Our Mission
A Foundation for the Long Work of Unity
The Likoudis Legacy Foundation is a 501(c)(3) research institute founded in 2023 to advance Catholic-Orthodox ecumenism, interreligious dialogue, and Catholic formation — and to carry forward the intellectual legacy of James Likoudis, one of the most consequential American Catholic lay theologians of the twentieth century. We operate through scholarship, publication, education, and direct service to dioceses and the wider Church.
Likoudis devoted more than seventy years to a single, coherent project: the reunion of the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches. He argued, documented, and testified to the possibility of that reunion — through books, essays, lectures, and decades of correspondence with Orthodox clergy and scholars. His work helped define what serious ecumenism looked like at the level of the laity.
The Foundation carries that project forward through scholarship, publication, education, and institutional bridge-building. We are directed by Andrew Likoudis, James's grandson, and governed by a board of theologians, academics, and Catholic intellectuals committed to the magisterial center.
I.
Ecumenical & Interreligious Dialogue
Starting from the Church's own center — inter-Catholic unity and the defense of the magisterial center are the precondition for credible ecumenism. From there: Catholic-Orthodox reunion, the primary focus James Likoudis gave his life to; then the wider interreligious dialogue Vatican II opened. Programs: Orientale Lumen conference, Kydones Review, Eastern Catholic canonical clarity initiative, Cornelius à Lapide translation project.
II.
Human Dignity & Catholic Social Doctrine
The Church has spoken clearly on the death penalty, immigration, labor, and the dignity of every person. Catholics on both sides of the political aisle find reasons to resist that teaching when it is inconvenient. The Foundation supports the scholarship and formation needed to receive the full social magisterium — not advocacy, but honest reception. Programs: Fellows Program, research publications, consulting, Faith in Crisis chapbook.
III.
Catholic Formation & Diocesan Service
Serious theological and pastoral formation belongs to the whole Church, not only to the ordained. The Foundation serves both the pew and the chancery: lay formation through the LLF Reading Circle, Tradition & Renewal Substack, Unmoored Generation initiative, and Koinonia; and direct service to dioceses through canonical clarity resources, consulting, and conference programming. Programs: LLF Reading Circle, Unmoored Generation, Koinonia, T&R Substack, diocesan resources.
