Conversations with Consequences

Your TCA hosts Grazie Christie, Ashley McGuire and Andrea Picciotti-Bayer are joined in studio by Montserrat Alvarado, Vice President and Executive Director of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. A lively discussion about why Catholics and Americans are defending religious freedom— including how the Church's teaching can be helpful in defending liberty— as well some of the current attacks on this fundamental aspect of human dignity.  Find out all about Becket's work, including their advocacy for the Little Sisters of the Poor going on right now: https://www.becketlaw.org/ Links to articles referenced in the “clips” section: www.nationalreview.com/news/texas-ag-sues-for-access-to-records-related-to-san-antonios-chick-fil-a-ban/amp/ https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/06/04/omar_errs_in_her_views_on_women_--_and_religious_belief_140479.html https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/09/12/universities-diversity-inclusion-religious-liberty/1281306002/

Our host Dr. Grazie Christie is joined by TCA colleague Andrea Picciotti-Bayer and George Weigel, Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, to discuss the highly suspect conviction on charges of the child sexual abuse of Australian Cardinal George Pell and the pending appeal that will be heard next week. And, as always, Father Roger Landry offers a preview of Sunday’s homily, this week offering a meditation on the Ascension of our Lord. Helpful links: https://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/060219-ascension.cfm https://eppc.org/author/george_weigel/ https://www.realclearreligion.org/articles/2019/03/20/the_catholic_church_needs_an_innocence_project.html https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2019/05/the-pell-case-developments-down-under Links to articles referenced in the “clips” section: https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2019/05/28/mccarrick-correspondence-confirms-restrictions-speaks-to-wuerl-and-china/ https://catholicherald.co.uk/author/andrea-picciotti-bayer/ https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/445159-tweeting-wont-solve-frances-deeper-church-fire-problem-prime-minister

We discuss the persecution of Christians in the Middle East and around the world with Father Benedict Kiely, an expert on the topic who has visited Iraq many times and runs a charity to help Christians rebuild their lives after suffering unimaginable persecution. Helpful links: https://www.nasarean.org/ https://www.nasarean.org/Driver-has-new-taxi http://usccb.org/bible/readings/052619.cfm Links referenced in the “clips” segment: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/two-dozen-states-municipalities-sue-over-trumps-conscience-rule/2019/05/21/564d61c6-7c09-11e9-a5b3-34f3edf1351e_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/abortion-extremism-in-new-york-and-virginia-paved-the-way-for-alabama-and-georgias-laws/2019/05/17/ffad643a-78f0-11e9-bd25-c989555e7766_story.html https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2019/05/21/la-archbishop-says-amended-confession-bill-still-targets-priests-catholic-employees/ https://cruxnow.com/church-in-asia/2019/05/19/womens-advocate-calls-widows-hidden-victims-of-china-one-child-policy/

Author and noted commentator Mona Charen joins the podcast to discuss her book "Sex Matters: How Modern Feminism Lost Touch with Science, Love, and Common Sense." Then Mary Hasson of the Ethics and Public Policy Center is on to talk feminism, marriage, life, and love. Helpful links: https://www.amazon.com/Sex-Matters-Modern-Feminism-Science/dp/0451498399 https://eppc.org/author/mary_hasson/ Links to articles referenced in the "Clips" section: Pope saddened by attack in Burkina Faso: https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2019/05/13/pope-saddened-by-church-attack-in-burkina-faso-vatican-spokesman-says/ US birth rate drops: https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-births-fall-to-lowest-rates-since-1980s-11557892860 Abortion laws and the Supreme Court: https://thecatholicassociation.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d1c628b8f196b52bd284f6a39&id=e23e51bbad&e=e0d4984c86

This week your hosts Grazie and Andrea discuss adoption and foster care with Kathryn Jean Lopez, an expert on the topic and a senior fellow at the National Review Institute, who joins us all the way from Rome. Then, Father Roger Landry offers a preview of this Sunday's homily to get you ready for Mass. Finally, Grazie takes you through a collection of news clips, curated by the Catholic Association, to help you be stay informed about the latest news that matters to people of faith. Kathryn tweets at https://twitter.com/kathrynlopez. https://youtu.be/394aCwA3ebw Links to stories referenced in the "Clips" segment: https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/grazie-pozo-christie-freedom-conscience https://cruxnow.com/church-in-asia/2019/05/08/asia-bibi-reported-to-be-on-her-way-to-canada/ https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/how-the-south-sudanese-bishops-are-working-to-promote-peace-45523

Our most important relationship is with “the One with whom we hope to spend eternity.” In this episode Grazie and Andrea speak with Father Roger Landry about his book “Plan of Life: Habits to Help You Grow Closer to God.” Father Landry suggests concerted steps to center our life on God. He also inspires our embrace of God’s Mercy as we prepare for Divine Mercy Sunday and beyond.

Welcome to Conversations with Consequences, a weekly hour of thoughtful dialogue with the movers and shakers in our society. Our inaugural episode is dedicated to introducing the women of the Catholic Association. We are mothers, professionals, and faithful Catholics. In this episode we share a little about ourselves and the work we do to offer a faithful Catholic voice in the public square. We are Dr. Grazie Christie, Andrea Picciotti-Bayer, Ashley McGuire, and Maureen Ferguson.