Crown and Crozier

Through his new blog on Substack, Dr. Douglas Farrow has been tackling head on the deeper, more troubling significance of what’s been taking place over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic at a social, cultural, political, and spiritual level.

In this episode, we chat with Dr. Farrow about how certain actions by the Church and the State during the pandemic have raised fundamental questions around what it means to be human. We also touch on what it’s like to live in a place where a prerequisite for getting through your local parish doors is flashing your vaccine passport. And with a convoy of trucks hunkered down in Canada’s capital city, we reflect on freedom, autonomy, and opportunities for evangelization.

(N.B. the trucks rolled into Ottawa on January 29, 2022. We recorded this interview on February 4 and are posting it on February 16).

Dr. Douglas Farrow has lectured and taught at universities for nearly 30 years, with most of that spent at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, where he serves as Professor of Theology and Ethics. Among the most well-known of his many publications are the books Nation of Bastards: Essays on the End of Marriage, Ascension Theology, and Desiring a Better Country.

00:00 - Introduction
03:10 - Vax pass for Mass? Time to say something
06:35 - Two years of pandemic - just what the heck is going on?
13:30 - Discerning the motives of civil authorities
17:45 - When citizens become biometric datapoints
25:05 - The Church acting as a creature of the State
34:00 - This far shall you come...and no further
40:10 - A time to obey, a time to resist
47:10 - The thirst for freedom as a road to conversion
54:25 - Conclusion


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Documents/Websites referenced

Dr. Douglas Farrow (biography)

“Desiring a Better Country” (Dr. Farrow’s Substack blog)

Dr. Douglas Farrow, “Rendering to Caesar what is God’s”, Substack (December 28, 2021)

Dr. Douglas Farrow, “Vaccine Passports for Mass?”, Crisis Magazine (November 3, 2021)

Pope Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum (May 15, 1891)

Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph 2242 (refusing obedience to civil authorities)

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Please note that this podcast has been edited for length and clarity.

In this episode, Kimberly Hahn joins us to talk about her experience representing the taxpayers of Steubenville, Ohio as their Councilwoman-at-Large at city hall.

We chat about her journey into politics, what it means to live out the Catholic social principle of subsidiarity, why small towns in the Rust Belt have shifted their political loyalties, whether Steubenville would ever defund its police force, and why we need more Catholics in public office. Along the way, Councilwoman Hahn shares stories about campaigning in the rougher parts of town, voting your conscience at the Council table, and occasionally reminding constituents that dying outside a state of grace is actually the worst thing that can happen to anyone.

Kimberly was first elected to Steubenville City Council in November 2015 and is currently serving her second term as Councilwoman-at-Large, having been re-elected in 2019. She is the author of five books, including the story of her conversion, Rome Sweet Home, which she co-wrote with her husband, Scott. She is also a popular Catholic speaker and host of the podcast Beloved and Blessed.

00:00 - Introduction
02:50 - Inspiration to run for office
06:00 - Knock, knock, knocking on 7,000 doors
09:10 - Catholic faith: political asset or liability?
11:25 - The shifting politics of the Ohio Valley
17:05 - What subsidiarity and solidarity look like in practice
21:05 - Shoestring local budgets vs. gargantuan federal spending
24:55 - Federal issues on the ground - Part 1: defund the police
27:15 - Federal issues on the ground - Part 2: critical race theory
29:10 - Issues of conscience around the Council table
33:15 - A challenging vote on medical marijuana
38:15 - Speaking-up in the public square
42:20 - Words of wisdom for the prospective candidates out there
44:00 - St. Thomas More, guardian angels and other intercessors
45:30 - What's next for the term-limited Councilwoman?
46:15 - Conclusion


If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting Crown and Crozier with a tax-deductible donation here:  DONATE  

Documents/Websites referenced

Kimberly Hahn (City Council biography)

Kimberly for Steubenville (campaign website)

Beloved and Blessed podcast

“Kimberly Hahn wins council at large seat”, The Herald Star (November 4, 2015)

Subsidiarity - What You Need to Know

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Please note that this podcast has been edited for length and clarity.

Victor Davis Hanson joins us to talk about his latest book, The Dying Citizen: How Progressive Elites, Tribalism, and Globalization are Destroying the Idea of America. 

The book argues that multiple forces are laying siege to the concept and practice of citizenship in our times: evisceration of the middle class; open borders; identity politics; the administrative state; progressive political evolutionaries; and globalists and globalization. While events of the past two years have demonstrated the fragility of citizenship, Dr. Hanson maintains that there is still time to rebuild what we’re in danger of losing - and that an essential ingredient in this effort is rediscovering the transcendent.

