Poverty, violence and climate change are all factors in migration – people moving from one region to another. It’s a story that has been going on throughout the history of humanity. This week on Catholic Review Radio, Christopher Gunty talks with Bill O’Keefe, executive vice president for Mission, Mobility and Advocacy for Baltimore-based Catholic Relief Services about migration, the coronavirus pandemic and how foreign policy can respect the dignity of all people.

Encouraging a love of reading is one of the best gifts parents can give their children. On today’s show, George Matysek talks with Cheri Blomquist about ways parents can cultivate that gift and how they can select works best suited for their children. Blomquist is the author of “Before Austen Comes Aesop: The Children’s Great Books and How to Experience Them.”

Every year, seminarians of the Archdiocese of Baltimore are placed in parishes throughout the archdiocese to learn about parish life and to experience ministry first-hand. Father Steven Roth, vocations director for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, talks with Rick Balog, parish manager at St. Isaac Jogues in Carney, about how seminarians serve at his parish.

The Baltimore Basilica is marking its 200th anniversary year with special events and celebrations. Catholic Review Radio hosts two special guests who recently spoke at the vigil and Mass for the patronal feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Aug. 14 and 15 – Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Bishop Robert Barron, respectively. Christopher Gunty talks with the two prelates about the history of America’s first cathedral and its significance for today.

The 2021-2022 academic year is filled with promise for Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. On today's show, George Matysek talks with Dr. Donna Hargens, superintendent of Catholic schools, about increasing enrollment, plans for educating children during a continuing pandemic and how schools will be involved in the Year of the Eucharist. In the second segment, we take you to the blessing ceremony for the new Mother Mary Lange Catholic School in Baltimore, where we hear from Gov. Larry Hogan, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and more.

Father Brian Nolan talks with Daughter of Charity Sister Liz Sjoberg about a calling that has brought her to Pasadena, MD, Mount St. Mary’s University, and currently at the front lines serving the poor at the U.S.-Mexico border.

It’s Books and Authors Day on Catholic Review Radio. This week, Christopher Gunty talks with Dr. Holly Ordway about her new book, “Tolkien’s Modern Reading – Middle-earth Beyond the Middle Ages” and how Tolkien’s Catholic faith influenced the author’s work. Also, George Matysek chats with Emily Koczela about the Very Young Catholic Project, which is a series of books that deal with the life of everyday Catholic children around the world.

Dante Barksdale had some wrongs in his life, but in the end he became a peacemaker in Baltimore’s Safe Streets program before his own life was snuffed out by gun violence. Baltimore-based Panacea Media made a documentary film, “Dante Barksdale’s Last Act,” to reflect on the redemption and healing that came toward the end of Dante’s life when the woman whose son he killed in a car accident forgave him 20 years later. Their story inspired another woman to forgive the man who accidentally ran down her son. Christopher Gunty talks with Daniel O’Connor, who produced the film, and the two inspiring mothers – Kenyati Gerald and Terri Abbott – who forgave the men who took the life of their sons.

Blessed Father Stanley Rother was trained at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md., and ordained in 1963. In 1981, he was martyred in the rectory of the mission he served in Guatemala. He was beatified in 2017, and his feast day is July 28. This week on Catholic Review Radio, Christopher Gunty speaks with Monsignor Thomas Tewes, a classmate of Father Rother, and Maria Ruiz Scaperlanda, who wrote the definitive biography of Father Rother.