The Catholic Herald Podcast: Merely Catholic with Gavin Ashenden

The Catholic Herald Podcast: Merely Catholic with Gavin Ashenden

On the Catholic Herald's weekly podcast, Gavin Ashenden and guests will reflect on what's happening in the Christian world; and shed some light on the most important cultural, spiritual and moral issues of the day.

Episodes

November 8, 2024 55 mins
In this 89th episode of Merely Catholic, the podcast series for the Catholic Herald, Rod Dreher talks to Dr Gavin Ashenden about his new book, Living in Wonder: Finding Mystery and Meaning in a Secular Age.

With increasing numbers of young people in the West seeking spirituality in esoteric religions or the Occult, Mr Dreher argues that the Church must act urgently to rediscover and better express the mysterious beaut...
Mark as Played
Professor David Albert Jones, the director of the Anscombe Bioethics Centre, Oxford, joins Dr Gavin Ashenden for this 88th episode of Merely Catholic, the podcast series for the Catholic Herald.

They discuss the rush to assisted suicide ahead of a crucial vote to legalise the practice in the House of Commons on November 29 and the horrible realities of what a change of the law will mean.

Professor Jones is th...
Mark as Played
Dr Gavin Ashenden is joined for this 87th episode of Merely Catholic, the podcast series for the Catholic Herald, by Andrew Jacoby, an American businessman and entrepreneur.

Mr Jacoby, who converted to the Catholic faith from the Judaism of his youth and the “hedonistic lifestyle” of his later years when he travelled the world as a musician, explains how he was ultimately drawn to the Church by “the truth”.

H...
Mark as Played

Dom Alcuin Reid, the distinguished Australian Benedictine who founded the Monastère Saint-Benoît in Fréjus-Toulon, France, joins Dr Gavin Ashenden for this 86th episode of Merely Catholic, the podcast series for the Catholic Herald.

Dom Alcuin is an internationally-recognised expert on the liturgy, having published and lectured on the subject extensively. Among his works are The Organic Development of the Liturgy...
Mark as Played
Dr Gavin Ashenden is joined on Merely Catholic this week by Dr Derry Connolly, the founding president of John Paul the Great Catholic University, California.
Dr Connolly charts his journey from his youth in rural County Cork, Ireland, and a career in engineering and technology in Los Angeles to the moment when “God put it in my heart” to establish a “radically different” Catholic university in San Diego to harness the powe...
Mark as Played

The Rt Rev. Joseph Strickland, the former Bishop of Tyler, Texas, who was “relieved” of his duties by Pope Francis last year, joins Dr Gavin Ashenden for this 84th episode of Merely Catholic, the podcast series for the Catholic Herald
They discuss his removal from office and the post-modern assault on truth in the Church and in the world, and other subjects including the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, the Fr...
Mark as Played

Our guest for this 83rd episode of Merely Catholic, the podcast series for the Catholic Herald, is Fr Michael Ward, the English literary critic and theologian and an internationally recognised expert on the writings of CS Lewis.
Perhaps best known for his 2010 book Planet Narnia, Fr Ward is an associate member of the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Oxford, and Professor of Apologetics at Houston ...
Mark as Played
Holly Ordway joins Dr Gavin Ashenden for the 82nd episode of Merely Catholic to discuss the Catholicism of JRR Tolkien, the author of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. She is the Cardinal Francis George Professor of Faith and Culture at the Word on Fire Institute and Visiting Professor of Apologetics at Houston Christian University.
Her book Tolkien’s Modern Reading: Middle-earth Beyond the Middle Ages (Word on Fire Academic,...
Mark as Played
Father Hans Zollner, SJ, is a Jesuit priest, theologian, psychologist, and professor at the Gregorian University. He is also one of the leading experts on safeguarding and the prevention of sexual abuse.

In March 2023, Father Zollner resigned from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, criticizing the leadership of the body in a public letter.