Dr. Hanson is the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow in Residence in Classics and Military History at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University; a professor of Classics Emeritus at California State University, Fresno; and a nationally syndicated columnist.

00:00 - Introduction
01:45 - Why 2020/2021 was a wake-up call
06:30 - Identity politics and religion
9:10 - America: made by, and for, religious people
13:30 - Faith as the mortar for our civic identity bricks
16:20 - Ambivalence toward country, when country neglects faith
21:20 - Restoring transcendence, restoring citizenship
26:05 - Conclusion


If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting Crown and Crozier with a tax-deductible donation here:  DONATE  

Documents/Websites referenced 

Dr. Victor Davis Hanson (biography)

@VDHanson

Victor Davis Hanson, The Dying Citizen (2021)

John Adams, “Letter to Massachusetts Militia” (October 11, 1798) [source of quotation: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people”]

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Please note that this podcast has been edited for length and clarity.

2021 is almost a wrap!  Join us as we sit down and review the biggest Church and State stories from the year that was.  We cast a glance back at the inauguration of America’s second Catholic president, the ensuing debates around “Eucharistic coherence”, Year 2 of the COVID pandemic, the mother of all Synods - and more!

Our guest is Dr. Robert Royal, Founder and President of the Faith & Reason Institute in Washington, D.C. and Editor-in-Chief of The Catholic Thing.  He is a regular guest on EWTN’s flagship news program, “The World Over”, and has written, edited, or translated 15 books.

00:00 - Introduction
02:30 - The hand of Providence in a pandemic that drags on (and on...)
04:20 - Highs and lows of the response to COVID
05:25 - Seeking clarity and consistency in the Church's take on vaccines
07:30 - Moral imperatives vs. prudential judgments
11:00 - No pause button on the Church's mission in pandemic times
14:55 - The "anti-Catholic" Catholic in the Oval Office
19:05 - The Pope and the President
22:50 - JFK and JRB - two sides of "the church doesn't speak for me"
26:30 - Recent USCCB reflections on "The Mystery of the Eucharist"
30:10 - The struggle to sanctify the public square
35:00 - Receiving the Gift of the Eucharist
38:35 - Goals and (tempered) expectations for the Synod on Synodality
42:30 - Whither Tradition in synodality?
47:30 - The Traditional Latin Mass - flourishing and suppression
53:10 - Hopes for the new year
54:25 - Conclusion

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting Crown and Crozier with a tax-deductible donation here:  DONATE  

Documents/Websites referenced 

Dr. Robert Royal (biography)

@RobertSRoyal

Archive of Dr. Royal’s columns at The Catholic Thing

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, “Note on the morality of using some anti-COVID-19 vaccines” (December 21, 2020)

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, “The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church” (November 2021)

General Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops, Synod 2021-2023

Pope Francis, Apostolic Letter Traditionis Custodes(July 16, 2021)

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Please note that this podcast has been edited for length and clarity.

In the summer of 2020, when protestors called for removing statues of St. Louis IX, many Catholics found themselves asking “How dare they?”, followed by “Wait, who’s St. Louis again?”

In this episode, we get re-acquainted with one of the great monarchs and saints of medieval Christendom.  Join us as we learn about Louis’ partnership with the Church in “the business of the peace and the faith,” his legacy of striving to build a flourishing Christian society, and his lessons on the ultimate purpose of politics.  (By the end of the conversation, you’ll want his statues to keep standing tall!)

Our guest is Dr. Andrew Willard Jones, author of Before Church and State: A Study of Social Order in the Sacramental Kingdom of St. Louis IX.  Dr. Jones serves as an Assistant Professor of Theology and Director of the Catholic Studies program at Franciscan University of Steubenville.

0:00 - Introduction
2:30 - St. Louis 101 - sanctity in the office of King
8:02 -  How the medievals understood sacred and secular (hint - it was better than we do)
12:00 - St. Louis as passive observer or active architect of social order?
21:05 - All the King's helpers
24:55 - Medieval differentiation vs. modern equality
30:20 - To offend the peace is to offend the faith
34:15 - The common mission of the King and the Clergy
37:30 - King and Pope as best buds
41:35 - What about the average Joe in the Most Christian Kingdom?
44:25 - Priests and magistrates at the King's Court - teamwork makes the dream work
47:00 - From Louis IX to Louis XIV and beyond - where did things go wrong?
50:25 - The folly of viewing the Middle Ages through a modern lens
53:25 - St. Louis' lessons and legacy for our times
57:00 - Conclusion

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting Crown and Crozier with a tax-deductible donation here:  DONATE  

Documents/Websites referenced 

Dr. Andrew Willard Jones (CV)

Dr. Andrew Willard Jones, Before Church and State: A Study of Social Order in the Sacramental Kingdom of St. Louis IX(2017)

Letter of Saint Louis IX to His Son

Colleen Schrappen, “St. Louis Archdiocese responds to calls to remove statue of city’s namesake”, St. Louis Post-Dispatch (June 29, 2020)

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Please note that this podcast has been edited for length and clarity.

