At the time of this podcast, August 20, 2018, the Catholic Church is engulfed in crisis. Six days ago a Grand Jury report detailed accusations against 300 priests of sexual abuse in six different Pennsylvania dioceses. In recent weeks Archbishop Theodore McCarrick resigned as a Cardinal following substantiated allegations of sexual misconduct against adult seminarians and boys. While the scandal of abuse surfaced in 2002 the current crisis seems even worse because it sheds light on decades of episcopal cover up and self-satisfied clericalism. Can the reality of personal vocation be an antidote to the cancer of clericalism in the Church?

Our guest for this podcast, Catholic entrepreneur Patrick Molyneaux, is from Pittsburgh, which some have described as “ground zero” of the current crisis. Molyneaux is the co-owner of Molyneaux Tile • Carpet • Wood as well as a founder of several non-profit organizations including the Pittsburgh chapter of Legatus and the Human Formation Coalition. In all these efforts Pat works to cultivate human flourishing. We talk about his use of MCORE (Motivational Core) and other assessments to help employees connect their unique gifts with their work and experience it as part of their personal vocation. We discuss the coaching and coach training Pat provides for priests, who generally have strong intellectual and spiritual formation, but little training in how to identify and cultivate their own unique gifts or those of the laity.

In the pews we already have what we need to renew the Church.

A major theme of the podcast is Pat’s vision of unleashing the massive potential of millions of Catholics who come to Church but remain undeveloped by the Church. We talk about the culture of clericalism that helped breed the current crisis and in which the unique gifts and calling of the laity continue to be ignored. We close with conversation about how authentic renewal can be achieved when we work with the Holy Spirit to cultivating the personal vocations of everyone.