Ave Explores

Chris Baglow, director of the science and religion Initiative at the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame, discusses how faith and science approach truth. He said that by exploring science with the eyes of faith and approaching faith with a desire to understand science, the Church can evangelize in new ways.

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Kathleen Hoenke, a spatial ecologist and program director at the St. Kateri Conservation Center, discusses growing native plants and building rain gardens on church properties. She says her faith came to life when she realized the grandeur of God in the natural flowers that grew in her own backyard. As a result, how she manages her household, what she grows in her garden, and what she teaches her children have changed.

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Elena Gaona discusses the mission of the Catholic Climate Covenant, highlighting how the organization works to bring solar power to parishes, create climate care teams for dioceses, and encourage the faithful to care for the earth and slow the effects of climate change.

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Brandon Vogt, senior content director of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, explains that faith and science are not only compatible but also necessary to understand the mysteries of creation. He also offers strategies to best explain how faith and science work together to those who have serious doubts.

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The Catholic Traveler Mountain Butorac discusses the vibrancy of parish communities in Rome and how pilgrimages help people grow deeper in their faith and understand the beauty of the universal Church.

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• Meet The Catholic Traveler

James and Catherine McLoughlin have lived and worked in England, the Republic of Ireland, and Northern Ireland. They discuss Catholicism in each country, explain how faith comes alive on pilgrimages, in small groups, and through acts of service, and look ahead to the future of the Church in the United Kingdom.

Sean Forrest, founder of Haiti180, discusses his international mission that serves the impoverished of Port Au Prince. Forrest, who travels to Haiti frequently to work with missionaries and operate an orphanage, says Catholicism is an anchor in the Haitian culture.

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• Learn More about Haiti 180

Samuel Maina, a seminarian in the Diocese of Nyeri in Kenya, shares his vocation journey and how his love of the Church in Africa and the vibrancy of the African culture in worship, community, and study led him to discern the priesthood.

Links:

• Ave Explores: Catholicism Around the World, Week 3

Percival Holt, former president of the Youth Council of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India, discusses the vibrant Church in India, especially within youth and young adult ministry. Having traveled throughout India advancing the youth worker movement, Holt also explains the diversity within Indian Catholicism, where liturgical worship is an expression of local regions and communities.

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• Learn More about the National Youth Council of India

Joe Moeno-Kolio, a climate change advocate in Samoa, discusses how the Catholic faith is thriving in the South Pacific, especially in small village communities that are grounded in family life. Moeno-Kolio also explains how working to fight climate change, and care for God's creation is critical work for every Christian.

Links:

• Ave Explores: Catholicism Around the World