Jesuitical America Media

This week on Jesuitical, Zac and Ashley are talking about the migrant crisis in New York City and the work Catholics are doing to respond. They are joined by Richard Slizeski, the senior vice president for mission at Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens. They talk to him about:

Migrants’ often harrowing experiences coming to the United States

What’s missing in the political debates around the migrant crisis in New York

How Catholic Charities’ mission and Catholic identity informs their work on the ground


In Signs of the Times, Zac and Ashley discuss recent revelations about what World War II-era Pope Pius XII knew about the Holocaust as it was occuring, as well as Pope Francis’ recent conversation with Bill Clinton.
Links from the Show

As New York’s migrant crisis makes headlines, Catholic Charities gets to work


Letter Found in Vatican Archives Confirms Church Was Told About Death Camps; more info


Conversation between Pope Francis and Bill Clinton


What’s on Tap?
Dark beer—Guinness stout, specifically
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Zac and Ashley are talking about the psychological care that seminarians (i.e., priests-in-training) receive as part of their formation. They are joined by Maribel Laguna, the founder and owner of Cor Sacrum Counseling and Consulting. They talk to Maribel about:

The Catholic Church’s relationship with psychology and counseling, historically and today

The unique challenges seminarians are facing

The type of psychological screening that goes into the decision to accept someone into a seminary program


In Signs of the Times, they discuss Pope Francis’ new pick to lead the Vatican’s doctrinal office and the best thing to go on tour in the United States this year: the relic of St. Jude’s arm.
Links from the show:
Pope Francis appoints Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernandez as the new head of Vatican office for doctrine
St. Jude’s arm is on tour in the US; tour schedule
Become a member of Jesuitical’s Patreon community
Invite Jesuitical to your college, parish or community! Send us an email: jesuitical@americamedia.org
What’s on tap?
Grapefruit Margarita 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the season premier of Jesuitical’s seventh season, Zac and Ashley talk with their friend and colleague James Martin, S.J., who is out with a brand new book, Come Forth: The Promise of Jesus's Greatest Miracle. They ask Father Martin:

If Jesus actually raised Lazarus from the dead (and do Catholic have to believe it)

What Mary, Martha and Lazarus can teach us about friendship

And how we can all come forth into new life in our daily lives


In Signs of the Times, we discuss the “DJ Priest” who made headlines at World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal, and ask: Were Pope Francis’ criticisms of “reactionary” Catholics in the United States fair (or helpful)?
Links from the show:
The (not so) curious case of priests who DJ in the history of electronic music
Pope Francis speaks out against his critics in the U.S. Catholic Church
Pope Francis’ criticisms of ‘reactionary’ U.S. Catholics are counterproductive
Come Forth: The Promise of Jesus's Greatest Miracle
Exclusive Excerpt: What can the story of Lazarus teach us about new life?
Become a member of Jesuitical’s Patreon community
What’s on tap?
Corpse Reviver No. 2
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We have a great summer bonus episode, all about baseball! To listen to the full episode, become a patron of Jesuitical!
This is the first season with a pitch clock in Major League Baseball, which was implemented to try to speed up the game and appeal to younger viewers. But to some longtime baseball fans the rule change feels gimmicky and disrespectful to the grand tradition of America's pastime.
If the debate sounds familiar, that's because the Catholic Church is at a similar pivotal moment in its history. Younger people are not filling the pews as previous generations have, and Catholics are grappling with how to reform itself without compromising its authentic tradition. 
On today's episode, two past guests and baseball fanatics return to debate the pitch clock and draw analogies between the game and the church they love. J.D. Long-Garcia is a senior editor at America and Greg Hillis runs the Aquinas Center of Theology at Emory University. You can read their takes on the pitch clock here:
J.D. Long-Garcia, "The pitch clock is a travesty. The Catholic Church must learn from baseball’s mistake."
Greg Hillis, "Quit Trying to ‘Fix’ Baseball" and "In Praise of the Pitch Clock"
Help support the production of Jesuitical by becoming a patron! It's simple, easy, and you can listen to bonus episodes on your podcast app!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the season finale of “Jesuitical,” Zac and producer Sebastian Gomes talk with Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J., who leads the Vatican’s department for social justice and human development. (Ashley was out of the country at the time of the interview). Cardinal Czerny is also the co-author of the new book Siblings All, Sign of the Times: The Social Teaching of Pope Francis. We talk to him about:

The disputed legacy of Vatican II

How Pope Francis has developed the church’s social teaching

How the church should relate to the outside world


In Signs of the Times, Zac and Ashley point ahead to some stories to look out for this summer. And in As One Friend Speaks to Another, they look back at the season and the many graces it held.
Links from the show:
Jesuitical listener survey
Learn more about the O’Hare fellowship
Vatican confirms Pope Francis will enjoy a ‘staycation’ in July
Pope Francis’ prep advice for World Youth Day: talk to your grandparents first
Siblings All, Sign of the Times: The Social Teaching of Pope Francis by Cardinal Michael Czerny and Father Christian Barone
Ignatian Wisdom Fellowship from Loyola University Chicago
Sacred Heart Major Seminary’s online course "An Introduction to Spirituality”
What’s on tap?
Rum sunset, prepared by outgoing O’Hare fellow, Chris Parker
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Jesuitical, Ashley and Zac chat with Bryan McCarthy, who teaches philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh, Greensburg, and is the author of a new paper, “Christianity and Psychedelic Medicine: A Pastoral Approach.” They discuss: 

What the church teaches about drugs and intoxication

How psychedelic drugs are being used in therapeutic settings, and how Christians should respond

Bryan’s own religious experiences while using psychedelic drugs 

During Signs of the Times, Ashley and Zac give initial reactions to the new working document for the Synod on Synodality and discuss a curious story involving a fake priest and serious labor violations out of California. 
Links from the show: 

Bryan’s paper

Vatican releases Synod document calling for discussion of women, LGBT Catholics, church authority and more

California restaurant had fake priest hear workers’ confessions, Labor Department says


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