This is the first episode of Season Two! And I’m excited to be talking with Sara Larson!

I interviewed Sara about a year and a half ago for the Pope Francis Generation podcast to hear about the mission of Awake. A lot has happened since then! I wanted to interview her again to talk about some exciting things Awake is doing. More specifically, I wanted her to be on the first episode of Season Two to have a conversation about what it means to engage in the Church with a preferential option for survivors because that’s at the heart of my mission with Third Space.

Sara Larson is the executive director of Awake, an independent Catholic nonprofit organization working for awakening, transformation, and healing from the wounds of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. She also lifts up the voices and stories of abuse survivors in her personal blog, In Spirit and Truth.

LINKS

Awake’s website:

https://www.awakecommunity.org

Sara’s In Spirit and Truth blog:

https://inspiritandtruth.substack.com

Sara’s talk for the International Safeguarding Conference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkhjJsmrt94

Pope Leo XIV’s Letter to Awake:

https://www.awakecommunity.org/blog/pope-leo-responds-to-letters-from-survivors

ABOUT THIRD SPACE: Third Space is the podcast for those who see the beauty of Catholicism, as well as the ugliness, who have experienced real harm AND real grace in the Church. Every episode I will have conversations with guests about the good and the bad in the Church—avoiding easy answers or black & white fundamentalism—in order to hold on to all that is true.

SUPPORT THIS SHOW: Please consider becoming a paid subscriber. All of your support directly helps my family and allows me to continue working on projects like this podcast, the newsletter, as well as resources about spiritual abuse in the Catholic Church.

www.catholicthirdspace.com

ABOUT THE HOST: Paul Fahey lives in Michigan with his wife and five kids. He is a limited licensed professional counselor, retreat leader, and catechist. He is a co-founder of Where Peter Is, founder and co-host of the Pope Francis Generation podcast, and the host of the Third Space podcast. He seeks to provide pastoral counseling for Catholics who have been spiritually abused, counseling for Catholic ministers, and counseling education so that ministers are more equipped to help others in their ministry.

Get full access to Third Space at www.catholicthirdspace.com/subscribe