Jesuitical

I’m sure I am not the only city dweller who sometimes fantasizes about putting in my two-weeks notice and escaping to a dude ranch in Wyoming or an organic pumpkin farm in Nebraska (or wherever they grow pumpkins). The ever-increasing rent, the dirty, dysfunctional subway, the nonstop noise and pressure to not just keep up but get ahead—it all makes me question why I moved to New York. Well this week’s guest Haley Stewart and her husband did drop out of the rat race and move to a farm (without flush toilets! with three young kids!)—but she thinks you can build a simpler and more intentional life in the city or the suburbs, out in the country or right on campus.

We ask Haley about her escape from the “throwaway culture,” how to pray through drastic life changes and why she loves Molly Weasley (yes, that Molly Weasley).

In Signs of the Times, Pope Francis gets invited to North Korea, but his favorability is dropping in the United States. The synod on young people is underway at the Vatican, the Nuns on the Bus are back on tour and Lady Liberty may get a West Coast (Catholic) counterpart.

As always, you can keep in touch via our Facebook group and Twitter @jesuiticalshow or emailing us at [email protected]. Please consider helping Jesuitical keep the mics on by supporting the show on Patreon—every little bit helps!

Links from the show

Kim Jong Un invites Pope Francis to North Korea

Pew Poll: Pope Francis’ favorability numbers drop, and worse for handling of abuse

Synod 2018 Day 1: Migrants, sex abuse and church credibility

‘Nuns On The Bus’ For ‘Tax Justice Truth Tour’ En Route To Trump’s Mar-a-Lago

Diocese of San Diego launching statue of Mary Inspired by Lady Liberty for San Ysidro

What’s on tap?

Maple whiskey

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“My hope is that we can learn that we can be indigenous and all these other things: Catholic, worldly, a diplomat, a scientist, etc. My hope is that being indigenous is not limited,” said Maka Clifford in the pages of America last year. Maka is the director of curriculum and assessment at the Red Cloud Indian School, a Catholic school led by the Jesuits and the Lakota people. Maka was born on the Pine Ridge Reservation and graduated from Red Cloud in 2005. After studying in California, New York and Japan, Maka realized his calling to be involved in indigenous studies and human rights. He returned to Red Cloud in 2013.

We talk to Maka about what it means to be a Lakota Catholic, the controversial history of Jesuit-run and boarding schools, Lakota spirituality and teaching indigenous students in 2018.

Last week, the editors of America stated that the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court should be withdrawn. We discuss the magazine’s previous support of the nomination and why the editors decided to withdraw it.

In sexual abuse news, Pope Francis laicizes Chile’s Fernando Karadima. “The Better Church Governance Group” is a new organization founded by wealthy Catholics to investigate the College of Cardinals. And for the feast of St. Francis, we have a story about a dog that completes the Camino de Santiago.

As always, you can email us at [email protected] or tweet us on Twitter. You can also join our Facebook group and consider supporting us on Patreon!

This episode is brought to you by Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago. For 23 years, Cristo Rey has educated Latino students with limited means, preparing the leaders of tomorrow today. Learn about their mission at cristorey.net.

Looking for an event in your neighborhood? Check out when the Ignatian Solidarity Network is hosting a “Solidarity On Tap” near you!

Links from the show:

The Editors: It is time for the Kavanaugh nomination to be withdrawn

Pope Francis defrocks Chilean priest at center of sexual abuse scandal

Wealthy Catholics to target Cardinals with ‘Red Hat Report’

A dog that has completed the Camino de Santiago comes to Rome

Jewish husband and wife to be first married couple knighted by the Vatican

What’s on tap?

Mulled cider (on the rocks), Jack’s Winter Cider whiskey, one cinnamon stick, one star anise, ice

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“[The sex abuse crisis is] not something that I think can be fixed by our priests alone,” Amanda Zamora told us this week. “The pain and the harm has been caused by the church and the solution will need to come from the church—and that includes all of us.”

