The Wise and the Wherefores

Timothy Costelloe is the Archbishop of Perth, the President of the Australian Bishops’ Conference and part of the team preparing the global synod summit. As a senior figure in the Australian Catholic Church, he has been deeply involved in synodality, and what it means for the Church. An expert listener, he is an example of a bishop who adopts and lives the synod style of the Church.

In this episode, Archbishop Tim explains to The Tablet’s Rome correspondent Christopher Lamb how the synod process can revitalise the Church globally and in Australia, but that it is not something that is going to happen overnight. In the face of a decline in religious practice in the West, Archbishop Tim wants a Church that can re-connect with a younger generation and consider adopting a “preferential option of the young.” But he also addresses the claim from the late Australian Cardinal George Pell that the synod is a “nightmare” and reflects on ten years of the Francis papacy. Archbishop Tim says that this Pope is reminding the Church that Jesus wasn’t someone who just taught the truth; he also showed the way in his interactions with the people. He pointed out that the only people Jesus strongly criticised were the religious authorities of the day — and it's the same group of people trying to undermine Francis.

This podcast is part of a series in partnership with The Tablet, sponsored by the Centre for Catholic Studies at the University of Durham.

Executive Producer: Silvia Saccco Producer: Jamie Weston

Bill Wilson was, with Dr Bob Smith, the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. He wrote the Big Book and the Twelve Steps and Traditions, used by millions of recovering alcoholics to stay sober, one day at a time, and now adapted for use by many hundreds of self-help groups around the world. While AA is not allied to any sect, denomination or organisation, a belief in a ‘higher power’ is a core part of the programme. However the steps and Big Book are written in such a way that makes it clear that atheists and agnostics can happily remain as such while working the programme successfully. A key individual who helped Bill W while he worked with other recovering alcoholics to shape AA and the steps was Fr Ed Dowling, a Jesuit who had an active ministry to alcoholics and others living on the edges of society. Now the well-known writer and Catholic, Dawn Eden Goldstein, has written the first in-depth biography of this extraordinary priest. In this podcast, Ruth Gledhill, assistant editor of The Tablet, talks to Dawn about Fr Ed, why she wrote this book, and the wider impact of AA. Subscribe to The Tablet. Sign up to our twice-weekly free newsletter. Read Ruth Gledhill’s review of Dawn’s biography in The Tablet here.

The Tablet’s Rome correspondent Christopher Lamb talks to Ruth Gledhill about the Pope Francis, the reforms he has undertaken and what he still hopes to do.

Read Chris's article on the tenth anniversary of his election in The Tablet. 

Pope Francis’ visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo and his ecumenical pilgrimage to South Sudan are powerful examples of the role faith can play in peace building. In an historic first, Francis will be joined in South Sudan by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

Christopher Lamb, The Tablet’s Rome Correspondent, spoke to Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States (foreign minister), Bishop Precious Omuku, the Archbishop of Canterbury's Special Representative on Conflict in sub Saharan Africa at Lambeth Palace and Dr Iain Greenshields, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, about the trip before himself joining Pope Francis on the plane to Kinshasa.

The death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at the age of 95 was not unexpected. Pope Francis had indicated he was gravely ill from advancing age during his General Audience last Wednesday when he asked for prayers. He was the first pope to resign while in office in six centuries. Ruth Gledhill, assistant editor of The Tablet, talks to Rome correspondent Christopher Lamb about the death of Benedict, his legacy and what happens now.

A commonly held fear about the synod process is that it will allow division and disagreement to veer out of control. Several bishops and priests don’t wish to engage with synodality as they worry it will disrupt the peace.

Is this fear justified? In this episode, I go inside a synod gathering in Sydney, Australia, where an explosive moment of disagreement almost derailed the whole process. Halfway through the Catholic Church in Australia’s plenary council assembly, a vote on the equal dignity of men and women in the Church failed to pass. There was a protest among some of the members and the threat of a walkout.

But then something remarkable took place. The gathering re-grouped, and a new motion on the role of women was formulated and later agreed upon. The moment of crisis became the turning point for renewal, and the plenary council ended up passing a series of motions that opens a new chapter for the Church in Australia.

This episode features interviews with several of those involved in the synod, including women leaders and Archbishop Mark Coleridge, who helped spearhead the process. The experience in Australia offers a valuable lesson for the rest of the Church: don’t be afraid.

Producers: Silvia Sacco, Jamie Western

The sixth podcast in Christopher Lamb’s series looks at “The German Challenge”.

If you read some of the commentaries about the German synodal pathway, you might be forgiven for believing that the Church in Germany is planning a second Reformation.

Cardinal Mario Grech is the man Pope Francis has placed in charge of the worldwide synod and in this episode. In the latest episode of his series, The Church’s Radical Reform, Christopher Lamb talks to him about the tensions that had been unleashed by the process. 

The synod was never going to be plain sailing and disagreement among bishops about the direction of the Church has now spilt out into the open in ways not seen for centuries.  

“The Church’s Radical Reform” podcast is hosted by The Tablet’s Christopher Lamb and is supported by the Centre for Catholic Studies at the University of Durham.