Podcasts

For the fifth year in a row, Bill McGarvey of CathNewsUSA and James Martin, S.J., join Tim Reidy for a discussion of the Oscar contending films. Among their favorites, “The Tree of Life” and The Descendants,” two films with spiritual themes that treat them in very different ways.

In 1968, shortly after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., John Brooks, S.J., of the College of the Holy Cross set out to recruit a group of African Americans to attend the small Catholic college in Worcester, Massachusetts. Among those he would bring to the school were Clarence Thomas and Theodore V. Wells, Jr. […]

In an archive interview from the 2010 Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, Richard Gaillardetz examines the successes and the still yet unrealized goals of the Second Vatican Council. Should Catholics today focus anew on implementing the Council’s vision, or instead turn outward to evangelize the culture? Or perhaps, fifty years after Vatican II, is a […]

Timothy A. Byrnes talks about his new book Reverse Mission, which looks at three religious communities and the unique ways they have shaped U.S. foreign policy. Byrnes, a professor of political science at Colgate University and a panelist on the Ivory Tower Half Hour, focuses here on the story of the six Jesuits who were […]

There’s been a change of leadership this month at Catholic Relief Services, the relief and development arm of the U.S. Catholic Church, but will that mean a change of direction? Kevin Clarke recently spoke with Catholic Relief Services new CEO Carolyn Woo. Ms. Woo comes to CRS after a lengthy tenure as dean of The […]

This week we spoke with Mary Meehan, a freelance writer and public speaker, who is sought after to give talks about life issues at universities and other locations across the country. Her recent article for America, “In Harm’s Way,” looks at the effects of war on children, both born and unborn. Mary spoke to us […]

Rev. Brendan Leahy, professor of theology at St. Patrick’s College in Maynooth, Ireland, talks about his new book, Ecclesial Movements and Communities, which traces the origins and significance of movements such as L’Arche, Focolare, Communion and Liberation and the Community of Sant’Egidio. Fr. Leahy discusses the unique charisms of these communities and the ways in […]

The Rev. David Beckmann, the president of Bread for the World, discusses the plight of hungry people in the United States and abroad, and how his organization works to lobby Congress to maintain financial support for those less fortunate. He also explains how government support is essential to fighting hunger—charities alone are not sufficient—and how […]

John P. Schlegel, S.J., describes his journey from president of Creighton University to president and publisher of America Press, Inc. A native of Iowa, Fr. Schlegel has spent most of his ministry in university administration. He is a longtime reader of America, and here describes some of his hopes for the magazine as it navigates […]

When John Endres, S.J., and Julia Prinz, V.D.M.F., traveled to Asia in 2009 with a delegation from the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, they were not sure to expect. Their trip gave them unique insights into the lives of their students, in particular women religious, who travel from the Pacific Rim to study theology […]