In this episode of Crown and Crozier, we learn just how far 21st century advocacy for women's rights and equality has drifted from the original philosophical and moral framework underpinning the women's movement.

Our guest is Erika Bachiochi, author of the recent book "The Rights of Women: Reclaiming a Lost Vision." In her book, she revisits the seminal work of 18th century British philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft, who is widely regarded as one of the principal intellectual architects of what has come to be known as feminism.

The book calls for a rediscovery of Wollstonecraft’s understanding that both men and women are entitled to political freedom and equality on account of their shared capacity for reason, and that freedom and equality are not ends in themselves, but are means for pursuing the higher goods of virtue, wisdom, excellence, and service to God, family, and community.

Over the course of this conversation, we explore a range of classic Wollstonecraftian themes, including valuing the work of the home more than the needs of the market, political self-government's presupposition of personal self-government, the importance of self-mastery as opposed to self-ownership, and the primacy of dependence over autonomy.

Erika is a Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, as well as a Senior Fellow at the Abigail Adams Institute, where she founded and directs the Wollstonecraft Project. In 2018, she was a visiting scholar at Harvard Law School. A self-styled "pro-life feminist," her areas of specialty include equal protection jurisprudence, feminist legal theory, Catholic social teaching, and sexual ethics.  

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting Crown and Crozier with a tax-deductible donation here:  DONATE  

Documents/Websites referenced 

Erika Bachiochi (biography)

@erikabachiochi

Erika Bachiochi, The Rights of Women: Reclaiming a Lost Vision (2021)

Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman(1792)

Seneca Falls 1848 Women’s Convention and Declaration of Sentiments

Mary Ann Glendon, Rights Talk (1991)

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Please note that this podcast has been edited for length and clarity.

In this episode of Crown and Crozier, we chat with Vancouver Archbishop Michael Miller about his interaction with government on some of the most consequential issues of our day.

Our conversation explores how public health restrictions on worship eventually induced the Archbishop to signal willingness for court action against the province of British Columbia. We also hear His Grace’s thoughts on COVID vaccine mandates and their implications for our life in common.

In addition, we look at some unique issues facing the local church in Vancouver, including the legacy of Canada’s Indian residential school system as well as the contemporary model of Church-State partnership in public education.

Archbishop Miller was appointed shepherd of the flock in Vancouver in 2009. Prior to that, he served as Secretary of the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education and in multiple senior administrative roles (including President) at the University of Saint Thomas in Houston, Texas.

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting Crown and Crozier with a tax-deductible donation here:  DONATE  

Documents/Websites referenced 

Archbishop Miller’s biography

@archbmiller

Agnieszka Ruck, “Archbishop prepared to take religious service ban to B.C. Supreme Court if necessary”, The BC Catholic (March 5, 2021)

Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, “CCCB Note on Ethical Concerns Related to Currently Approved COVID-19 Vaccines” (March 11, 2021)

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, “Note on the morality of using some anti-COVID-19 vaccines” (December 21, 2020)

Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, “Statement of Apology by the Catholic Bishops of Canada to the Indigenous Peoples of This Land” (September 24, 2021)

Tristin Hopper, “While some cheer on the destruction of churches, First Nations pick up the pieces”, National Post (July 7, 2021)

Diocese of Prince George (British Columbia), Rose Prince Pilgrimage

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Please note that this podcast has been edited for length and clarity.

The COVID pandemic has impacted virtually all aspects of our day-to-day lives, including our life in the Church.

How has the Church fared in navigating these impacts?  Has she distinguished herself in her response, including in relation to restrictions on accessing the sacraments, and to moral and ethical questions surrounding the COVID vaccines?  Has Church leadership made a compelling case that, pandemic or not, the laws of God will always supersede the laws of man?

Joining us to help grapple with these questions is Philip Lawler, editor of Catholic World News and news director at CatholicCulture.org.  Author/editor of 10 books, his latest work is Contagious Faith: Why the Church Must Spread Hope, Not Fear, In A Pandemic. 

