaders. This culminating event will equip 200 participants working with young people and families to share the beauty of marriage!
Love IRL is a collaboration of the CA bishops from all 12 dioceses across California.
Damon Owens, international speaker and evangelist, is executive director of Joyful Ever After and National Parish Engagement Officer for Communio.org. The first executive director of the Theology of the Body Institute, Damon has dedicated three decades to evangelizing through the renewal of healthy relationships, marriage, and the family. In 2018, Pope Francis awarded him the Benemerenti Papal Medal for his work supporting marriage and family. He is an accomplished gospel singer honored with a solo during the 1995 NJ Papal Mass at Giants Stadium presided by Pope St. John Paul II. Damon and his wife Melanie have eight children.
President and Founder, The Culture Project International
Proclaiming the dignity of human life has been a lifelong passion for Cristina. From an early age, she was immersed in the pro-life movement with her family, participating in prayer vigils, life chains, and public advocacy. While attending The Pennsylvania State University, Cristina served as President of Penn State Students for Life, leading efforts to build a culture of life on campus.
After graduation, she deepened her missionary calling at the Emmanuel School of Mission in Rome, a program sponsored by the Pontifical Council for the Laity. For nearly two decades, Cristina has served in full-time mission, focusing on the pro-life cause, chastity, and the New Evangelization.
In 2014, Cristina founded The Culture Project International with a bold vision: to restore culture through the lived experience of virtue. Since then, the organization has trained over 120 missionaries, served in 69 dioceses across the U.S., and reached more than 250,000 students in person and 22 million people online with messages of human dignity and sexual integrity.
Cristina and her husband, Jamie, reside in South Carolina with their two young children.
Bishop of San José, California
Bishop Oscar Cantú has served the Catholic Church with dedication and leadership throughout his priestly and episcopal ministry. Born in Houston, Texas, he grew up in a devout Catholic family and pursued his seminary studies at the University of Dallas and University of St. Thomas in Houston, followed by advanced degrees in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.
Ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston in 1994, Bishop Cantú served in several parishes, including his home parish of Holy Name. In addition, he taught theology at the University of St. Thomas and St. Mary’s Seminary.
In 2008, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of San Antonio, and in 2013 he became the Bishop of Las Cruces, New Mexico. He was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of San José in 2018, and on May 1, 2019, he became the third Bishop of San José, leading the diocese with a commitment to spiritual renewal, community engagement, and social justice.
Bishop Cantú currently serves as Chairman of the USCCB Subcommittee on Hispanic Affairs and President of the California Catholic Conference of Bishops. He has represented the U.S. Church on the international stage, including recent work with CELAM (Consejo Episcopal Latinoamericano y Caribeño), advocating for the Church’s mission across Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as building ecclesial relationships. He continues to focus on promoting human dignity, addressing justice and peace issues, and serving the pastoral and spiritual needs of all people, especially those on the margins of society.
Love IRL is for ministry leaders who work with young people and families, and are ready to build a strong marriage culture in their parish or school. Bring your whole team!
Dioceses: Invite your bishop, superintendent, youth director, young adult director, marriage and family life director, catechetical director
Parish Teams: Invite your pastor, associate, youth and young adult minister, deacon couple, marriage ministry leader, DRE, parish school principal
High School Teams: Invite your principal, campus minister, religion/theology teacher, and key parent association leader
Individual: $150 | Evening reception available for an additional $50
Teams: Parish/Diocesan/School Team of 4: $400
Reception and Dinner – recognition of marriage ministry leaders: $50 / Person
If you are interested in attending email our staff here.
