Company Overview
Ascension is the leader in Catholic faith formation and digital content. Founded in 1998, for the past 25 years Ascension has helped nurture the faith of more than 10 million people in 8,000 parishes through books, Bibles, faith formation programs, chart-topping podcasts like The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)™, engaging social media accounts, and Ascension Presents—the largest Catholic YouTube channel in English.
Unparalleled Digital Platforms for Catholic Content
- Ascension Presents is the largest Catholic YouTube channel in English with more than 780,000 subscribers and over 130 million views. Some of its most popular personalities include Fr. Mike Schmitz, Jackie and Bobby Angel, the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (CFRs), and Fr. Josh Johnson.
- The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) featuring Jeff Cavins was the #1 show on Apple Podcasts in all categories for 17 days after its launch, from January 2 to 18, 2021, and hit the same position again in January 2022. Its sequel podcast, The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz), achieved the same #1 spot in 2023. Press resources here.
- Ascension’s 13 podcasts have received over half a billion—520 million—total downloads. The unquestioned leader in Catholic podcasting, Ascension’s shows have hit #1 on Apple podcasts in all categories for three years in a row and regularly hold the #1 spots in Religion & Spirituality on Apple, Chartable, and Spotify.
- The Ascension social media accounts (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube) enjoy 1.6 million combined followers and publish inspiring, uplifting faith-based content daily.
Books and Study Programs for Individuals and Communities
- Ascension has sold nearly 12 million books and study sets for Catholic Bible study, faith formation, and sacramental preparation topics.
- Ascension developed The Great Adventure® Bible Study Program, which organizes Scripture study according to The Bible Timeline®, an innovative system of twelve color-coded, easily remembered time periods. The Bible Timeline Learning System has been used by hundreds of thousands of Catholics to better understand God’s Word.
- The Great Adventure Catholic Bible, developed to accompany The Great Adventure program, is the most popular and best-rated Catholic Bible in the United States, having received the most 5-star ratings of any Catholic Bible on Amazon. It features The Bible Timeline and other study aids integrated directly into the scriptural text and is also available in Spanish.
- Ascension’s award-winning Confirmation program, Chosen: Your Journey Toward Confirmation, has been used to prepare over 700,000 Confirmation candidates for the gift of the Holy Spirit and was named the 2015 Resource of the Year by the Association of Catholic Publishers.
- Ascension has published dozens of award-winning award-winning Catholic books, including A Guide to the Passion: 100 Questions about The Passion of the Christ, which was a New York Times Best Seller when it debuted in 2004.
Our Mission and Values
Our mission is to present the truth and beauty of the Catholic Faith as the path to a fulfilled life and authentic happiness. We share valuable resources, create powerful media, and build communities to answer the longings of the human heart with the transformative power of the Gospel.