Amanda is the chief audience officer at the Texas Tribune, which she joined in 2016. Previously, she spent 13 years on the East Coast working for organizations like The Huffington Post Investigative Fund, The Washington Post and ProPublica.

She recently wrote an article co-published in the Texas Tribune and the Washington Post called “I’m a Catholic survivor of abuse. I still want to hear the church say it’s sorry.” Amanda shared her own experience of surviving abuse within her family and how that has influenced her perspective on the church’s crisis.  

In Signs of the Times we give an update on a couple of international stories we’ve been following and discuss a story from Chicago involving a priest burning a flag bearing a rainbow and a cross. We also look at a new policy for reporting sex abuse outlined by the U.S. bishops, and how some churches are using coffeehouse culture to evangelize and work for justice.

Have you checked out our Facebook group yet? It’s a great way to talk about the episode and other Catholic news with other Jesuitical listeners. And as always, you can stay in touch via email, Twitter and Patreon.   

Links from the show:

1. I'm a Catholic survivor of abuse. I still want to hear the church say it's sorry.
2. Pope Francis recognizes Chinese bishops ordained without papal approval
3. Indian bishop accused of raping nun is arrested
4. U.S. Catholic Church creates new process for reporting misconduct by its bishops
5. Flag-burning priest removed from Avondale parish by Cardinal Cupich
6. These Catholic coffee shops take evangelization to new grounds
7. Facebook Group
8. Twitter
9. Patreon

What’s on Tap?

Angry Orchard’s Rosé Cider, because 👏Fall 👏 Is 👏 Here!👏

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

He was a French novice living in a desert monastery in Syria. She was a journalist from Texas who wanted to become a nun. Then, they fell in love.

I know, it sounds like a rom-com. But that is, in fact, how this week’s guest, Stephanie Saldaña, met her husband—and it’s not even the most fascinating part of her story. Today, Stephanie lives with her family in Jerusalem where she writes and teaches. In 2016, she started Mosaic Stories, a project that seeks to preserve the cultural heritage of the war-torn Middle East.

We ask Stephanie what lessons the monastery has for family life, what she has learned raising children in a conflict zone and what her unique path to marriage taught her about discerning between two loves.

In Signs of the Times, Pope Francis announces a summit of sex abuse and sources say the Vatican and China are close to a deal over the status of bishops; Catholics and Buddhists team up to provide green housing for seniors; a bishop skydives for donations; a new institute prepares Catholic women for leadership; and thousands of Latino Catholics gather in Texas for V Encuentro.

Have you checked out our Facebook group yet? It’s a great place to keep up with Catholic news between shows and share your own consolations and desolations. You can also find us on Twitter @jesuiticalshow, support us on Patreon and send us an email at [email protected]. Also, Jesuit swag. Get some.

An Impossible Hope: Three men in Syria showed me what Jesus looks like.
Resignations, Rome meetings and investigations: A week of major developments in the sexual abuse crisis
Developing Story | Pope Francis meets with bishops about the sexual abuse crisis
China and Vatican to Sign Landmark Deal Over Bishops
DiMarzio says ‘Laudato si’ to flower in Brooklyn with green housing
Bishop takes a (sky) dive to get pilgrims to Lourdes
Women’s Catholic leadership program, GIVEN Institute, officially launches
More than 3,000 Latino Catholics expected at Encuentro gathering

Everything but the kitchen sink. Cleaning out the fridge/liquor cabinet to make room for PSL cocktails. Miller Lite for Zac, a lager for Olga and tequila for me. Cheers!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Next month, the Vatican will hold the Synod of bishops on young people. Earlier this year, in preparation for the October gathering, the Vatican hosted 300 delegates from around the world. These delegates met in Rome and produced an 11-page document, titled “Young People, The Faith and Vocational Discernment.” One of the delegates selected by the U.S.C.C.B. was Katie Prejean McGrady. She is a writer, podcaster, Catholic speaker and author of Follow: Your Lifelong Adventure with Jesus.

We talk to Katie about her work at the pre-synod gathering, how the sexual abuse crisis shows we need the synod now more than ever and what the church can do to keep young Catholics in the faith.

