In this episode we look at recent news regarding the US Farm Bill, and more specifically the part of the Farm Bill that deals with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, and see what light Catholic Social Teaching might shine on this issue.

References and notes below:

1. House passes 2026 farm bill - Apr 30, 2026
2. Farm Bill Primer: Overview and Status - May 7, 2026
3. Catholic groups stress efforts to combat hunger as Senate prepares to consider farm bill - May 7, 2026
4. Household Food Security in the United States in 2024 - 12/30/2025
5. Joint Catholic organizations letter on 2026 Farm Bill - Feb 20, 2026
6. Joint Catholic organizations letter to Congress on Agriculture Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2027 - April 28, 2026
7. Explainer: Understanding the SNAP program—and what “One Big Beautiful Bill” cuts to these benefits may mean - Nov 10, 2025
8. SNAP Numbers Fall Across US–Food Banks Are Sounding the Alarm - May 13, 2026
9. The Dismal Economics of SNAP’s Work-Hours Test and Time Limit - Apr 19, 2023 - Reviews 19 studies on SNAP work requirements
10. SNAP work requirements don’t boost jobs, but drop participation, research finds - April 10, 2026
11. Employed in a SNAP? The Impact of Work Requirements on Program Participation and Labor Supply - February 2023
12. Untangling Errors in the SNAP Program (August 5, 2025), USDA Efforts to Reduce Waste, Fraud and Abuse in SNAP (May 5, 2025), and What We Get Wrong About SNAP Fraud and Why It Matters (April 20, 2026)
13. Pope Leo’s May 2026 prayer intention: 'That everyone might have food'
14. Podcast website with full transcripts for this episode and all other episodes

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In this episode we’ll look at declining birth rates and see what Catholic Social Teaching has to say about this global long-term trend.

Here are references and notes:

1. National Center for Health Statistics - Births: Provisional Data for 2025 – report issued April 2026
2. World Bank - Interactive chart showing birth rate trends for US and all other countries
3. Which countries have fertility rates above or below the “replacement level”? - visual map
4. World Population – overview from UN
5. International Monetary Fund - The Debate over Falling Fertility - June 2025
6. How Countries might Reverse Plunging Birth Rate - 26 January 2026 - Interesting secular analysis from the Global Policy Journal
7. Harvard Gazette article on “How to reverse nation’s declining birth rate” - August 20, 2025
8. Catechism of the Catholic Church - The Family in God’s Plan - 2201-2213
9. Pope Leo’s October meeting on marriage, family gains urgency amid declining birth rates in West - April 27, 2026
10. Amoris Laetitia - 2016 - see section 42
11. The Marriage Crisis Driving America’s Fertility Decline  (April 22, 2026) and Catholic family experts tie marriage to dropping US fertility rate (August 7, 2025) - some overlap between these articles
12. ‘Dramatic’ decline in Catholic marriage (January 31, 2026) and What is causing our fertility crisis? Catholic experts weigh in (May 2, 2024) - some overlap between these articles
13. Pope Leo urges Europe to confront ‘declining birth rates,’ strengthen family life - October 14, 2025
14. Pope Francis: World's ills rooted in too much greed, not too many babies - May 10, 2024
15. Podcast website with full transcripts for this episode and all other episodes.

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In this episode you’ll hear about the issue of birthright citizenship and whether Catholic Social Teaching has anything to say about it.

Here are references and notes:

1. Executive Order that would end birthright citizenship for certain immigrants
2. FAQ about the Executive Order from the Legal Defense Fund, an entity that is opposed to the Executive Order
3. Article about Senate hearing on birthright citizenship held March 12, 2026
4. Full transcript of Oral arguments before the Supreme Court on April 1, 2026
5. Takeaways from Supreme Court arguments, CNN article April 1, 2026
6. U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Brief Submitted to Supreme Court
7. Selected Catholic commentaries critical of USCCB brief by Kelsey Reinhardt, Philip Lawler, and Jacob Neu
8. US Bishops Brief Gets Mixed Reviews, article from National Catholic Register March 6, 2026, with links to both critical and supportive views
9. Projection: Repealing Birthright Citizenship Would Significantly Increase the Size of the U.S. Unauthorized Population
10. German research showing birthright citizenship impact on education and youth crime
11. Catholic Social Teaching: Call to family, community and participation
12. Podcast website with full transcripts for this episode and all other episodes

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This episode is about the war in Iran and what Catholic Social Teaching has to say about the war, focusing on news and reactions from February 28 to April 8, 2026.

