Ignatius Press Podcast

When Pope Benedict XVI passed away on December 31, 2022 at the age of 95, Catholics the world over mourned the loss of a spiritual father as well as a brilliant theologian. Among those who knew the late pontiff best was Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J., founder and editor of Ignatius Press. Fr. Fessio studied with Pope Benedict—when he was still Fr. Joseph Ratzinger—during Fessio’s doctoral studies in theology in Germany in the 1970s. In this episode, Fr. Fessio joins our host Andrew Petiprin to offer some memories of his time with Pope Benedict XVI, as well as insights into the writings of the man many consider one of the most important theologians of the 20th and 21st centuries. They also discuss the newly released book What is Christianity? The Last Writings, a collection of essays—many never before published—written by the late pope in the years following his resignation of the papacy in 2013. The chapters of this book cover a wide spectrum of subjects, including the liturgy, interreligious dialogue, the priesthood, clerical sexual abuse, and the Eucharist.

Since the 2012 release of her first book on the Sexual Revolution, Mary Eberstadt has engaged in what she considers an often thankless task—honoring the suffering of those who have been victimized by the massive changes that have rocked society since the 1960s. The Pill, no-fault divorce, and plummeting marriage rates have not made us freer, happier, or healthier, Eberstadt has argued; instead they’ve ushered in an era of unprecedented loneliness, mental health problems, and weakened support systems for the most vulnerable. In this episode, Eberstadt speaks with Andrew Petiprin about her newest book, Adam and Eve after the Pill, Revisited, which looks at how the damaging forces of the Sexual Revolution have accelerated in the last decade, leaving more victims in their wake, often in the name of tolerance, acceptance, and freedom. Eberstadt also sees many reasons for hope. More and more secular voices have begun to question the pieties of the Sexual Revolution, recognizing the chaos that has accompanied the dismantling of traditional family structures and articulating a yearning for connection and interdependence, rather than radical autonomy and isolation. Related reading: Adam and Eve after the Pill, Revisited by Mary Eberstadt Revisiting Adam and Eve after the Pill: An interview with Mary Eberstadt by Paul Senz

While the name of Jozsef Cardinal Mindszenty may not be well known among Catholics today, during the Cold War the archbishop of Esztergom and primate of Hungary was one of the most noteworthy Catholic churchmen in the world. Admired for his heroic resistance in the face of Communism, then Nazism, and then Communism once again, Cardinal Mindszenty spent years in prison for his Christian witness against brutal totalitarianism. In this episode, host Andrew Petiprin speaks with Professor Daniel J. Mahoney, professor emeritus of political science at Assumption University. Professor Mahoney wrote the introduction to a new edition of Cardinal Mindszenty’s Memoirs, published by Ignatius Press. The two discuss the struggles in which Mindszenty was inevitably embroiled as leader of the Hungarian Church during decades of social and political upheaval. They look at the powerful witness of Christian suffering Mindszenty gave to his countrymen and to the whole world, as he lived through years of solitary confinement, then more than a decade within the walls of the American embassy, and then finally exile from his beloved homeland. And they consider the continued relevance of Mindszenty’s story, at a time when questions of Christian conscience, political coercion, and secular encroachment on the Church remain pressing. Related links: Memoirs, by Jozsef Cardinal Mindszenty, with a foreword by Joseph Pearce and an introduction by Daniel J. Mahoney “Cardinal Mindszety and the recovery of heroic Christian virtue” by Daniel J. Mahoney “The Cardinal Who Stared Down Communism” by Sean Salai

“How do I make up my mind?” Making decisions, from the life-changing to the seemingly inconsequential, can be a frustrating, even paralyzing, experience for many. With more distractions at our finger-tips than ever before, young people in particular face a host of challenges when it comes to discerning and navigating a path through life. Fr. J. Augustine Wetta, O.S.B. has written a unique book for the perplexed—or even just those who wonder if they need a different approach to decision-making in their lives. In “Pray. Think. Act.: Make Better Decisions with the Desert Fathers,” Fr. Wetta applies centuries-old wisdom to the decision-making process, examining each step in how we should make up our minds with wit, empathy, and candor. In this episode, your host Andrew Petiprin explores the steps in solid decision-making with Fr. Wetta, whose signature mixture of personal anecdotes, laid-back humor, and practical advice make him a genial guide through what can be a difficult process. Fr. Wetta has honed his approach in his work with high-schoolers, but he has insights that will benefit anyone who finds himself struggling to make prayerful, considered decisions—which is, at some time or other, most of us. Related links: “Pray. Think. Act.: Make Better Decisions with the Desert Fathers” by J. Augustine Wetta, O.S.B. “Humility Rules: Saint Benedict’s Twelve-Step Guide to Genuine Self-Esteem” by J. Augustine Wetta, O.S.B. “The Eighth Arrow: Odysseus in the Underworld, A Novel” by J. Augustine Wetta, O.S.B.

