Luis Nava, a high school freshman at the International Academy in Michigan, takes to heart that he wants to be ready to answer any questions from his peers but also to better understand his Catholic faith. He began an online newspaper called The Catholic Michigander, where he tackles some of those questions and more.
Nava is a parishioner at St. Joseph Parish in Lake Orion, Michigan, and spent his first few years attending school there. He recently spoke to students at the Catholic school about a project he started to help spread the Catholic faith among teens and to help young people understand what the faith is all about.
“A lot of the times, if I’m facing questions from classmates that don’t have the same beliefs as me, I want to know exactly what I believe and exactly why I believe it,” Nava said.
Learning about his faith became more of a quest after Nava attended a pro-life conference in 2024 at his parish. While he was there, Nava picked up a quote from William Wilberforce that he says inspired him to fulfill what he believes is his calling: “Let it not be said that I was silent when they needed me,” he said. The saying is posted above his desk. “I see it every day.”
Nava, who plans to study neuroscience, said he has always been passionate about writing and hoped to start a newspaper one day. After the conference, he felt the prompting of the Holy Spirit guiding him, and he got to work on a website.
“It all came from a project that I had when I was in middle school,” he said. “I was on the newspaper for my middle school in sixth grade, and then in seventh grade I took over as the editor.”
Nava takes ideas for content for the newspaper from his daily experiences and conversations with classmates. He also invites others to write with him.
The newspaper contains a wide variety of articles on different topics, from infertility and natural family planning to life issues and the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Nava said he writes “if a particular issue sparks my interest.” Father Jim Kean advises Nava on Catholic theology to ensure that all of the content adheres to Catholic teaching.
“There was a report that a huge amount of Catholics don’t know that Christ is really present in the Eucharist, so I thought topics like those would be good to address,” Nava said.
Each month, Nava writes and edits the copy and posts it to the website, featuring not only his writing but also that of some of his peers.