In Signs of the Times, thousands in India joined nuns of the Missionaries of Jesus congregation last week to call for the arrest of Bishop Franco Mulakkal, who has been accused of rape. We also discuss the latest updates to the U.S. sexual abuse crisis, including the launching of investigations into clerical sexual abuse in dioceses across the country.

Finally, some Catholic school news: the first Catholic school to open up in Baltimore in decades will be named after Mary Lange, who opened the first school in the United States for black children; and Kolbe Academy in Pennsylvania will be the first Catholic high school for students battling addiction.

As always, you can email us at [email protected] or tweet us on Twitter. You can also join our Facebook group and consider supporting us on Patreon!

Indian nuns demand arrest of bishop accused of rape

Vatican officials knew of McCarrick allegations in 2000, letter confirms

States Round up of newly announced investigations into clerical sexual abuse

1st Catholic high school for students battling addiction opening in Bethlehem area

Baltimore’s new Catholic school to be named after African American nun

St. Germain spritzer

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Arceneaux has stopped going to church. After growing up as a gay black Catholic in the South, he eventually decided that he could not find a way to integrate his identities into the Catholicism he grew up with. In his new memoir: I Can’t Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race, and Other Reasons I’ve Put My Faith in Beoncé, Michael describes how coming out as gay led to tension and conflict with people like his mother, still a devout Catholic.

But Michael hasn’t given up on God just yet. In fact, in I Can’t Date Jesus he describes taking a friend up on an invitation to go to a church service. There he met a pastor and theologian who “really understands the Bible wasn’t just repeating verses kind of like the equivalent (as I put in the book) like a talking head on cable news… He was far more informed than me so I actually learned something from the conversation. I found it elevating.”   

Michael told us how he wished he had been able to have conversations like that earlier in his life. “I think if you caught me much earlier around the time when I was generally trying to still be in church…you would have probably been able to keep me there.”

This week in Signs of the Times we break down the explosive letter that was released over the weekend by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò accusing many church leaders—including Pope Francis—of covering up the misconduct and crimes of former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

Thank you all so much for sharing your thoughts and struggles and joys with us in in our Facebook group, Twitter and with your emails. A special shout out to our supporters on Patreon: Your financial support makes this show possible. Thank you. If you’ve been on the fence about visiting our Patreon page—there’s no time like right now!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When was the last time you talked about faith with a friend? If you’re listening to this podcast, maybe you don’t mind dropping words like “sin,” “grace” and “confession” in casual conversations. But most Americans, according to Jonathan Merritt, have forgotten or never learned how to “speak God”—and that’s bad news for people who care about the future of the church.

We ask Jonathan, an award-winning religion writer, podcast host and author of the new book Learning to Speak God from Scratch, why spiritual conversations matter, how we can save endangered sacred words and what distinguishes Catholic and Protestant approaches to language.

This week in Signs of the Times we focus on one story that’s been on all of our minds: the unfolding sexual abuse crisis in the U.S. Catholic Church. We bring you up to speed on developments since the release of the Pennsylvania grand jury report on Aug. 14, ask how the church got here and discuss possible ways forward as the church seeks to bring healing to victims and accountability to priests and bishops who for decades committed and covered up horrific crimes against children.

Let us know how you are processing the news and let know when you are (or aren’t) finding God in all this by reaching out in our Facebook group and Twitter @jesuiticalshow or emailing us at [email protected]. Please consider helping Jesuitical keep the mics on by supporting the show on Patreon—every little bit helps!

Pennsylvania report documents over 1,000 victims of priest abuse
Vatican: Pope Francis is on the side of the victims of Pennsylvania abuse
Bishops around U.S. respond with ‘sorrow’ to abuse report, vow to act
Pennsylvania prelate says bishops who hid abuse should resign
Pope Francis issues new letter on sex abuse: ‘We showed no care for the little ones’
Don’t blame the sex abuse crisis on queer Catholics

Brooklyn Brewery East IPA

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Being the only Latino means that while the white men get to disagree with each other and develop idiosyncratic or counterintuitive arguments, you can never just say how you feel or what you think about a story,” wrote Julio Ricardo Varela in America. “Instead, you always have to frame your comments in a way that responds to the needs of the 56.5 million people who share some part of your identity.”

