How the deep faith of John Studzinski has imbued his work in the worlds of finance and philanthropy

The following interview is part of a series called Profiles in Faith, exploring ways in which the personal and professional lives of noteworthy individuals have been shaped by their Catholic faith. Here Amanda Bowman speaks with financier and philanthropist John Studzinski.

Amanda Bowman: As someone who has been so successful as a business leader, could you tell us about how your faith has motivated you and the impact it has had on your life? Perhaps we should start with your childhood.

John Studzinski: Well, faith is something I consider very personal. It was personal to me when I was 6 years old, and I first worked in a soup kitchen. It was personal to me when at 12, I began working across the United States on a toll-free line for adolescents with communicable diseases. And really, over the past 50 years, my faith has become stronger and more rigorous.

Of course over that time I have had many role models. Faith is also tested, and while I was raised in a very strong Catholic family, I always saw my faith as a very direct relationship between myself and God, and in particular Jesus Christ.

AB: How does that faith manifest itself in your day job?

JS: In all things I do I ask for the intercession of the Holy Spirit, even before an interview like this. If I need words or phrases, I pray: “Come Holy Spirit, Come.” I let it guide me and express my faith which I have always seen in that wonderful mantra from Padre Pio: “Jesus Christ, I surrender myself to you.”

As St Paul would tell us, it’s about love. I’m very focused on the fact that I’m here to support human dignity and humanity. I have been blessed with many gifts in terms of my family, my upbringing and my talent. I also strongly believe that of those to whom much has been given, much is expected.

AB: You have enjoyed amazing success in your chosen career of financial services, but it’s not a profession usually associated with Christian values or integrity. How have you reconciled this pathway with your deep faith?

JS: I’ve been in financial services for over 40 years, and I think the reason is that I truly like advising and helping people. I get to see an incredible gamut of very powerful, very successful people – who are in a whole range of work – from all over the world. And whether I am in California, Taiwan or Japan – wherever I am – I go to daily Mass. I try to keep my feet on the ground from a grassroots point of view.

But a lot of very powerful people from all walks of life contact me out of the blue, because they know I am a devout Catholic and are curious about my faith. I don’t wear my faith on my sleeve as a form of dogma; I regard my faith as private. But when people ask me: “Did you go to Mass this morning at the Franciscan Mission in Tokyo?” for instance, I say: “Yes, I was at the 6.30,” and the Japanese Finance Minister loves it, because he was educated by nuns.

So faith is a very interesting bridge and people are willing to share their faith with you in a measured way. Personal faith is a very powerful tool for evangelisation, in terms of Christian values and ethics. Perhaps because it comes down to that whole question of “Do you live your life in a certain way from 9 to 5, making your decisions based on your faith, or do you make decisions another way?” I think people want to have roots in their faith, and that is very important.

AB: Fighting human trafficking is a cause to which you have devoted much of your time and treasure. What was it about that issue so motivated you?

JS: I learned a long time ago from Mother Teresa that you can only change the world one person at a time. I thought always in my life in terms of homelessness and dealing with marginalised people with prison reform. Then over the last decade, I started to have a strong focus on one of the biggest challenges facing humanity, the challenge of modern slavery and human trafficking. And I really felt that you had to see the face of Christ in every person on the planet.

I was shocked that at that time modern slavery was not that well understood. It was a serious problem but one that wasn’t being approached globally whether in terms of communication, education or government policy. I’ve learned that whenever there’s a great event in the world where people congregate en masse, particularly young people, it results in trafficking for a whole host of reasons, whether it’s labour, sex-work or even some of the more horrific types of exploitation of the human body.

So that was really the catalyst. It turns out that every major company in the world, whether they know it or not, may have some types of slavery in their supply chain. The good news is that the UN Commission on Modern Slavery – and human trafficking as it relates to some types of slavery – has made its eradication part of their sustainability goals as they move forward.

AB: Is there a challenge in balancing the privacy of your faith with the opportunity to use it as a tool for evangelisation?

JS: We’re living in a world where people’s values are more and more ambiguous, and they are uncertain. People want to know what they’re dealing with – which is why they ask the question about daily Mass – whether in China, Tokyo, South Africa or Copenhagen. And when I say “Yes”, I go on to talk about the universality of the Church, what it is about it that gives me strength for my day, and gets me focused on what is important in engaging with them. It’s a very important anchor. Faith is not an accessory like a handbag or a wristwatch; it’s the very core of my being.

AB: Do you live your life accordingly?

JS: I try. But let’s be clear, no one is a saint. I’m certainly not, and I wouldn’t pretend to be.  But you can also get some great advice from reading about the Saints. There’s a wonderful quote from St Teresa of Avila, which I use all the time in the business world: “The Devil enters your soul through your ego.”

Business leaders love it and it goes to the question: “Are you making this decision for your ego, or are you making it for other factors, such as your management, your shareholders, your investors, your stakeholders or whatever?” The fact that it comes from a 16th-century Catholic Spanish mystic makes it an interesting way of introducing faith into dialogue in a business context.       

AB: So how do you think of the connection between business and experiences of faith?

Business is one bridge in the world, but it tends to be very transactional, whereas faith is a very powerful way of building relationships. In terms of relationships, faith endures; it really does.

John Studzinski on Pope John Paul II:

I remember sitting with Pope John Paul II in Poland during a World Youth Day, and I’d been reading about Padre Pio and how he had times when he doubted his faith. And I asked the Holy Father if that happened to him, and he replied that everyone had moments when their faith is challenged. And then – I don’t know why – but I asked him about the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. Did he have any doubt about them, even with his great leadership role?

And he looked at me, staring me right in my face with those blue eyes, and he said: “As God is my witness, if the Crucifixion never took place, and the Resurrection never took place, then I have lived a lie.” I could feel in that moment the power of the energy around both of us. When he said that he would have lived a lie, the spiritual energy was just extraordinary.

This article first appeared in the March 2024 issue of the Catholic Herald. To subscribe to our multiple-award-winning magazine and have it delivered to your door anywhere in the world, go here.

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