FOCUS Names Jonathan Reyes as Next CEO for Catholic Campus Mission

The Fellowship of Catholic University Students, widely known as FOCUS, announced on October 7, 2026, that Jonathan Reyes will become its next chief executive officer on November 16. EWTN News reported the appointment and described it as the next stage in a transition that began when founder Curtis Martin announced in December 2025 that he would step down as CEO while remaining involved as founder and a board member. That continuity is significant for a national apostolate whose public identity has been closely associated with Martin since he founded FOCUS in 1998. Reyes is not arriving as a stranger to the ministry. He previously served as FOCUS vice president of ministry and formation, helping shape how missionaries accompany students and grow in their own Christian formation. He later co-founded the Augustine Institute, founded Christ in the City, and served in senior roles with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Knights of Columbus. Those assignments connect evangelization, theological education, service, public witness, and organizational leadership—the same combination FOCUS must hold together as it serves students and parishes. The choice therefore signals both continuity of mission and a deliberate broadening of leadership experience. For students, missionaries, chaplains, benefactors, and Catholic families, the central question is not merely who occupies an executive office. It is whether the organization will keep helping young adults encounter Jesus Christ, form durable habits of prayer and sacramental life, and become missionary disciples who can serve the Church long after college. Reyes begins with deep knowledge of that calling and with relationships that reach across major Catholic institutions.

The leadership change also offers a useful moment for churches and ministries beyond FOCUS to think carefully about succession. Healthy Christian organizations do not treat a handoff as a personality contest or assume that a founder’s gifts can simply be duplicated. They clarify the mission, identify the responsibilities that belong to a new season, preserve institutional memory, and invite the wider community to pray for both the outgoing and incoming leaders. FOCUS’s structure gives this transition several stabilizing features: Martin remains connected as founder and board member; Reyes has served inside the apostolate before; and interim CEO Tim Thoman has led during the board’s search. At the same time, Reyes will carry genuine responsibility for decisions about missionary formation, campus and parish partnerships, staff culture, financial stewardship, and the way the ministry communicates the Gospel to young adults in a fragmented culture. Readers can respond constructively by praying for wisdom, humility, doctrinal faithfulness, and pastoral courage rather than reducing the story to organizational celebrity. Campus ministers can revisit how they identify and mentor emerging leaders. Donors can ask whether their support strengthens person-to-person discipleship and accountable local partnerships. Parents and parish leaders can encourage students to seek communities where Scripture, prayer, the sacraments, friendship, and mission reinforce one another. The transition matters because leadership sets conditions in which thousands of ordinary relationships either flourish or weaken. The best measure of the next chapter will not be a headline, a speaking platform, or a growth statistic by itself, but whether people are formed to follow Christ, serve the Church, and help others do the same with integrity over time.