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting Crown and Crozier with a tax-deductible donation here:  DONATE  

Documents/Websites referenced 

Philip Lawler (bio)

@PhilLawler

Philip Lawler - Contagious Faith: Why the Church Must Spread Hope, Not Fear, In A Pandemic

Dr. Jeff Mirus, “Following your conscience? 2. The COVID problem”

Philip Lawler, “Vaccination and conscience: a challenge to Church authority” 

Marisa Iati, “Philadelphia becomes latest archdiocese to reject religious exemptions for vaccine mandates”

Colorado Catholic Conference, “A letter from the bishops of Colorado on COVID-19 vaccine mandates” 

York Region Public Health, “COVID-19: Guidance for Places of Worship” [page 4]

Gregory A. Smith,  “Just one-third of U.S. Catholics agree with their church that Eucharist is body, blood of Christ” 

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Please note that this podcast has been edited for length and clarity.

In this episode, we focus our sights on two essential virtues: justice and religion.

Justice is the virtue of granting to others that which is due to them. Religion ─ what St. Thomas Aquinas called “the virtue of virtues” ─ is the highest form of justice, insofar as it involves rendering to God that which is due to Him, placing our obligations to Him above all other duties, and thus ensuring the integrity of our social and political life in common.

Our guest is Dr. Scott Hahn, President of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, and Father Michael Scanlan Chair of Biblical Theology and the New Evangelization at the Franciscan University of Steubenville. Dr. Hahn is a leading Catholic scholar and speaker, and is the author of 60 books, including the recent publication which we explore in depth in this interview ─ It is Right and Just: Why the Future of Civilization Depends on True Religion.

0:00 - Introduction
2:30 - Religion as "the virtue of virtues"
12:30 - The public nature of religion
21:35 -  Sanctifying secular society - our greatest patriotic duty and gift
32:30 - Observing and consecrating the Sabbath
42:25 - Worthy reception of the Sacraments
48:10 - Conclusion

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting Crown and Crozier with a tax-deductible donation here:  DONATE 

Documents/Websites referenced 

Scott Hahn and Brandon McGinley, It is Right and Just: Why the Future of Civilization Depends on True Religion (2020)

Scott Hahn, The Lamb’s Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth (1999)

Catechism of the Catholic Church, “Him Only Shall You Serve” (paragraphs 2104 and 2105).

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Please note that this podcast has been edited for length and clarity.

Ordained by God and gifted to man, both the Church and the Empire help human beings attain peace in this life and beatitude in the next.  So argued Dante Alighieri, the great Italian poet and author of the epic The Divine Comedy.

With 700 years having passed since his death in 1321, this year has been branded as l’anno di Dante – “the year of Dante.”  Joining us to mark the occasion is Dr. Anthony Esolen, renowned translator of The Divine Comedy and Professor and Writer-in-Residence at Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts in Warner, New Hampshire. 

Our conversation with Dr. Esolen focuses on Inferno, the first installment in Dante’s three-part masterpiece.  In our journey through the underworld, we examine several of the timeless themes explored by the Supreme Poet – rendering unto God and Caesar; the nature of authority and the consequences of its abuse; the virtue of neighbourliness; patriotism; and, above all, the boundless, beatific love of God, who grants us for all eternity that which we seek in this world.

0:00 - Introduction
3:45 - 2021: a year for reading Dante
7:05 - Writing in the language of the people
9:00 - Inferno as a meditation on love and beauty...oh, and it's about Hell, too
13:00 - The complicated days of Dante: Emperors and Popes
17:35 - Politics as family warfare in medieval Florence
19:00 - Sweeping claims of papal authority in Boniface VIII's Unam Sanctam
22:25 - Excommunication and penance: the drama of Ambrose and Theodosius
25:00 - First stop in the underworld - hating thy neighbour in the (anti) city of Dis
30:15 - The vision of Purgatory
32:25 - Pursuing the Good without charity - a ticket to everlasting condemnation
37:40 - Punishment for the Pope who pimped out the Bride of Christ
42:30 - Traitors to Church and Empire in the lowest circle: Judas, Brutus, Cassius
46:30 - The virtue of patriotism and its practice in exile
49:30 - The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord
54:40 - Conclusion

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting Crown and Crozier with a tax-deductible donation here:  DONATE  

Documents/Websites referenced 

Kevin J. Jones, “Why 2021 is the Year of Dante,” Catholic News Agency (January 21, 2021)

Anthony Esolen (Wikipedia page) 

Dante Alighieri, Inferno (translated by Anthony Esolen)

Pope Boniface VIII, Unam Sanctam

Anthony Esolen, The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord  (2019)

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Please note that this podcast has been edited for length and clarity.