Matthew Manion
The David Grenon Family Faculty Director, Center for Church Management; Professor of Practice, Management & Operations | Villanova School of Business Villanova University
- Villanova PA
Matthew Manion provides world-class leadership training and consulting to the Catholic Church.
Media
Areas of Expertise
Biography
As its faculty director, Prof. Manion's mission for the Center is to educate clergy and laity so they may better lead, plan, organize and steward the resources of their faith community. As a professor of practice at Villanova School of Business, he teaches courses on leadership, ethics, Catholic social teaching, organizational management and pastoral strategic planning.
Education
Villanova University
MS
University of Pennsylvania
BS
Select Media Appearances
U.S. Bishops Under Work Pressure Find New Formation and Fraternity at Villanova
National Catholic Reporter
2026-01-05
When Pope Leo XIV pulled aside a group of American bishops in Rome last fall, his message was unusually direct. After delivering his formal address, the pope—once Villanova alumnus Robert Prevost—told them plainly that they should consider attending a new formation program for bishops taking shape at his former university... "We wouldn't have been able to do the pilot without Pope Leo's invitation and blessing," said Matthew Manion, the Grenon Family Faculty Director of Villanova's Center for Church Management, who led the program.
As More Catholic Churches Close, Philadelphia Is Trying Something New
NPR
2025-11-19
The Catholic Church is facing aging congregations, fewer priests and financial strain. In many places, this has meant closing parishes. But in Philadelphia, they're trying something different... "There's a growing recognition that the old way of being church here in the United States, for the most part, is not working," said Villanova University's Matthew Manion. "We need to be a church that's going out. We need to be a church that's meeting people where they are."
Program at Pope Leo's Alma Mater, Villanova University, Builds Bishops' Leadership Skills
CatholicPhilly
2025-10-02
A Villanova University program is helping newer bishops in Philadelphia and across North America grow their management skills and better equip them to lead the faithful—all with the blessing and encouragement of a Villanova graduate, Pope Leo XIV... "The Church is not a business," said Matt Manion, the David Grenon Family Faculty Director for the Center for Church Management. "[But] it is an organization, and leaders have a responsibility to steward the people, the money and the other resources in a way that is worthy of the Gospel."
Christmas 2023: Unusual Back-to-Back Mass Schedule Could Hurt Parishes' Collections This Year
Catholic News Agency
2023-12-22
Will Catholic parishioners go to Mass twice in the coming days as they're supposed to, once for Sunday and a second time for Christmas? Parish coffers could take a hit if they don't... "The Christmas collections are typically three times the normal Sunday collection. It's the biggest collection of the year," said Matthew Manion, a professor at Villanova University who studies church management. "Particularly parishes that go week to week, any time you lose a Sunday is difficult."
A 118-Year-Old Fitler Square Church Is Falling Apart as Members and Pastor Battle in Superior Court
Billy Penn at WHYY
2023-06-26
A bitter, long-running legal battle between the pastor of a Philadelphia church and a group of parishioners has brought the century-old congregation near collapse, and endangered the historic church's survival... Generational change and declining participation can contribute to instability and conflict within churches, but actual civil lawsuits between a church and its pastor are "extremely rare," according to Matthew Manion, faculty director of the Center for Church Management in the Villanova School of Business.
Villanova Master's Integrates Business Principles With Church Management
Poets&Quants
2022-07-24
VSB's Master of Science in Church Management is the primary academic program of the school's Center for Church Management, believed to be the only such center within a business school, says Matthew Manion, the center's faculty director as well as VSB professor of management and operations... Inspired by the business school's MBA program, the online master's degree centers the foundational elements of a business curriculum within the context of church leadership in the Christian tradition.
Two Years Into Pandemic, Some Catholic Parishes Stretching Their Dollars
National Catholic Reporter
2022-03-11
A Villanova University study in November 2020 estimated a 24% decline in the offertory for the 2021 financial year, after surveying 169 parishes in three dioceses. Matt Manion, director of the Center for Church Management at Villanova, told NCR that his own research since then indicates that because Mass attendance across the board is still down by an estimated 30% to 40%, fewer people are financially supporting the church and its institutions.
U.S. Bishops Defend Planned $28 Million Eucharistic Congress Amid Criticism
National Catholic Reporter
2022-02-23
To organize the July 2024 National Eucharistic Congress, which they hope will attract up to 80,000 attendees, the bishops are partnering with Hargrove, an event-planning company based near Washington, D.C., that has been involved in previous papal events... Manion, from the Center for Church Management at Villanova University, said creating a nonprofit to handle a large event like a National Eucharistic Congress makes sense in that it doesn't pull resources from other activities in the bishops' conference budget.
Pope Francis Changed the Conversation, but Can He Change the Culture?
CatholicPhilly
2018-03-12
"Five years ago I was teaching a leadership course for a group of priests in Rome when we heard that Pope Benedict XVI had resigned... Then on March 13, 2013, the world was introduced to his successor, Pope Francis. As we commemorate the fifth anniversary of his papacy, it is an appropriate time to reflect on what has changed under Pope Francis' leadership."
Villanova's Center for Church Management Welcomes New Director
CatholicPhilly
2017-08-29
The Villanova University School of Business recently announced that Dr. Charles Zech, a professor of economics, has stepped down from his role as the faculty director for the Center for Church Management (CCM) and Master's of Science in Church Management (MSCM) program... He will be succeeded by Matthew Manion, a former president and CEO and most recently a senior fellow at the Wayne-based Catholic Leadership Institute (CLI).
