---

Location, location, location.  That is the eternal cry of every real estate agent, and it proved prophetic for this week’s guest, Prof. David Deavel, an assistant professor of Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas — as he grew up an evangelical Christian in the shadow of Notre Dame, which gave him the foundation […]

[ READ THE FULL ARTICLE ]

---

If the Catholic Church has canon law, there must be canon lawyers, right?! There are, and we were able to track down and invite Dr. Margaret Taylor-Ulizio to talk about her career path to canon law and what canon lawyers do. While canon law covers a wide range of issues from property rights to employment, we spend time talking about marriage nullity, which comes up with relative frequency and is something that Dr. Taylor-Ulizio has been specializing in recently.

We are available on iTunes for free. Never miss an episode.

[ READ THE FULL ARTICLE ]

---

Happy bicentennial to the American Bible Society, celebrating its 200th year in operation on May 11, 2016. To celebrate, we invite historian John Fea (Messiah College) to discuss the history of the ABS and his recent book “The Bible Cause.” We track the changes to this quintessential American institution over time, emphasizing how it reflected and shaped our society over the past two centuries.

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and tell your friends we are a great educational resource with 290 free episodes archived.

[ READ THE FULL ARTICLE ]

---

Prof. Christopher Hale (U of Alabama) discusses how religion is connected to political protest in Mexico. Building upon some foundational work in the religious economies school, he explains how institutional decentralization and lay leadership fosters socio-economic activism. He also addresses the role of ideology and religious competition.

Check out our extensive archives of great episodes. There is sure to be something of interest to everyone there!

[ READ THE FULL ARTICLE ]

---

With the 50th anniversary of Dignitatis Humanae just past us, we visit with independent scholar Keith Pavlischek to discuss the life and thought of John Courtney Murray, a Jesuit priest who had a profound impact on how Catholics think about religious pluralism and liberty. We review the major document on religious freedom released at the Second Vatican Council and then discuss how Murray became involved in this debate after being prompted to think about religious freedom following a series of US Supreme Court decisions. We also reflect upon what Murray would have thought about our current church-state landscape.

We are a free educational podcast aimed at the general public. Please tell our friends, family, & colleagues about us.

[ READ THE FULL ARTICLE ]

---

Why do large institutions that begin as federated organizations tend to centralize authority in executive power? Prof. Ken Kollman (University of Michigan) explains his theory of executive centralization and applies it to the Roman Catholic Church. We discuss how the Church has centralized power in the Curia over the past 150 years and whether there are any counter-tendencies to such concentration of authority.

Please tell a friend about our weekly podcast. We’d enjoy the company.

[ READ THE FULL ARTICLE ]

---

We are now in the midst of celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Second Vatican Council, which began in the fall of 1962 and lasted three years. Why was Vatican II called? What happened during this monumental gathering of Catholic prelates? And what impact has VCII had on the contemporary Church? Prof. James Felak, a popular guest on the show, returns to answer all of these questions and more. We explore the historical nature of Church councils and where Vatican II sits in the list of important councils.

Subscribe to our podcast for free on iTunes or use the RSS feed above to subscribe on other feeds.

[ READ THE FULL ARTICLE ]

---

With the election season heating up, we revisit the issue of whether religion plays a role in voting behavior in the United States. Prof. Gerald De Maio (Baruch College, CUNY) discusses his collaborative research with Louis Bolce on the “religion gap” in American politics. This research indicates that those who attend church more regularly, or who hold more orthodox religious views, tend to vote much differently than seculars. De Maio and Bolce’s research also shows how the media has failed to pick up on this electoral divide while touting other “gaps” — e.g., gender, age, soccer moms — that are much less salient when it comes to predicting election outcomes. We speculate how the “religion gap” will play out in the November 2012 elections.

To download, right click on the download link above and select “save target as…” or subscribe for free on iTunes. And please “like” our Facebook Fan Page (Research on Religion with Anthony Gill) to get information about upcoming episodes and see the cartoon that was mentioned in this podcast.

[ READ THE FULL ARTICLE ]

---

In March of 1939, Eugenio María Giuseppe Pacelli became Pope Pius XII just days before the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia and months before Germany continued their march into Poland. Prof. James Felak (University of Washington) examines the life and times of Pope Pius XII and explores the controversy surrounding his papacy. Interestingly, we learn that criticism of Pope Pius XII’s actions only emerged two decades after World War II. Prof. Felak discusses the difficult diplomatic and moral situation that Pius XII found himself in during the war, lays out the logic of his actions, and then assesses the overall impact (including his post-war proclamations) of Pius XII’s papacy on the contemporary Church Church.

To download, right click on the “download” button and select “save target as…” We also can be found on iTunes; the subscription is free!

[ READ THE FULL ARTICLE ]

---

Rev. Robert Sirico of the Acton Institute discusses his new book, “Defending the Free Market: The Moral Case for a Free Economy.” Our discussion delves into Fr. Sirico’s personal history, the nature of greed and envy, the role of profits in an economy, volutarism & individual charity, and why capitalism is a morally superior system than socialism. Along the way, we talk about the communal organization of the early Church Fathers, the Pilgrims, and Rev. Sirico’s thoughts on Ayn Rand. We conclude our discussion with an examination of President Bush’s faith-based initiative and the recent controversy involving the US Catholic bishops and the Obama administration’s health care mandates.

To download, “right click” on the download button above and choose “save target as…” Or become a regular listener by subsribing to us on iTunes or using our RSS feed. See the buttons on the right hand column of our webpage!

And if you like this interview, please tell your friends about it using the social media links below. Thank you!

[ READ THE FULL ARTICLE ]

---