Natural Law, Religious Liberty, and Faith-Based Nonprofits: The Napa Legal Story

Welcome to the Napa Legal Podcast, where we discuss religious liberty from the perspective of faith-based nonprofits! In this episode, Frank DeVito and Joseph Clement discuss the origins, mission, and identity of Napa Legal, and explain why the government must protect the free exercise of religion and the freedom of individuals and institutions to seek and worship God.

Drawing from Catholic social teaching, natural law, and American history, they examine:

- Humanity’s telos and human nature

- The Catholic understanding of religious liberty

- The history of nonprofits and freely made civil associations in America

- How Napa Legal supports religious organizations and faith-based nonprofits through legal education

This episode connects theology, philosophy, and law, explaining how religious liberty sustains a free society and why protecting faith-based nonprofits is essential to American civic life.

To learn more about Napa Legal and our work, visit our website here:

https://www.napalegalinstitute.org/

For more of the Napa Legal Podcast, visit our site here:

https://www.napalegalinstitute.org/the-napa-legal-podcast

Key Topics: natural law, teleology, human nature, Dignitas Humanae, Pope Saint Paul the Sixth (PVI), freedom of association, free exercise of religion, Alexis de Tocqueville, religious liberty litigation, corporate governance, legal education, legal compliance, regulatory requirements, 501(c)(3) status, religious organizations, American law and history.

The Napa Legal Podcast, December 23, 2025.