Here are references and notes:

1. Here's what the Trump administration has said motivated the strikes.
2. Persons killed and injured in Iran and US casualties through early April 2026
3. Persons displaced by the war in Iran
4. Estimated US expenditure on war through early April 2026
5. Cardinal Parolin: Preventive wars risk setting the world ablaze - March 4, 2026
6. Cardinal Pizzaballa: Using God's name to justify war is 'gravest sin'
7. Pope at Palm Sunday Mass: ‘Jesus does not listen to prayers of those who wage war’
8. Catechism of the Catholic Church – Safeguarding Peace and Avoiding War – see section 2309 for just war criteria
9. Cardinal McElroy says U.S. entry into war with Iran ‘not morally legitimate,’ citing Catholic just war teaching
10. Articles from Catholic commentators supporting the war:  A Cautious Case for the Iran War by Philip Primeau and Contra Pope Leo, Catholic Just War Doctrine Supports Iran Strikes by Shannon Walsh & Sean Patrick Calabria
11. The Just War Tradition and the Iran War: A Catholic Examination for American Conservatives by Will Wright - a Catholic conservative makes the case that the Iran war does not meet just war criteria
12. Pope Leo: The threat against the entire Iranian people is unacceptable April 7, 2026
13. Statement from Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the USCCB
14. Podcast website with full transcripts

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This episode is about the significant reduction in global humanitarian assistance that started in 2025 and continues into 2026.

Here are notes and references:

1. A Generational Collapse: Tracking the Toll of Trump’s Humanitarian Aid Cuts - February 5, 2026
2. Documents reveal scope of Trump’s foreign aid cuts - March 26, 2025
3. The Great Aid Recession: 2025’s Humanitarian Crash in Nine Charts - Dec 23, 2025
4. The Impact of Foreign Aid Cuts – Interactive map, country by country summary
5. Update on Lives Lost from USAID Cuts - December 16, 2025 
6. Marco Rubio said no one has died due to U.S. aid cuts. This mom disagrees
7. US government will let lifesaving aid expire in seven African countries - Feb 22, 2026
8. Catholic Vision for U.S. Humanitarian and Development Assistance 2025 - US Conference of Catholic Bishops
9. 5 Reasons Why International Humanitarian Aid Matters - August 8, 2025 - Catholic Relief Services
10. Foreign aid from the United States saved millions of lives each year - Sept 29, 2025 - chart showing $ totals and % of Gross National Income of 10 major donor countries in 2023
11. KFF Health Tracking Poll February 2025: The Public’s Views on Global Health and USAID - 5th bullet point at top of article addresses US public misconception of percentage of budget going to aid
12. Podcast website with full transcripts for this episode and all other episodes

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This episode is about the fairly remarkable amount of recent legislative activity related to transgenderism, and what Catholic Social Teaching has to say about this topic.

Here are references and additional resources.

1. Supreme Court temporarily blocks California policy against parental notification of gender identity
2. Map of US showing which states shield and which states ban gender-modifying medical procedures for young people,  Click on the “Shield Laws and Youth Care Bans” tab.  Note: posted by a pro-transgender group that takes positions are not in harmony with Catholic teaching
3. List of 126 bills passed in 2025, in 29 states. Note: posted by a pro-transgender group that takes positions that are not in harmony with Catholic teaching
4. HHS Announces Rule to Bar Hospitals from Performing “Sex-Rejecting Procedures” on Children — December 18, 2025
5. Declaration “Dignitas Infinita,” on Human Dignity - August 4, 2024 - See #55-59 Gender Theory and #60 Sex Change
6. Cardinal provides further clarification of points made in “Dignitas Infinita.”
7. US bishops overwhelmingly back ban on ‘gender interventions’ by Catholic health care - November 12, 2025
8. Catholic Medical Association statement - 2023
9. Two medical groups back limits on gender transition procedures for minors - February 6, 2026
10. Four things Catholics need to know about transgender people - Article by a Catholic nun advocating for greater acceptance of transgenderism by the Church
11. Catholic Tradition Has Always Included Trans People Like Me - Article by a transgender Catholic advocating for greater acceptance of transgenderism by the Church
12. Pastoral statement on accompanying those suffering gender dysphoria by Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City
13. Podcast website with full transcripts for this episode and all other episodes

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This episode is about the recent withdrawal of the United States from a variety of  efforts aimed at responding to global climate change, and what Catholic Social Teaching has to say about this related series of newsworthy actions. 

Here are references and additional resources.

1. EPA reverses climate change endangerment finding
2. The United States exits Paris Climate Agreement
3. What Trump’s US exit from UNFCCC and IPCC could mean for climate action
4. Greater than 99% consensus on human caused climate change
5. Planetary Health Check 2025 – Executive Summary
6. 1990 World Day of Peace Message from Pope St. John Paul II
7. Renewing the Earth - US Conference of Catholic Bishops 1991
8. 2010 World Day of Peace Message from Pope Benedict XVI
9. 2015 Encyclical Laudato Si’
10. 2023 Apostolic Exhortation Laudate Deum
11. World Must Come Together to Fight Climate Change, Pope Leo Says
12. Ways to Get Involved:  Catholic Climate Covenant and Laudato Si Movement
13. Podcast website with full transcripts for this episode and all other episodes

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This episode is about the recent expiration of the New START nuclear weapons treaty between the United States and Russia, with no new agreement on the horizon, and how this situation looks from the perspective of Catholic Social Teaching. 

