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In Today’s Issue:
News / Updates
Intro to the Guest and Topic: Eamonn Clark — Helping Pakistani Christians make a living AND… the Virtue of Magnificence
Core Takeaway: Relieving involuntary poverty helps people have the opportunity to lift their souls in prayer.
Episode References
Select Quotes
Key Moments
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News / Updates:
🤝Check out our upcoming Catholic Founders events (available to all Catholic biz owners, or those seriously aspiring to be)
NYC - July 25 (celebrating America 250 🇺🇸🎉 )
Nashville - July 28 (discussion on Magnifica Humanitas)
Dallas - August 22 (guest speaker Alex Cartwright, founder of Hotel Shift)
More coming in 📍Houston, DC, Tampa, South Bend, Steubenville, Charlotte, Kansas City, Denver, Fort Lauderdale area, Wausau Wisconsin, and more! To catch them, follow our calendar. 🗓️
On Sunday, we dropped an amazing interview with Tim Busch 🎙️- founder of the NAPA Institute (and more). Check out how he’s managing $1.5b in hotels while keeping his faith at the center of his life.
Next Guild Call (paid only) is Aug 28th — an AI Automation Workshop🧑🏼💻. Led by Raffaele D’Apolito. (Join the guild to attend)
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Today’s Topic & Guest:
Today’s guest, is perhaps one of the most unique people I’ve encountered. He’s an American, who has found himself in Italy, in and near Rome, for 10-ish years, mostly studying theology. As a result, he’s built a very large network of religious and priests. Yet… deep down, he himself is an entrepreneur. He’s been suffering from a bout of academia but is finally shaking it off (sorry to my friends in Academia, we still love you).
Given his network, he’s had the chance to meet priests who live in various corners of the world… and even visit many of them. This exposure has led to him seeing the dire circumstances of many. He’s got this fascinating network.
Knows people on the ground in these places of need, has an intimate understanding of theology, and happens to have his American spirit of entrepreneurship. So… he’s decided to do the logical thing… launch a social enterprise accelerator.
Just kidding. Of course this isn’t ‘logical,’ but he’s doing it.
WIth Pro Fide, they are launching social enterprises that will help Christians in various parts of the world leverage their local resources to create products and sell them overseas. Enabling them to provide for their families, as well as support The Church in these local areas.
As a heads up, if you want to hear all about Magnificence — a virtue we seem to have forgotten about, I think you’ll really enjoy this episode!
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Core Lesson:
The key value in social enterprises is to free the mind to pursue holiness, prayer, and the sacraments.
When communities are trapped in involuntary poverty, survival takes up every ounce of emotional and spiritual bandwidth. The NGO money that get’s thrown at a distant problem often leads to corruption and… ultimately destroys local work incentives.
By creating sustainable businesses on the ground, we do more than generate jobs — we restore human dignity. We’re also applying the principle of subsidiarity and building an economic foundation that allows the Church and her people to flourish.
God Bless & Happy Building!
~Silas Mähner
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Often, they’re treated as second-class citizens or work for organizations that ask them to do questionable things. They reach out to us in search of a Catholic boss.
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Key Episode References:
Select Quotes:
“Voluntary poverty is a great help to holiness. Involuntary poverty is not.” - Eamonn Clark
“You have to know something in order to love it. […] Knowledge and love working together in a certain kind of way that gets filtered through the act of creation and imprinted in the pattern of the universe.” - Eamonn Clark
“If you understand knowing and loving and being and doing and the relationship between those four things, you figured out the universe.” - Eamonn Clark
“Why don't you come play a very interesting game that's meaningful, impactful, and sustainable that can really actually help save souls.” - Eamonn Clark
“I want to free them of their temporal anxieties so that they can elevate themselves towards contemplation, prayer, the sacraments, okay?” - Eamonn Clark
“If someone says, I don’t know what I’m doing, then they’re probably trustworthy when they say that they do.” - Eamonn Clark
Key Moments: (outline)
(00:00) - Cold Open
(00:36) - Episode Welcome
(03:15) - Guest Intro: Eamonn outlines his theological
background in Rome studying Pius XI’s social teaching.(04:08) - Origin Story: How living alongside international
priests in Rome sparked Eamonn’s passion for mission territories.(06:14) - Theology & Enterprise: Why effective charity requires
market knowledge and how knowing precedes loving.(10:44) - Pakistani Pink Salt Venture: Sourcing Himalayan
pink bath salts directly from a parish in Pakistan.(13:09) - Employment Challenges in Pakistan: How religious
discrimination restricts minority Catholics from obtaining dignified work.(17:21) - Why Bath Salts?: Strategy, margins,
FDA requirements, and health benefits over sea salt.(22:50) - Lay-Run Mission Accelerator: Eamonn’s vision
for scaling Catholic social enterprises in foreign mission areas.(27:02) - Three Core Pillars: Establishing a trusted clerical network,
tax-effective funding structures, and operational talent.(34:25) - Subsidiarity vs. Foreign Aid: Why dumping NGO capital
destroys local work incentives and how lean enterprise succeeds.(39:14) - The Virtue of Magnificence: Deploying excess capital
intentionally into grand, long-term, enduring projects.(44:42) - Theology of Entrepreneurship: Recreating Eden through
co-creation, voluntary vs. involuntary poverty, and spiritual freedom.(50:16) - Rapid Fire Questions: Scriptural inspiration, favorite founders,
St. Anthony Claret, and Marian devotions.(54:23) - Outro: Silas reflects on local impact, sponsor highlights, and the calling to create.
Hire Catholic Overseas Talent
In LatAm and the Philippines, there are millions of Catholic remote workers (across all domains) who want to work for ethical bosses.
Often, they’re treated as second-class citizens or work for organizations that ask them to do questionable things. They reach out to us in search of a Catholic boss.
So, we started ParacleteVA (website coming soon).
With ParacleteVA, we’ll find you vetted, Catholic overseas talent who will help you move your business forward.
How it works: Pay a $500 finders fee when the candidate starts, and $500 if you’re still happy with them after 30 days.
To get started, reach out to catholicfounders@gmail.com with what you’re looking for, and we’ll get started.
