FOCUS Names Jonathan Reyes As New CEO
FOCUS named Jonathan Reyes its next chief executive officer, effective Nov. 16. Reyes previously served as FOCUS vice president of ministry and formation, helping prepare missionaries who accompany college students. He succeeds founder Curtis Martin, who stepped down as CEO in December 2025 and remains involved as FOCUS founder and board member. Reyes has held leadership roles with the Knights of Columbus, the USCCB, the Augustine Institute, and Christ in the City.
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FOCUS has named Jonathan Reyes as its next chief executive officer, with the appointment taking effect Nov. 16. Reyes, a former FOCUS executive with leadership experience across several Catholic organizations, will succeed founder Curtis Martin, who stepped down as CEO in December 2025. 1
FOCUS announced the appointment Oct. 7. Reyes said he first joined the organization at Martin’s invitation to support missionary formation and described leading it as a privilege; he also praised the work of its missionaries and the impact of the apostolate on college campuses and in parishes. 1
Martin, who founded FOCUS in 1998, said he had known Reyes for more than 25 years and cited his Church leadership experience and commitment to helping people encounter Jesus Christ. Martin will remain involved as founder and a board member; Reyes succeeds interim CEO Tim Thoman, who led the organization during the board’s national search beginning in December 2025. 1
Reyes previously served as FOCUS vice president of ministry and formation, helping shape the formation of missionaries who accompany college students. Most recently, he was senior vice president of communications for the Knights of Columbus. 1
Earlier, Reyes held leadership roles at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, including executive director of its Department of Justice, Peace, and Human Development and assistant general secretary for Integral Human Development. He co-founded the Augustine Institute in 2005 and was its first president, founded the street-outreach and missionary-formation nonprofit Christ in the City in 2011, and previously taught history at Christendom College. 1
Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the USCCB, welcomed the appointment and said Reyes’s friendship with Martin gives the leadership transition continuity. Coakley also pointed to Reyes’s experience in apostolates and the Knights of Columbus, and said bishops rely on lay movements such as FOCUS to advance the Great Commission. 1
Monsignor James Shea, president of the University of Mary, praised Reyes’s familiarity with FOCUS’s founding vision and cited his leadership, judgment, and apostolic commitment. Archbishop Emeritus Charles J. Chaput likewise endorsed the selection, saying Reyes knows the founder’s vision and FOCUS staff and missionaries through long experience. 1*
Ecclesial leadership forms missionary disciples through continuity and renewal
Ecclesial leadership forms missionary disciples by holding continuity and renewal together: safeguarding the apostolic faith and communion while helping the Church respond creatively to the mission entrusted to it.
Bishops serve this continuity through apostolic succession: they preserve the unity of the faith and carry forward Christ’s mission to make disciples among all nations. This is not merely institutional maintenance; it is a responsibility to keep the Church outward-looking and missionary.
At the same time, faithful leadership does not treat every inherited pastoral practice as untouchable. Pope Francis calls communities to reconsider evangelization’s goals, structures, style, and methods, rejecting the assumption that “we have always done it this way.” Such discernment is to be communal, courageous, realistic, and exercised especially under the bishops’ leadership.
The bishop’s role is therefore responsive as well as guiding: at times he leads from the front, at times accompanies his people among them, and at times follows their initiatives—while listening broadly and fostering participation for the sake of reaching everyone with the Gospel. Renewal, however, is not simply structural change. It must be rooted in Christ and involve the conversion of people and communities.
This formation belongs to the whole Church. It begins in Christian initiation and continues throughout life; families, parishes, communities, educators, clergy, and others help people grow into disciples who witness joyfully to Christ. Every member can both receive formation and contribute to the formation of others.
Thus continuity gives missionary renewal its faithfulness and identity; renewal helps continuity remain a living service to the Gospel rather than mere preservation. The aim is not change for its own sake, but a Church continually formed in Christ and sent to share him with the world.