The Catholic Herald Podcast: Merely Catholic with Gavin Ashenden

The Vatican’s precarious diplomatic relations with Communist China is the core subject of discussion in this fascinating 55th episode of Merely Catholic, the podcast series for the Catholic Herald. Presenter Dr Gavin Ashenden is joined by Benedict Rogers, a human rights activist and author of The China Nexus: Thirty Years In and Around the Chinese Communist Party’s Tyranny. Rogers, a former Anglican who was received into the Catholic Church in Myanmar a decade ago, is also the co-founder and chief executive of Hong Kong Watch and the Senior Analyst for East Asia at Christian Solidarity Worldwide. He has won two major international awards for his work in defending religious liberty. The book is available on Amazon or you can order it through Waterstones or any good bookshop, or order directly from the publishers.

In the Bible, Jesus Christ teaches that God is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, but the Anglican Archbishop of York has now distanced himself from the language of divine revelation, declaring it to be “problematic”. In this 54th episode of Merely Catholic, the podcast series for the Catholic Herald, former Anglicans Fr Dwight Longenecker and Dr Gavin Ashenden unpack the reasons why Our Lord chose to reveal the Persons and nature of the Holy Trinity in such terms as they confront what they describe as an “astonishing” redrafting of Christianity by one of the most senior leaders of the Church of England.

The veteran Rome correspondent Edward Pentin returns to Merely Catholic, the podcast series for the Catholic Herald, to discuss with Dr Gavin Ashenden the Instrumentum Laboris, or working document, of the forthcoming Synod on Synodality, which has been published by the Vatican ahead of the first of the sessions in October. Together in this 53rd episode they consider the contents of the document and the extent to which it might be described as authentically Catholic. They also address concerns about whether the working document is in fact an exercise in political modernity which is starkly at odds with the teachings and traditions of the Catholic Church.

In this 52nd episode of Merely Catholic, the podcast series for The Catholic Herald, Dr Gavin Ashenden is joined by Justin Brierley, the freelance writer, speaker and broadcaster who has become known for creating dialogues between Christians and non-Christians. They discuss Justin’s forthcoming book, The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God, which will be published in September, and they also reflect on what Christians might need to do to rescue their culture from new and destructive ideologies moving into the vacuum in British social and political life that has been created by widespread apostasy. Pre-order Justin's new book here!

In the 51st episode, Gavin Ashenden has joined by Kimberly Ells. In 2013, she joined an international organization working to protect the interests of children and families at the United Nations. During her first exposure to UN proceedings in New York City, she was surprised to discover policies being adopted on the basis of the promotion of sexual rights for children. Beyond the immediate astonishment, emerged the question, who was it that believed in the sexualisation of children, and why? In her book, The Invincible Family, Kimberly Ells joins the dots, and offers an analysis of the ethics, politics, and ambitions of those who want to undermine the rights and privileges of biological parents to ‘get their hands on the kids’ and reshape our culture and morals.  She discusses her conclusions in this, the  latest episode of Merely Catholic.

Ryan Christopher returns to Merely Catholic to discuss the highly motivated political lobby groups behind the swingeing changes to law and culture. Mr Christopher, the director of ADF UK, a faith-based legal advocacy organisation defending fundamental freedoms and human dignity, tells Dr Gavin Ashenden in this 50th episode of the podcast series for the Catholic Herald that Western societies are now witnessing the “natural playing out of the death of the liberal moment”. A new era is opening up, he says, in which essential and hard won freedoms and civil liberties are increasingly under threat. It is one in which Catholics must strive with greater urgency to become more involved in public life to protect and uphold so much of what they hold dear and, for now, take for granted.

In the 49th episode of Merely Catholic, Paul Kingsnorth joins Gavin Ashenden to talk about his journey from environmentalism, on an exploration through Buddhism and paganism which led him to Christ.  Hailed as one of the most incisive and perceptive thinkers of his generation, Paul Kingsnorth examines the fragility of Western culture and the emergence of what he terms ‘the machine’ – the delegation to technology of the control and fulfilment of human desire.  All choices are ‘religious’ now he suggests. It’s a choice between God and the archetypal path of rebellion with its inevitable consequences.

Dr Gavin Ashenden is joined for this episode of Merely Catholic, the podcast series for the Catholic Herald, by Alexander Tschugguel, who in 2019 achieved global fame when he took an icon of a pachamama earth goddess from the Carmelite Church of Santa Maria in Traspontina, near the Vatican, and threw it into the River Tiber. A convert from Lutheranism, Mr Tschugguel explains why it was idolatrous to allow such pagan icons near the altar of a Catholic church, saying it was a direct contravention of the First Commandment and also an insult to the Blessed Virgin Mary. He also reflects on the sinister ideologies that he believes lay behind the decision to invite pagan fertility symbols into a church and what the objectives of such thinking might be.

The freelance journalist and commentator Georgia Gilholy joins Dr Gavin Ashenden for this 47th episode of Merely Catholic, the podcast series for the Catholic Herald. A writer for wide range of publications, including The Spectator, The Critic and the Catholic Herald, Miss Gilholy describes her personal journey into the Catholic faith from the certitudes of doctrinaire atheism. She explains how it feels today to be both a young female professional and a convert and she offers a few insights about how Christians of her generation might find the language to speak to those who have yet to enter the light of truth.

Dr Gavin Ashenden is joined for this 46th episode of Merely Catholic, the podcast series for the Catholic Herald, by Ryan Christopher, the director of ADF UK, a faith-based legal advocacy organisation defending fundamental freedoms and human dignity. They discuss the rapid erosion of freedom of speech and its causes and what might be done to reverse such a trend as well as how to defend and uphold other authentic human rights. Mr Christopher, a former seminarian, also reflects on contemporary challenges to the priestly ministry and parish life and offers some insights on ways in which Christian life and culture might be renewed in the post-modern era.