Renzo Ortega and his wife, Monica, started their podcast, Two Become Family, in 2022. In the wake of COVID-19 and virtual marriage prep, the Ortegas decided to launch their ministry after years of work as marriage preparation coordinators and facilitators. Their ministry is built around sharing the practical applications of authentic Catholic theology within marriage and family life. Besides their weekly podcasts, which aim to “restore confidence in marriage and family life” through accompaniment and their real-life experience of marriage, the Ortegas are also fellows at the St. John Paul II Foundation and travel nationally as speakers for the Together in Holiness marriage conference series.
Today, they have a wide audience in the Catholic sphere and have appeared on features from EWTN and the Knights of Columbus. They have also authored or co-authored three books, including Lovemaking: How to Talk about Sex with Your Spouse and the family devotional Go to Joseph for Children. Renzo is also the author of the forthcoming book Quest for the Male Soul: Discover What Your Life is For, which will be published by Ave Maria Press in January 2027. Their experience of living a Catholic marriage is not only relatable, but also authentically grounded in the perennial truths of the Catholic faith, where they witness the good and the hard coexisting. This hopeful dimension to their work truly makes them Catholic leaders in the New Evangelization. We were happy to sit down with Renzo, who graduated from Holy Apostles in May 2022 with a Master of Arts in Theology (Apologetics concentration), to hear more about his experience as a student and how that impacts his ministry with his wife.
1. How did studying theology and apologetics at Holy Apostles shape the way you think about communicating the Catholic faith—not just academically, but especially in the context of everyday marriage and family life?
Studying theology and apologetics taught me that communicating the Catholic faith is not just about having the right answer. The truth must be communicated clearly, but it must also be communicated in a way that helps people recognize how that truth speaks into the circumstances of their lived experiences.
Many Catholics know that the Church has beautiful things to say about marriage and family life, but they still struggle with the human, day-to-day reality of living out those teachings. There can be a real gap between understanding the theology of marriage and knowing how to live it around the kitchen table.
My education helped me become more confident in entering that gap, because it gave me the theological foundation to remain faithful to the Church while translating complex ideas without compromising their depth. That has shaped everything Monica and I do. We want people to encounter the wisdom of the Church, but we also want them to feel accompanied by people who understand that marriage is beautiful, sacramental, holy, and also deeply human.
2. You graduated from Holy Apostles in 2022, the same year you launched Two Become Family with Monica. How did your experience as a student intersect with or prepare you for the ministry you are doing today?
My studies and the launch of Two Become Family were deeply connected. Monica and I began the ministry because young adults we had previously served in youth ministry were entering serious relationships, discerning marriage, and beginning families of their own. They were asking important questions, and we wanted to remain connected with them and continue those conversations.
Holy Apostles gave me the theological framework to engage those questions responsibly. At the same time, our own marriage gave us the lived experience to recognize that people usually need more than information transfer. They need accompaniment, authentic relationships, and the witness of couples who are willing to speak honestly about both the grace of the sacrament and the very real human formation marriage requires.
That intersection has become central to our apostolate. We are not interested in merely repeating theological concepts, but we also don’t want to offer advice based only on our personal experiences. My time at Holy Apostles prepared me to do that with greater confidence, clarity, and fidelity.
3. For someone considering studying at Holy Apostles, what would you say they can gain from the experience beyond earning a degree, especially if they hope to use their education in ministry or evangelization?
Beyond earning a degree, Holy Apostles can give a person the intellectual and spiritual tools to continue learning long after the program ends. Ministry constantly presents questions you have never encountered before. No degree can prepare you with a memorized answer for every pastoral situation, but a strong theological education can teach you where to look, how to think, and how to discern whether an answer is faithful to what the Church has given us.
It can also give you greater humility. The more deeply you enter the treasury of the Church, the more aware you become of how much you do not know. My time at Holy Apostles did not produce insecurity but freed me from believing that ministry depends upon my ability to be the expert in every room.
For someone hoping to serve in ministry or evangelization, that combination of confidence and humility is incredibly important. You become better equipped to accompany people searching for God, meaning, and direction without making yourself the center of their journey.