Jimmy Mitchell works with young people every day in his job as director of campus ministry at a high school in Florida. He sees their struggles to form relationships with others, to manage the growing presence of technology in their lives, to deepen their spiritual lives. He also sees their desire for the true, the good, and the beautiful, and their yearning for connection, meaning, and happiness. Mitchell’s new book, “Let Beauty Speak: The Art of Being Human in a Culture of Noise,” is informed by his experiences working with young people, but its blueprint for a way of life has wider appeal. The principles he outlines in the book—including wonder, freedom, friendship, joy, culture, and more—empower Christians to evangelize by bringing beauty to the forefront of their lives. In this episode, Andrew Petiprin speaks with Jimmy Mitchell about the beauty of a life well-lived, and how such a life can work as a powerful tool for evangelization.   Related links: “Let Beauty Speak: The Art of Being Human in a Culture of Noise” by Jimmy Mitchell “The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise” by Robert Cardinal Sarah “The Art of Living: The Cardinal Virtues and the Freedom to Love” by Edward Sri “How a ‘culture of conversion’ transformed a Catholic high school” | Catholic News Agency/Catholic World Report

Jeremy Christiansen was a young married man, raising his children in the Mormon faith in which he’d grown up himself, when he began experiencing doubts about the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. As he looked at his upbringing, his marriage, and everything he had always believed to be true, Christiansen began a journey of spiritual questioning that led him away from Mormonism and ultimately into the Catholic Church. Christiansen’s process of conversion is the subject of his new memoir, “From the Susquehanna to the Tiber,” available now at Ignatius.com. In this episode, our host Andrew Petiprin speaks with Christiansen about the destabilizing experience of losing his faith in Mormonism, the joys and challenges of finding a spiritual home in the Catholic Church, and how the Church can better understand and engage with Mormons. Related links: “From the Susquehanna to the Tiber: A Memoir of Conversion from Mormonism to the Roman Catholic Church” by Jeremy Christiansen “Logically navigating the journey from Mormonism to the Catholic Church” by Casey Chalk “To be deep in history is to cease to be Mormon: An interview with Jeremy Christiansen” by Paul Senz

“Christian existence must be cruciform—it has to be ready for martyrdom, especially now in the modern world.”   Larry Chapp’s new book “Confession of a Catholic Worker” is a call to Christians to shake off the idolatrous spirit of the age, and go to the root of our Gospel calling: radical love and radical living according to the Sermon on the Mount.   In this episode, Chapp speaks with Carl E. Olson about the new book, how modern Christians can best confront today’s spiritual and societal crises, and about the pitfalls of sharing the Gospel in a world increasingly in denial about the existence of the transcendent.   Related links: “Confession of a Catholic Worker: Our Moment of Christian Witness” by Larry Chapp “The Moment of Christian Witness” by Hans Urs von Balthasar Larry Chapp’s website and blog, Gaudium et Spes 22 Catholic World Report – Global Church news and views

In this episode, Ignatius Press founder Fr. Joseph Fessio talks to his friend and fellow Jesuit, Fr. Robert McTeigue, about Fr. McTeigue’s new book, “Christendom Lost and Found: Meditations for a Post Post-Christian Era” (http://bit.ly/3Rl25FY ).   The book is a kind of a war journal, written between 2020 and 2021 during “the COVID Interruption” and the violent outbursts in cities across America. Witnessing cultural collapse in every direction, Fr. McTeigue offers meditations on what it will take to build Christ-centered cultures in our time—what must be retrieved and what must be renewed. Fr. McTeigue can be heard Monday through Friday at 5pm Eastern on his radio show “The Catholic Current”; listen on your favorite podcast platform or online: https://thestationofthecross.com/programs/the-catholic-current/ Find Fr. McTeigue’s first book, “Real Philosophy for Real People,” at Ignatius.com: http://bit.ly/3HI1WIz

Was the Catholic Church slow to condemn racism? Can Catholic teaching be used to justify slavery? How should Catholics engage with Critical Race Theory, in its popular or academic forms?   In this episode, philosopher Edward Feser discusses these and other questions with Catholic World Report editor Carl E. Olson. Feser is the author of the new book “All One in Christ: A Catholic Critique of Racism and Critical Race Theory,” in which he examines what the Church has said and done historically on issues of race, and takes a close look at the origins—and recent bestselling popularizations—of Critical Race Theory.   Feser and Olson talk about the genesis of the book, common misconceptions about the Catholic Church and race, the inherent limitations of CRT, and more.   Find “All One in Christ” at Ignatius.com: http://bit.ly/3VZ0OWl   You can read more from Edward Feser on his blog: http://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/   Feser was interviewed at Catholic World Report about “All One in Christ”: https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2022/09/08/the-churchs-teachings-about-racism-and-the-truth-about-critical-race-theory/   “Countering disinformation about Critical Race Theory” by Edward Feser | Catholic World Report, 8/22/22: https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2022/08/22/countering-disinformation-about-critical-race-theory/

When Fr. Paul Mankowski, SJ died in September 2020, friends, colleagues, and long-time readers mourned the loss of the biting wit and keen insight that characterized his writing, much of which was published under the pseudonym “Diogenes.”   In this episode, two men who knew and admired Fr. Mankowski—his fellow Jesuit, Fr. Joseph Fessio, and his editor at Catholic World Report and later Catholic World News, Philip F. Lawler—remember their friend, whose writing spanned decades and covered Church news, art and culture, politics, and more.   A sampling of Fr. Mankowski’s writings, most of which he published as Diogenes, has been collected in the new book, “Diogenes Unveiled: A Paul Mankowski Collection,” edited by Lawler and available at Ignatius.com: http://bit.ly/3X6UuNR   You can read more essays by Mankowski in the book “Jesuit at Large,” edited by George Weigel: https://ignatius.com/jesuit-at-large-jlerp/   You can find Philip F. Lawler’s writing at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/authors.cfm?authorid=3   And you can follow him on Twitter, @PhilLawler.