Heroic Men launches simple pledge with goal of reaching 1 million men by 2033
The Heroic Pledge begins with 30 seconds of prayer, then asks men to pray daily, connect weekly and invite monthly A pledge any man can remember.
Men across North America are being invited into a pledge built to be simple enough to repeat from memory.
Pray every day. Pray for three to ten men by name. Connect with one of them each week. Invite one new man each month.
That is the Heroic Pledge, an initiative from Heroic Men, founded by the Catholic Men’s Leadership Alliance. Its organizers say the pledge was created as a direct answer to loneliness, addiction, isolation and cultural decline, with a long-term goal of reaching 1 million men by 2033, the 2,000th anniversary of the Resurrection of Christ.
The pledge begins small by design.
“It literally starts with 30 seconds of prayer a day,” said Dominic De Souza, from Heroic Men. “That’s it.”
Simple gets it done
Chris Mann, who joined De Souza in presenting the pledge, said the point is to give men a way to begin immediately.
“This pledge is designed to be so simple to draw men in who are ready to do something,” Mann said. “You start orienting yourself toward the things that are truly going to make you happy and make a difference in your life.”
Pray daily, connect weekly, invite monthly. The organizers describe the pledge through three simple movements: prayer, brotherhood and outreach.
Men are asked to write down the names of three to 10 men important to them and pray for them by name each day. They are encouraged to connect with one man each week, then invite one new man each month to take the same pledge.
“Return to prayer every day,” De Souza said. “It could be a single Our Father, but it’s a return to the Father so that we’re not trying to solve these problems on our own.”
Mann said the pledge is meant to move men out of isolation and toward deliberate friendship.
“We can’t be connected by ourselves,” Mann said. “You have to go out and invite other men.”
The simplicity is central to the mission. A man does not need to start a group, attend a conference or become a formal leader before beginning. He can start today by praying for the men already in his life.
A response to loneliness and decline. Mann described the pledge as a response to widespread cultural distress.
“We are the best off that we have ever been as a species,” Mann said. “America is ridiculously wealthy. Food, shelter, water, yes, there are people who have challenges with those, but when you look at the macro level, we’re better off than we’ve ever been. And at the same time, we’re somehow more depressed, more lonely, more addicted, more medicated and more suicidal than we’ve ever been. It’s not working.”
The pledge, organizers said, gives men a way to answer that crisis through daily prayer and regular contact with other men.
De Souza said Heroic Men is looking for an “accelerating solution” to problems he believes are accelerating around men, families and culture.
“If we have an accelerating problem of the culture collapsing and falling apart, and families falling apart, and men unable to step up and be who God created them to be,” De Souza said, “well, we need an accelerating solution.”
Build your shield wall
A shield wall of men. De Souza describes the men named in the pledge as a “shield wall.”
“When you take this pledge, these three to ten men, they’re your shield wall,” he said. “You’re locking arms with them. You’re standing shoulder to shoulder with them. You’re proactively stepping up on their behalf before the Father. You’re offering them up, and you’re daily asking for help and guidance and support for them, and their families.”
After practicing the pledge for two months, De Souza said he began seeing deeper conversations among the men he prayed for.
“They have been more confident to share the fact that they’re going through something difficult, a loss, family difficulty,” he said. “Suddenly they start saying things like, ‘I don’t feel so alone.’”
Mann said even hearing that someone is praying for you can matter.
“When you approached me and said, ‘Hey, by the way, you’re one of my guys,’ I’ve known you for years,” Mann said. “It was still meaningful. It meant something to me.”
He said the pledge is about identity as much as action.
“It’s saying, ‘Look who I am. I am a son of the Father. I am a man who looks out for my brothers,’” Mann said.
An alliance rather than a competitor. Heroic Men leaders said the pledge is meant to serve existing men’s ministries, parishes and apostolates.
“There’s a ton of groups out there who are doing great work,” Mann said. “This isn’t business, this is ministry. Why would you try to get somebody to stop doing something that’s working so they can do your thing? We’re workers in the same vineyard of the Lord.”
Mann said groups such as the Knights of Columbus, That Man Is You, Men of Christ and Man Up already do important work. The pledge is meant as a common commitment that can strengthen those efforts.
“What if we all took this pledge?” Mann asked. “Whether I’m part of any of these groups, what if we all came together on this central theme and made this commitment in our personal lives?”
The three traits of a hero
De Souza said Heroic Men has studied why some ministries thrive while others struggle, especially since the pandemic.
“We think we’ve distilled it down to the three that matter most,” he said. “Daily prayer, building a brotherhood, no man goes through life alone, and then regular outreach.”
Heroic Men offers a downloadable pledge form, a 30-day email series, video content and training for men who want to strengthen or begin local ministries.
“We’re here to serve and support you to build up your ministries,” De Souza said. “We’re not asking you to come and build up Heroic Men.”
One man, then one million. The organization’s goal is to reach 1 million men by 2033.
“To go from one man to a million men, it’s only six steps,” De Souza said, describing how one man praying for up to ten others could eventually create exponential growth, if those men also take the pledge.
Mann said exponential growth begins slowly, then builds.
“It’s one of those beautiful things where we can feel like the weight of the world’s not on our shoulders,” he said. “Just own this pledge, but you’re going to see an avalanche of difference.”
For many Christians, the year 2033 carries deep meaning.
“As we head toward that year, 2,000 years after the Resurrection of Christ as it’s traditionally held, there’s a lot of energy, a lot of momentum,” Mann said. “What are we hoping to be able to say once we’re there? Let’s start working toward it now.”
De Souza invited men to imagine the long-term fruit of the pledge.
“What is it going to be like seven years later after you’ve been praying for men for years, every single day?” he asked. “What kind of friendships are you going to have? What happens to your parish?”
The pledge, he said, is only the beginning.
“Every hero has a journey, because we do believe that life is an adventure,” De Souza said. “Here’s where you start.”