Schmitz is the fourth of six children, born to Peter Schmitz, an orthopedic surgeon,[12] and Gudrun "Goodie" Schmitz (née Amundsen).[13][14][15] Schmitz was born in the Oak Park neighborhood of Chicago, where his father attended medical school.[16] The family then relocated to Brainerd, Minnesota, where his father practiced medicine.[12] Schmitz is of Irish and German descent; his paternal grandmother comes from County Cork.[17] Schmitz was baptized on the March 1, 1975[18] at the Church of the Assumption,[19] Richfield, Minneapolis. He attended St Francis of the Lakes Catholic School for elementary school,[20] Brainerd High School,[21] and St John's University, where he majored in Theology.[22]
Despite being brought up in a Catholic family, Schmitz was largely indifferent to religion until the age of 15.[23] After spending time as a missionary in South America,[24] Schmitz attended Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity and was ordained in 2003 for the Diocese of Duluth.[25] Schmitz is currently the director of youth and young adult ministry for the diocese[26] as well as the Newman Center chaplain at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
Media career
Since 2015, Schmitz has been the host of Ascension Presents, a YouTube series produced by Ascension Press offering Catholic perspectives on cultural and societal issues. Beginning in 2017, these talks have also been offered as podcasts.
On January 1, 2021, Schmitz and Ascension launched a new podcast, The Bible in a Year, which consists of 365 daily episodes reading the entire bible (including the apocrypha). In each episode he reads and discusses sections of the Bible, also adding his own commentary and prayer. The podcast achieved success.[28]
On June 29, 2022, Schmitz and Ascension announced they would be launching another podcast, The Catechism in a Year, which premiered on January 1, 2023.[31] The format is similar to The Bible in a Year, consisting of 365 daily episodes where Schmitz reads and discusses sections of the Catechism, adding in his own prayer and commentary.[32]
Books
Made for Love: Same-Sex Attraction and the Catholic Church (2018)[33]
