After seeing firsthand the growing need for authentic, liturgically inspired Catholic education, Fr. Sirico founded the St. John Henry Newman Institute in 2021. He is also the co-founder of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty and pastor emeritus of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Under his leadership, the Acton Institute has become a global voice for liberty, virtue, and free-market principles. Its media projects—including The Call of the Entrepreneur, The Birth of Freedom, Poverty Cure, and Poverty, Inc.—and educational programs have reached millions of lives in more than 140 countries.

As president of the Acton Institute, Fr. Sirico has addressed hundreds of groups across the U.S. and Canada, as well as in more than 30 countries, including Venezuela, Cuba, China, Taiwan, Australia, Kenya, Lithuania, Argentina, Guatemala, and the Philippines. Affirming every individual’s dignity and ability to create prosperity for family and community, he continually shares how faith, freedom, and vocation are connected and why they are worth defending.

Fr. Sirico has authored more than 200 articles and several books, including The Entrepreneurial Vocation (Acton Institute, 2001), Moral Basis for Liberty (Foundation for Economic Education, 1996), Toward a Free and Virtuous Society (Acton Institute, 1997), The Soul of Liberty (Acton Institute, 2002), Defending the Free Market: The Moral Case for a Free Economy (Regnery, 2012), and most recently, The Economics of the Parables (Regnery, 2022).

As pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus, Fr. Sirico oversaw the refounding of the parish school, Sacred Heart Academy, as a Catholic classical academy. Since its refounding, the school has gained national recognition from institutions including Hillsdale College and the Classical Learning Test. This dramatic transformation inspired him to spearhead a global movement for Perennial Catholic Education.