Julio is a Puerto Rican journalist. Along with writing for Latino Rebels, a website he founded in 2011 that provides news, analysis and commentary about U.S. Latino culture, he is the co-host of the Webby-nominated “In The Thick” podcast with Maria Hinojosa and a contributor to Latino USA on NPR. On this week’s episode, we talk to Julio about working in media as a Latino, Hurricane Maria, the sexual abuse crisis and more.

In Signs of the Times, a giant Pope Francis scarecrow wins a competition in Ireland; and a 27-year-old pastor starts GodSquad Church to bring God to the gamer community. In Argentina, where abortion is illegal in most cases, the Senate voted down a bill that would have legalized abortion through 14 weeks of pregnancy. What made the difference between Argentina and the referendum in Ireland earlier this year that legalized abortion? In Peru, Jesuit priest Carlos Riudavets Montes was found murdered on Aug. 10.

Finally, we bring you the latest developments on the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, including the grand jury report from Pennsylvania and reports on two Benedictine abbey schools in England.

We know it has been a difficult week trying to process what it means to be Catholic during this crisis. Part of the reason we do this is to help all our listeners process moments such as these. You can email us at [email protected] or tweet us on Twitter. Please feel free to also join our Facebook group, where members this week followed a live panel featuring Ashley and Zac on an intergenerational discussion on how Catholics are responding to the sexual abuse crisis and shared their own questions and comments about the crisis.

Links from the show:

Giant straw Pope Francis wins annual scarecrow festival in Ireland

An online church for gamers: Va. pastor draws thousands to worship on Twitch

Details of second letter priest sent to Cardinal O’Malley describing McCarrick abuse

Pennsylvania report documents over 1,000 victims of priest abuse

New reports of sexual abuse rock Benedictine abbey schools in England

The abortion debate in Argentina vs. Ireland: what made the difference?

Jesuit priest murdered in Peru

What’s on tap?

Luna Vida pinot grigio

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did you miss us? Jesuitical is BACK from its summer break and we are sunsprayed, rested and ready to hit the studio for a new season. We also have some pretty big personal news to share, so tune in for some life updates.

We also loved getting to spend some more time talking with listeners during the break, both on- and offline. Our online communities like Patreon, Twitter and our Facebook groupcontinue to grow, and we’ve been blessed with some visits to America’s offices over the past month.

We asked the members of our Facebook group for guest suggestions for the upcoming season, and one name that came up more than once was Sister Simone Campbell. Sister Simone is the leader of Nuns on the Bus and executive director of NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice—and also a former Jesuitical guest! While the Signs of the Times and Consolations and Desolations segments of the show are new this week, we’re re-airing an incredibly insightful interview with Sister Simone from last year.

It was a busy July for Catholic news too—during Signs of the Times we discuss the sexual abuse stories that have been coming from several parts of the Catholic world, and get into Pope Francis’ revision of the Catechism of the Catholic Church’s teaching on the death penalty.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we talk with Gilbert Sunghera, S.J. He is an architectural consultant and associate professor of architecture at the University of Detroit Mercy. Gilbert has worked on projects such as the Jesuit community at Fairfield, the parish of St. Joseph the Worker in Wyoming and the Jesuit high school chapel in Sacramento. We talk with Gilbert about architecture, how he balances his dual passions and what it means to design a sacred space.

Speaking of architecture, America’s new office space—including the studio where Jesuitical is recorded—was profiled in the New York Times this week. You have a look at where we work and read the profile here.

We are on vacation until next month, so no Signs of the Times or Consolations and Desolations this week. However, we still want to hear from you! Come share your consolations and desolations or some interesting Catholics news in our Facebook group. You can also find us on Twitter @jesuiticalshow, support us on Patreon and send us an email at [email protected].

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices