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Catholic International University

Social Initiative

Prison Ministry Program

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Faith-Based

Initiatives

Catholic International’s digital prison ministry began with the launch of the first Continuing Education Catechetical course on the Edovo Technology Company’s digital platform: The Gospel of St. Matthew, a multi-lesson course. At that time, Edovo was serving just under 50 prisons. The first report providing statistics on the number of students taking The Gospel of St. Matthew was generated on March 14, 2018, showing that 52 students had taken or were in the process of taking the course. Today, six years later, the program has expanded to include 102 multi-lesson courses on the Edovo platform, with 25 of those available in Spanish. The number of students has grown significantly, with approximately 20,000 students a year now completing one or more courses. This growth is reflected in the Edovo report for May 2024 to April 2025, which recorded 20,019 students, up 1,733 from the previous year.

For more information, reach out to:
prisonministry@catholiciu.edu
304-724-5000 ext. 719

Milestones in Prison Engagement

This expansion has been made possible through collaboration with the Order of Malta, which has supported the creation of many of these courses. Additional offerings include the Gatekeepers Re-Entry program in both English and Spanish, the Stations of the Cross program, and custom content developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the Advent video prison program. Other initiatives supported by the Order of Malta include the Behind the Walls program, the Pen Pal Program, the Digital Rosary, and Quarterly Newsletters. Catholic International has also developed the Hallow Company Audio Series, comprising 208 audio files, and continues to provide content tailored to meet the needs of incarcerated individuals.

Partnerships

The Gospel

Behind Bars

Catholic International University Update – Edovo Platform Engagement
As of June 3, 2025, Catholic International University (CatholicIU) continues to expand its reach and deepen its impact through its partnership with Edovo. In collaboration with Hallow, CatholicIU is actively integrating additional audio content to enrich the platform, while also engaging with organizations such as SFS Ministries to broaden its educational offerings.

CatholicIU content is now live in 1,229 state and county correctional facilities, with an additional 249 facilities in active deployment, bringing the total number of facilities either live or in progress to 1,478.

Engagement Highlights:

  • Lessons Started: 3,009,715

  • Lessons Completed: 2,612,075

  • Completion Rate: 87%

Currently, 102 CatholicIU courses are available on the platform, including 25 translated into Spanish. As of April 2025, approximately 20,000 incarcerated students are served annually through this partnership.

Since CatholicIU’s Edovo content first launched in March 2018:

  • 170,100 unique incarcerated learners have accessed the content (first-time access only)

  • 108,997 learners have completed at least one full course (3–5 lessons)

  • Total time spent on CatholicIU content: 439,023 hours

  • 47 states plus Washington, D.C. currently have access to CatholicIU content

Gatekeepers: The Business of Living Program Completions (as of June 3, 2025)

  • English Program (since Spring 2022): 9,685 completions

  • Spanish Program (since September 2023): 694 completions

  • Total Completions: 10,379

Catholic International remains committed to bringing high-quality, faith-informed education to incarcerated learners across the nation.

Prison

Ministry
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