The Catholic Herald Podcast: Merely Catholic with Gavin Ashenden

In this 35th episode of Merely Catholic, the podcast series for The Catholic Herald, Dr Gavin Ashenden talks to Simon Johnson, the Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral and a man described as “one of the most versatile musicians of his generation”. Mr Johnson is a virtuoso organist with extensive work in choral direction, composition and arrangement and for 13 years he also served as the Organist and Assistant Director of Music at St Paul's Cathedral. Together they explore what liturgical music is and what it does ahead of preparations by the world-famous Westminster Cathedral Choir and Orchester, for which Mr Johnson is responsible, for a mesmerising performance of St John Passion by J.S. Bach in the cathedral on Thursday March 16.

This week Dr Gavin Ashenden talks to Steve Ray, the acclaimed American author of Crossing The Tiber and Upon This Rock, among other titles, and a man hailed as one of the most effective Catholic apologists of the present generation. In this 34th episode of the Merely Catholic podcast series for the Catholic Herald, Mr Ray recalls how he left the Baptist faith of his youth to become a dedicated and highly-motivated Catholic after, like St John Henry Newman, he studied the writings of such Fathers as Ss Irenaeus of Lyon, Ignatius of Antioch and Polycarp of Smyrna and recognised that their sub-Apostolic faith was the same as that professed by the Church. Mr Ray also offers some insight into new and emerging contemporary crises in the history of the Church and shares some opinions about what the future may hold.

Dr Gavin Ashenden is joined this week by Edward Pentin, the distinguished English Catholic journalist and veteran Rome correspondent, to discuss the triumphs and tribulations of Cardinal George Pell, a giant of the Catholic Church who died suddenly last week following routine surgery. Cardinal Pell is recalled as a man of integrity, orthodoxy and compassion, a stalwart opponent of the “dictatorship of relativism” who dined with the poor and homeless, and a reformer who dared to sweep out an Augean Stables of corruption in the Vatican finances but whose work was interrupted by allegations of child abuse which the Australian High Court later dismissed as spurious. In this 33rd episode of the Merely Catholic podcast series for The Catholic Herald, Dr Ashenden and Mr Pentin also discuss the legacy of man who fearlessly expressed some very controversial opinions while remaining an indisputably loyal son of the Church.

Ever since the misleading and fourth rate film The Two Popes appeared on our screens, the public has been understandably hungry to know what the relationship between the pope emeritus, Benedict 16th, and the current pope, Francis, was really like behind the scenes. Somewhat to our surprise, Archbishop Ganswein, chaplain and secretary to the pope emeritus has written a book, Nothing But The Truth, set to be released immediately after the funeral of Benedict 16th. Is this going to be a tell-all memoir revealing secrets thus far hidden by decorum, restraint and civility, now released onto a world stage? Or is it going to be a restrained memoir, telling us nothing we didn’t know already? Dr Jules Gomes is a theologian, a journalist and a Catholic correspondent based in Rome. He has a Doctorate in Biblical Studies from Cambridge and is the author of 5 books of theology.  As it happens, he found himself the recipient of an advance copy of Ganswein’s book sent to his email account by a friend. To save us from having to wait for both the publication date and an English translation of Ganswein’s memoirs, he has agreed to share his reflections on the contents of Archbishop Ganswein’s book and he joins me now.

In the first Merely Catholic podcast for 2023, Dr Gavin Ashenden is joined by Monsignor Andrew Burnham to discuss one particular aspect of the legacy of Pope Benedict XVI, who died on New Year’s Eve at the age of 95. In this 31st episode, the former Anglican Bishop of Ebbsfleet pays tribute to the late Pontiff for establishing the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, an act which allowed the corporate reception of entire Anglican communities and permitted them also to bring with them much of the beauty of their liturgical patrimony. Monsignor Burnham, one of five bishops who in 2010 resigned to join the ordinariate, reflects on what he now believes was miracle of creative ecumenism, an act of healing at the hands, and from the heart, of a deeply generous pope.

Dr Serenhedd James joins Gavin Ashenden for this 30th episode of Merely Catholic to talk about why it has been difficult to be both fully English and fully Catholic; whether it matters or not that the coronation of King Charles  is going to involve oaths that don’t reflect the reality of the social and religious context; and perhaps most importantly, has the time come for the Catholic Church to take responsibility for being the principal and most coherent Church in these islands as Anglicanism diminishes in numbers, coherence and conviction.  Dr James is an  academic Historian, Deputy Editor of the Catholic Herald, arts columnist for The Critic, Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and member of faculty at the University of Oxford.

Monsignor Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Anglican Bishop of Rochester who became a Catholic in 2021, joins Dr Gavin Ashenden for this 29th episode of Merely Catholic, the podcast series for the Catholic Herald. Now a member of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, Monsignor Nazir-Ali sets out his views of synodality and he answers some of the criticisms aimed at him by a minority of Catholic activists whose views about the 2021-2024 Synodal Process is somewhat different. The pair also discuss the role and primacy of conscience and Monsignor Nazir-Ali reveals what he most likes about his newly-adopted spiritual home.

In this, the 28 episode of Merely Catholic, the podcast series for the Catholic Herald, Dr Gavin Ashenden talks to Dr Scott Hahn, one of the foremost Biblical scholars in the Catholic world today. Dr Hahn is based in the USA where he holds a number of prestigious academic posts. He has written a range of bestselling books including The Lamb’s Supper, Reasons to Believe and Rome Sweet Rome. In a wide ranging talk they look at Dr Hahn’s new book on “Holiness” and how ethics and belief are affected by the insights into the Biblical experiences we often take for granted or misunderstand.

In the 27th episode of Merely Catholic, the podcast series for The Catholic Herald, Dr Gavin Ashenden reflects on the gulf between the so-called “spirit of Vatican II” and the contents of the documentation agreed by the participating Church fathers. He is joined by Catholic commentator Mark Lambert, author of a popular blog called De Omnibus Dubitandum Est and a regular with Dr Ashenden on the Catholic Unscripted YouTube channel, and together they try to “shed some light” on the spirit of the Second Vatican Council and what was actually intended by the documents emanating from the council itself. They consider whether the Second Vatican Council, convened 60 years ago last month, was a call to holiness and evangelisation or simply to conformity with the Zeitgeist, or the passing and quickly dated spirit of the age.

As the Anglican Bishop of Oxford, Steven Croft, makes the case for the Church of England allowing same-sex marriage, Father Dwight Longenecker, the acclaimed U.S. author and speaker, talks to Dr Gavin Ashenden about what is understood by marriage in the Catholic Church. This 26th episode of Merely Catholic, the podcast series for the Catholic Herald, includes a searing sociological, philosophical and theological analysis of the problems inherent in trying to redefine an ancient institution and one which in the Catholic Church has been elevated to the status of a sacrament. Their conclusions are stark and unambiguous and include the warning of the emergence of a “counterfeit faith”, even within the Catholic Church, which is intended to replace the Apostolic faith with something rather different.