Wednesday 8th March marks International Women's Day and so we wanted to speak to some Christian women to speak about their understanding of what it means to be a woman, the role of women, and the challenges faced by women in wider society and in the Church

In this podcast we welcome Jael Lutandila and Jade Broadley.  Jael studied Broadcast Journalism at Leeds Trinity University.  She lives in Bradford and she describes herself as a Christian Evangelic. Her career interest is TV production and her favourite hobbies are running, praying and spending time with her loved ones. Jade is from Leeds and is the National Director at Youth 2000 – a Catholic ministry that provides opportunities for young people to encounter Christ and His Church, primarily through retreat days and weekends, as well as formation programmes. She’s always loved International Women’s Day because she gets to celebrate her mum’s birthday on that day too!

Following the recent Trinity Conference: A Catholic response to a digital age- a conference hosted by Leeds Trinity University on some of the dangers (and opportunities)  of a tech-driven world- we’re looking in this episode at the question of Robots, Artificial Intelligence, and the future of morality in a world controlled by computers! We welcome Joseph Nelson, a Masters by Research student at Leeds Trinity University. A big focus for Joseph’s studies is the ethics of Artificial Intelligence.

As it is The Week of Prayer for Christian Uniy, your guest host is Joseph Nelson - Associate Lutheran Chaplain and current Masters student at Leeds Trinity University, Joseph is chatting to Fr Tony Currer who is a priest of the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle and who also works at pontifical council and is responsible for relationships with the Methodist church and the Anglican Communion. Join Joseph and Fr Tony Currer as they discuss the topic of Christian Unity and how we can work towards unity together.

Links:

Vatican Website for Christian Unity

Homosexuality, love and the Church -  Fr Paul Grogan, and current LTU Lay Chaplain discuss an open letter written by Elijah Buchanan who is a young Catholic experiencing same sex-attraction.  This podcast explores sexuality and chastity, as well as the Church's response to people who identify as gay.

Shownotes

Open Letter from Elijah Buchanan

Courage International

This month’s topic is slightly different, in that there isn’t one! We’ve gathered a group of Christians- a Catholic, an Anglican and a Baptist- to answer some of your biggest questions about Christianity. We simply asked our students ‘If you could ask a Christian any one question, what would it be?’ and we received loads of questions, some of which we’re going to try and answer for you in this podcast.

Lent is traditionally a time where Christians remember the time Jesus spent in the desert- 40 days and 40 nights -where he wandered through the wilderness, without food or shelter, being tempted by the devil. As a spiritual practice, in solidarity with Jesus, and in order to draw closer to Him, Christians are called during Lent to do three things: Fast, Pray, and Give Alms, which basically means give to those in need.

We are joined by Art student Imogen Argyle-Ross, who is taking almsgiving to another level this Lent. Imogen is taking part in CAFOD’s walk for water campaign – and you can hear all about it in the podcast.

You can find more out about CAFOD's Walk for Water campaign here: https://cafod.org.uk/Fundraise/Walk-for-Water

you can donate to Imogen's fundraising page here: https://walk.cafod.org.uk/fundraising/imogens-walk-for-water

We thought we’d lift everybody’s mood by talking about, well, there isn’t really a subtle way to say it, but sex! Catholic sex, specifically! What do we mean? Well, for many people when they think about the Catholic Church and sex, they think one of two things: They think either of the sex scandals that have dogged the church over the last few decades, the extent of which are just coming to light in recent years. Or they think of a Church that is opposed to all sexual activity- it’s all bad- no to sex before marriage, no to contraception, no to same-sex marriage, and so on.

We’re joined by Matt and Esther who run the Eternity Project, and their aim is to share the teaching of the Church, so that people can see that the Church has a) a lot to say about sex, and that b) it’s not necessarily what you’d expect!

Links

The Eternity Project - https://www.eternityproject.co.uk/

Natural Family Planning 

https://www.fiatfertilitycare.co.uk/

https://www.naturalfertilitymatters.com/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Natural-Family-Planning-Made-Minutes/dp/0994056303/ref=sr_1_10?crid=2M4ST8W8U6599&dchild=1&keywords=natural+family+planning&qid=1612953906&sprefix=natural+famil%2Caps%2C155&sr=8-10

Find a practitioner - https://fccgb.org/find-a-practitioner/

A big question on peoples’ minds at the moment is ‘What will a Covid-Christmas look like this year? Will Christmas be cancelled?’ Obviously people are asking this question as they’re working out how and if they’ll family and friends as part of their ‘Christmas bubble’, but regardless of what the Christmas bubble allows, there’s a widespread sense that something special, something beautiful, will be lost this year because of what’s going on with Coronavirus. 

Whether you’re in Tier 1,2, or 3, in hospital, a care home, in self-isolation; Christmas is coming. And we’re going to unpack a little of how and what that means! We're so excited to say we have with us a real life nun, one from an American order called the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal, Sr Faustina.  Sr Faustina is a great friend of the Chaplaincy, is on campus a lot, so if you see a woman in a grey habit, sandals and a great big smile, then you’ve probably seen Sr Faustina, or one of the sisters she lives with!

As part of their Coronavirus lockdown measures on the 5th November, the UK government prohibited communal prayer in all places of worship. Faith leaders from across the country were all unanimous, and wrote a joint letter to the Prime Minister, objecting to this. They said that places of worship were Covid-secure, and closing them would have adverse effect on the nation’s mental health.

But is this true? Can faith help my mental health? And if faith is so good for mental health, why do believers struggle with mental health?

Further Reading and Links

Lost Connections by Johann Hari - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-Connections-Youre-Depressed-Find/dp/1408878720 

-NHS app library

-Mind.org.uk

-https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mental-health/problems-disorders

Youth 2000 Culture Series

The Culture Series Ep5 - Mental Health

Welcome to the first episode of Chaplaincy Chats!

In this episode, we just wanted to dive straight into the deep end with, probably, the most difficult, mysterious question of life- why do we suffer, and if there is a God, why does he allow it?

We understand this can be a difficult topic to talk about. If you have any questions or want to discuss anything about this podcast, message us on [email protected] 

Host: Hannah Hayward, Coordinating Lay Chaplain at Leeds Trinity University

Guest: Fr Christopher Angel, Chaplain to the students at Bradford University and Parish Priest of St Joseph's Catholic Church, Bradford

LINKS and FURTHER READING

The Mystery of the Cross - Cardinal Basil Hulme

The Gift of Pain: Why we Hurt and What We Can Do about It - Paul Brand and Philip Yancey

Why Do We Suffer - Daniel Harrington, S.J

The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything, Chapter 11 'Surrendering to the Future' - Fr James Martin, S.J