Controversies in Church History

In the latest episode of Controversies in Church History, I interviewed Dr. Hanael Bianchi, author of a new titled A Liberal Revolution: The Implementation of Vatican II in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. In his book, Dr. Bianchi argues that it was not wild eyed radicals who altered much of Church practice after Vatican II in Baltimore, but a "liberal" consensus of clergy and laity who believed they were making the Church better by embracing notions of personal freedom and democratic decision making. For any traditionally minded Catholics who want a view of how Vatican II affected people on the ground in 1960s and 1970s, Dr. Bianchi's book is a good example of history grounded in primary sources which shed light on this important but controversial episode in the Church's history.

Hello friends! The latest episode episode of Controversies in Church History is a replay of what was originally a patron-only episode for patrons on Patreon, which I now make available to everyone. In it, I take a look at a work of history written nearly a hundred years ago, The Problem of Unbelief in the Sixteenth Century, by Lucien Febvre, a French historian who published his book during the dark days of World War II. In this book, he tries to explain why modern atheism was impossible for people in the sixteenth century writer, focusing on the poet Francois Rabelais, a Franciscan friar famed for his skepticism. I take a look at Febvre's work in this episode, and try to explain why it is a topic that is important for Catholics to understand. Cheers!

The latest episode of Controversies in Church History is an interview with James Green, a Catholic teacher and writer. James has penned a series of articles at his Substack taking a closer look at the data on vocations, church attendance and other data on key indicators in the Catholic Church before and since the Second Vatican Council. In our discussion, which is a long one, we look at the impact of the Council but also consider how the trends that became prominent with that Council began in the decades before it took place, and what might have caused them. Finally, we end our discussion by looking at some projections James has made based on current data and what signs of hope one can find in the data, despite the downward trends in the Church. This is a very deep dive into statistics and a very long discussion, so I hope my listeners and viewers enjoy it. Please let me know what you think.

Note: the video of the interview contains charts that James has made available, and which we reference in the interview, which can access here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Y_mvSpIkAbIEBep2mfQJp4-PSdLnIz9o44ejZTWxGP0/edit?slide=id.p#slide=id.p

Originally a bonus episode for patrons of the podcast, this episode takes a look at some of Charles De Gaulle's recorded opinions concerning the Second Vatican Council. De Gaulle led the Free French forces during WWII and served ten years as president of France (1958-1968). De Gaulle had a keen political sense and his comments on Vatican II are both interesting but also prescient. Enjoy.

The latest episode is a walk-through of what yours truly has been the past year (or so), and gives an update on upcoming episodes and their content (hint: there will be new episodes and they will be awesome). Cheers!

Hello everyone! Controversies in Church History is back after a long hiatus, and we are bringing you an episode about two popes: Pius IX and Francis. We dive into the question of whether the centralization of power in the papacy that began under Pius IX (1848-1878) led to the reign of the late Pope Francis (2013-2025), and whether Pius IX can be said to be responsible for it. Also, I update the state of the podcast and preview future episodes. Enjoy!

Hello everyone. The 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea is upon us, and we are pleased to present you with an interview on the subject. Ben Wyatt is an author, podcaster, and Episcopal priest, who has recently published his first book, Christ and the Council: Conflict, Politics, Theology, and the Outrageous, Extraordinary Story of the Church’s First Creed. In the course of our interview, we discuss the nature of the theological debate surrounding Christ's divinity at the Council, the role of Constantine the Great on its outcome, and the legacy of Nicaea and its creed for Christians today. You can find Ben's book on Amazon and other outlets, and you can listen to his podcast, the Road to Nicaea, on Spotify and other major platforms. Thanks to Ben for sharing his time and discussing his book with us at Controversies in Church History.

In the latest episode, I take a deeper look at a recent controversy. Two Catholic scholars recent wrote an article in Commonweal Magazine comparing Traditionalist Catholics--those who attend the Latin Mass--to a heresy known as "Jansenism." In this short episode, I talk about why this comparison does not hold, but is actually a polemical use of history designed to smear Traditionalists. In it, I discuss the history of Jansenism and the danger of taking historical analogies too seriously.

In the late 2nd century AD, a Christian convert from Phrygia (modern Turkey) named Montanus began experiencing visions and speaking in tongues, which he believed were the Holy Spirit speaking through him. Soon he was joined by two women, Priscilla and Maximilla, who experienced the same ecstatic episodes. Montanus and his followers believed he was a prophet, called to lead Christians back to their primitive purity. In this episode of Controversies in Church History, we take a look at the history of Montanism, as its followers were called, and how it parallels other heretical movements in the history of the Church.

With the election of Pope Leo XIV, we move into a new papal reign, and in this brief episode, I share a few thoughts about the new pontiff, the challenges he will face, and musings on the larger historical context of those challenges. Cheers!