Here are references and additional resources.

1. Russian and U.S. nuclear arsenals could expand for the first time in three decades.  Feb 3, 2026
2. The U.S. Needs to do Something about New START.  Posted on the American Security Project website Jan 26, 2026
3. Which Countries Have Nuclear Weapons?  Nuclear arsenals by country
4. The US and Russia’s nuclear weapons treaty is set to expire. Here’s what’s at stake Analysis January 26, 2026
5. Catechism of the Catholic Church scroll down to sections 2314-2315
6. Lapse of last US-Russia nuclear treaty ‘simply unacceptable,’ says Archbishop Coakley February 3, 2026
7. What does the Catholic Church teach about nuclear weapons?  Aug 19, 2020  Good summary of papal and bishop conference statements from 1954-2020
8. Pope Leo XIV, bishops commemorate 80th anniversary of atomic bombing of Japan  Aug 6, 2025
9. Statements from US Conference of Catholic Bishops on nuclear deterrence:  1983 Pastoral Letter on War and Peace, scroll down to page 2 section I.B.;  1993 10th Anniversary Reflection, scroll down to section II.E.1.1.
10. 1998 Statement signed by 75 US Catholic Bishops (but not the entire USCCB) stating that the conditions for the moral acceptance of nuclear deterrence are not being met
11. Podcast website with full transcripts for this episode and all other episodes

How to contact the the President   https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ or call: 202-456-1111

How to contact your U.S. Senator or U.S. Congressperson:  https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member 

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This episode is about growing support for the legalization of assisted suicide, both in the United States and worldwide, and what Catholic Social Teaching has to say about this news story.  

Here are references and additional resources.

1. 2025 Saw Expanded Access to Physician-Assisted Suicide.  National Catholic Register article 12/29/2025
2. Catholic bishops speak out as New York governor pledges to sign into law assisted suicide  EWTN article 12/17/2025
3. Most Americans Favor Legal Euthanasia  Gallup polling article 8/8/2024
4. American support for euthanasia based on ‘false dichotomy,’ Catholic researcher says 8/13/2024 article in response to Gallup poll article referenced above
5. Medical Aid In Dying Is Not Assisted Suicide, Suicide or Euthanasia  Online article from a proponent of “Medical Aid in Dying” that objects to the term “Assisted Suicide”
6. Oregon Death With Dignity 2024 Annual Report
7. Catechism of the Catholic Church – scroll down to sections 2276-2283
8. Samaritanus Bonus (Good Samaritan) letter issued in 2020 by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, on the care of persons in the critical and terminal phases of life. 
9. It’s Not Your Life, It’s Not Your Death, It’s Not Your Choice - Bishop Robert Barron article January 4, 2024
10. Is Canada ‘Killing Itself’ With Doctor-Assisted Suicide?  September 2025 summary article in Religion Unplugged (no subscription required) and full article in The Atlantic (subscription required)
11. Podcast website with full transcripts for this episode and all other episodes

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This episode is about the US military intervention in Venezuela that involved the capture of the now-former Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, and how this news story looks from the perspective of Catholic Social Teaching. 

Here are references and additional resources.

1. Maduro raid killed about 75 in Venezuela, U.S. officials assess  January 6, 2026
2. Rubio briefs lawmakers on 'threefold process' for Venezuela  January 7, 2026
3. Vatican news release on January 4, 2026, with Pope Leo’s comments at Angelus and (scroll down the page) appeal from Venezuelan Bishops
4. The Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council (CELAM) expresses solidarity with the Church in Venezuela January 6, 2026
5. Venezuela strikes, takeover plans violate international law, says Notre Dame scholar  January 4, 2026
6. Unjust War Theory: When Law Enforcement Becomes Moral Insanity – pointed assessment of US intervention in Venezuela by a Catholic commentator and professor of finance at Benedictine College
7. Just War Theory and the Venezuela Invasion – assessment by an Anglican who is a retired professor of systematic theology and ethics
8. Pope Leo’s address to the Vatican diplomatic corps on January 9, 2026.  Here is the Vatican news release summarizing the Pope’s comments, and here is the full text of his remarks 
9. Quotations from pastoral letters and papal encyclicals from the past century regarding peace and non-violence 
10. Podcast website with full transcripts for this episode and all other episodes

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