How to succeed in business while saving your soul

By Angelique Ruhi-Lopez - Florida Catholic

CORAL GABLES | When Alicio and Nirma Piña were asked if they wanted to join Legatus, they had no idea what it was about.

“We were invited and were intrigued by what they stand for,” said Alicio Piña, a parishioner at Our Lady of the Lakes in Miami Lakes. He is a lawyer, real estate investor and co-owner of four Vicky Bakeries. “As business leaders who want to follow God, it helps us see how to integrate faith into the workplace. We want to be Catholics who happen to have a business career, not the other way around.”

The Piñas were impressed. As Nirma Piña said, “This group is about Catholic people who serve God through their work, so we decided to join.”

On Feb. 20, the Piñas became one of 15 founding couples of the Miami chapter of Legatus.

Legatus, which means ambassador in Latin, was created by Domino’s Pizza founder Thomas Monaghan in 1987 to help Catholic business leaders study, live and spread the faith in their business, professional and personal lives.

“As members of Legatus, as professionals in the business community, and successful ones at that, you are certainly ‘in the world.’ And your careers are ways in which you can be and are ‘for the world’ without belonging to the world,” Archbishop Thomas Wenski said during his homily at the chartering Mass for the Fort Lauderdale Legatus chapter, Feb. 19 at St. Sebastian Church. There, 17 couples became founding members.

The following day, at the Miami chartering ceremony at St. Augustine Church in Coral Gables, Archbishop Wenski gave the new members similar counsel.

“As Catholics, your success in business cannot be judged solely on the bottom line … it will be judged on how it has helped you to achieve personal sanctification and how it has helped others achieve this as well,” he said. “In other words, you should see your business as a ‘vocation,’ a way of responding to your baptismal call to holiness.”

After the Mass, the couples came forward to receive their certificates as founding members; men also received lapel pins and women received necklaces with a Legatus pendant. A dinner and fireside chat with Monaghan followed each chartering ceremony.

 

FIRESIDE WISDOM

During the fireside chats, Monaghan imparted wisdom from his experiences at a Catholic orphanage as a child, his marriage of 57 years, and his years at the helm of Domino’s Pizza, the Detroit Tigers and Ave Maria University, and how he integrated his faith into these leadership positions.

“It’s great for Legatus to be successful not for itself but to save souls,” said Monaghan. “The purpose is pretty simple: gather the most proven leaders in the Church and get together with other CEOs and others with similar circumstances and, like one bishop told me, ‘you get together to know you’re not alone.’”

At the Miami chartering celebration, Ed Easton, founding member and longtime friend of Monaghan, moderated the fireside chat.

“Tom Monaghan is the most disciplined man I know. His goal is to get to heaven and take as many people with him as he can,” said Easton, a parishioner at St. Agnes Church in Key Biscayne, and chairman of Easton Group, a real estate firm doing business in Miami for 45 years. “Legatus is an opportunity to strengthen my faith and create friendships and bond with fellow Catholics, fellow business persons and with God,” he added.

Now that these two local chapters have been officially chartered, each chapter will continue to meet monthly for rosary, reconciliation, Mass, fellowship, dinner and speaker. Upcoming speakers will include Ralph Martin, Mary Rice Hasson, Dr. Ray Guarendi, Dr. Paul Voss, Jennifer Hubbard and others. The topics covered will range from best business practices to leadership to living your faith in the workplace, all with a Catholic focus.

“I like that we learn how to relate business with the faith, to put them in the same room and make them work together while growing your business,” said JM Padron, owner of JM Honda of Miami, a parishioner at St. Louis Church in Pinecrest, and a Legatus Miami founding member.

“We are called to continue to be the face of Christ for others as members (of Legatus),” added his wife, Roxana Padron, who also works at JM Honda and is a founding member. “We are called to be that light and handle our business in light of our faith.”

 

GROUNDED IN FAITH

“For Catholic business leaders and executives who make a lot of decisions, it’s really important that they’re grounded in faith and ethics and practicing their Catholicism within their businesses,” said Stefanie Benotti, Legatus development manager. “Legatus helps them know more about their faith and exercise it in all aspects of their lives. That’s why we include their spouses, so it imparts it into their personal lives as well.”

Though married couples are encouraged to join Legatus together, singles, widows and widowers are also welcome if they meet the membership criteria.

Brenda Franco, philanthropist and former business owner, said she is grateful that she could still join Legatus as a widow. Her older sister and husband have been Legatus members in Indianapolis for 27 years, and she longed for the group to come to Broward County.

“I have wanted a chapter here all these years and it never came about,” said Franco, who together with her late husband, Richard, founded Franco’s Cocktail Mixes in 1974. “Finally, last year, my sister read that they wanted to start a chapter in Fort Lauderdale. It’s a dream come true for the community here, at least for me. It’s a great group of people and from all different parishes and we know it will grow. That’s our goal.”

Franco said the Fort Lauderdale chartering celebration was “an amazing experience.”

“It brought tears of joy to my eyes,” she said. “It was so heart-warming just to see this group of people being chartered into a new organization for our community. And to see the support from the archbishop and Tom Monaghan there, as well as our chaplain, Msgr. James Dixon, and some other local priests, it was very fulfilling and spiritual.”

 

CHAPTERS 91 AND 92

Legatus has more than 90 chapters in the United States and Canada with multiple chapters currently in development. Fort Lauderdale became the 91st chapter and Miami became the 92nd. Though the Miami chapter existed in the past, it was restructured when Archbishop Wenski named Father Richard Vigoa, pastor of St. Augustine, its new chaplain.

“When Father Vigoa became pastor of St. Augustine, it reinvigorated interest and helped to launch a new Miami chapter,” said Benotti.

“Father Vigoa is a great leader, he’s a big draw and asset to the chapter,” said Amy Easton, wife of Ed Easton and a Miami chapter founding member.

Father Vigoa said he is excited for the future growth of Legatus in South Florida.

“It’s one of the most important groups in the U.S. We need business leaders who can live and witness to their faith. It starts from the top,” he said. “Employees and staff can know that the Lord is important to the boss. When a business leader practices their faith and surrounds themselves with successful Catholic people, it leads to growth and mentoring and it creates an environment where people can express their faith at work as well.”

“It’s my prayer that more business leaders will come on board and build a chapter that allows business leaders the space to practice their faith and save their souls,” Father Vigoa added. “If you’re considering whether or not to join, this is the place for you. We need to surround ourselves with like-minded people, people who love the Lord and seek holiness. (At monthly meetings), we will listen to speakers, take time for reflection, pray for our souls. If you know someone — a business leader, a CEO —invite them. We are building a community of like-minded people who want to get to heaven.” 

LEGATUS MEMBERSHIP QUALIFICATIONS

• Qualifications for membership in Legatus include: being a practicing Catholic; holding a managerial title and managing 50 plus employees; and a company annual revenue of $7 million or higher, whether in the past or present day.
• Qualifications for an owner or principal of a small business are adjusted to managing 10 employees, $1 million in payroll, and a business valuation of $10 million or higher.
• To join the Fort Lauderdale chapter, contact Nancy Taravella at [email protected].
• To join the Miami chapter, contact Carmen Santamaria at [email protected].
• For more information, visit https://legatus.org/.