Julio Ricardo Varela on being the only Latino (rebel) in a room. Ep. 72

Aug 17, 2018

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“Being the only Latino means that while the white men get to disagree with each other and develop idiosyncratic or counterintuitive arguments, you can never just say how you feel or what you think about a story,” wrote Julio Ricardo Varela in America. “Instead, you always have to frame your comments in a way that responds to the needs of the 56.5 million people who share some part of your identity.”

Julio is a Puerto Rican journalist. Along with writing for Latino Rebels, a website he founded in 2011 that provides news, analysis and commentary about U.S. Latino culture, he is the co-host of the Webby-nominated “In The Thick” podcast with Maria Hinojosa and a contributor to Latino USA on NPR. On this week’s episode, we talk to Julio about working in media as a Latino, Hurricane Maria, the sexual abuse crisis and more.

In Signs of the Times, a giant Pope Francis scarecrow wins a competition in Ireland; and a 27-year-old pastor starts GodSquad Church to bring God to the gamer community. In Argentina, where abortion is illegal in most cases, the Senate voted down a bill that would have legalized abortion through 14 weeks of pregnancy. What made the difference between Argentina and the referendum in Ireland earlier this year that legalized abortion? In Peru, Jesuit priest Carlos Riudavets Montes was found murdered on Aug. 10.

Finally, we bring you the latest developments on the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, including the grand jury report from Pennsylvania and reports on two Benedictine abbey schools in England.

We know it has been a difficult week trying to process what it means to be Catholic during this crisis. Part of the reason we do this is to help all our listeners process moments such as these. You can email us at jesuitical@americamedia.org or tweet us on Twitter. Please feel free to also join our Facebook group, where members this week followed a live panel featuring Ashley and Zac on an intergenerational discussion on how Catholics are responding to the sexual abuse crisis and shared their own questions and comments about the crisis.

Links from the show:

Giant straw Pope Francis wins annual scarecrow festival in Ireland

An online church for gamers: Va. pastor draws thousands to worship on Twitch

Details of second letter priest sent to Cardinal O’Malley describing McCarrick abuse