As we quickly approach another presidential election, I wanted to have Dr. Matthew Shadle on to talk about the USCCB’s voters guide, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship. We discuss the history, development, and purpose of this voters guide. I also share some of my own struggles with this document, including how I see parts of it as incongruent with Pope Francis’s social teaching. 

After more than sixteen years of teaching theology at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa and Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia, Dr. Matthew Shadle is the Academic Assessment Coordinator for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Iowa. He received his B.A. in Religion from Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Theology from the University of Dayton, in Dayton, Ohio. 

He has published Interrupting Capitalism: Catholic Social Thought and the Economy (Oxford, 2018) and The Origins of War: A Catholic Perspective (Georgetown, 2011), as well as numerous essays and articles on Catholic social teaching and its intersection with both fundamental moral theology and the social sciences, with special focus on war and peace, the economy, and immigration. He is currently the editor of Window Light, a Substack newsletter focused on Catholic theology and ministry.

LINKS:

Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship

https://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/faithful-citizenship/upload/forming-consciences-for-faithful-citizenship.pdf 

Matthew Shadle

https://collegeview.academia.edu/MatthewShadle 

Public Reason as Historical Reason: Post-Conciliar Social Teaching in the United States (academic article by Matthew Shadle)

https://www.academia.edu/33591440/Public_Reason_as_Historical_Reason_Post_Conciliar_Social_Teaching_in_the_United_States

Pope Francis Generation interview with Matthew Shadle

https://www.catholicthirdspace.com/p/matthew-shadle-franciss-theological

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