In this 81st episode of Merely Catholic, Father Z...
Mark as Played

George Farmer, the Oxford-educated investment banker, social media wizard and GB News board member, is our guest for this 80th episode of Merely Catholic, the podcast series for the Catholic Herald.
Mr Farmer, husband to the American social media influencer and author Candace Owens and the son of Conservative Party peer Lord Farmer, tells Dr Gavin Ashenden about his journey into the Catholic faith from an Evangelical ...
Mark as Played

This week Dr Gavin Ashenden is joined from California by author James Crowell to discuss the work and vision of John Paul the Great Catholic University, an institute founded to harness the power of beauty to transform culture.

They discuss the ambition of the university to shape “the next generation of artists and innovators with academic excellence, unparalleled creativity, and an authentic community centred on ...
Mark as Played
Dr Gavin Ashenden this week speaks to fellow Catholic Herald associate editor and novelist Simon Caldwell about the recently published norms from the Vatican governing the discernment and handling of private revelations and associated mystical and supernatural phenomena. They discuss what the new norms represent and what has prompted the overhaul, the first since 1978. They also examine the purpose of private revelations and the d...
Mark as Played
When Pope Benedict XVI visited Britain in 2010 he was welcomed on behalf of the youth of country by Paschal Uche, then a 22-year-old from Stratford, East London. Ten years later Father Pascal was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Brentwood. In this 77th episode of Merely Catholic, Father Pascal talks to Dr Gavin Ashenden about how he answered his call to the priesthood, his priestly formation, and about the exercise of the voca...
Mark as Played
Michael J. Knowles, the American broadcaster, political commentator, actor and author, is the guest of Dr Gavin Ashenden for this 75th episode for Merely Catholic, the podcast series for the Catholic Herald.

They discuss the many “diverse and eccentric” identities of American conservativism in the twilight of the Biden presidency and Mr Knowles’ work for the Daily Wire, the popular US news website and media company, a...
Mark as Played
Dr Gavin Ashenden is joined this week by Dr Patricia Morgan, the distinguished sociologist and author of the 2023 book Banning Conversion Therapy: The Missing Evidence, amid impending legislation to criminalise counselling, discussion, prayer and teaching based on orthodox Christian doctrine in spite of such changes representing a serious attack upon free inquiry and freedom of speech.

In this 75th episode for Merely ...
Mark as Played
Madeline Page of Right to Life UK joins Dr Gavin Ashenden this week to discuss shocking scenes at Manchester University when a violent mob descended on a meeting of the students’ pro-life group with the aim of closing it down.

Hundreds converged on the venue where a group of students met peacefully to spit at the women taking part and to shout “get raped” in their faces, with the police forced to intervene to prevent ...
Mark as Played
Dr Gavin Ashenden is joined this week by John Zmirak, a senior editor of The Stream and author of the new Politically Incorrect Guide to Catholicism, to discuss the new novelties “gathering slime” in the West and within the Catholic Church.

Zmirak is the author, co-author, or editor of twelve books, including Wilhelm Ropke: Swiss Localist, Global Economist, The Grand Inquisitor (graphic novel) and The Race to Save Our...
Mark as Played
Dr Gavin Ashenden is joined this week by the distinguished Canadian journalist Anna Farrow to discuss Canada’s hysterical grief over mass graves which never existed.

Farrow, a Montreal based writer for the Catholic Register, describes how 96 churches came to be burned down after it was falsely claimed that the graves of 215 children had been discovered in the grounds of a former residential school in British Columbia ...
Mark as Played
The horrendous chemical attack on a woman and two children by Abdul Ezedi, an Afghan received into Christianity by Baptists in Jarrow, has reopened debate about the authenticity of the claims of some people who seek asylum on the grounds of religious conversion.

Monsignor Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Anglican Bishop of Rochester who became a Catholic in 2021, discusses some of the contemporary problems with the syste...
Mark as Played
Ferdi McDermott, the English headmaster and co-founder of Chavagnes International College, a Catholic school for boys in France, joins Dr Gavin Ashenden for this 70th episode of Merely Catholic, the podcast series for The Catholic Herald.

They discuss the origins and success of the venture and some of the issues confronting Catholic secondary and higher education in the ideologically benighted UK and precisely what un...
Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    Today’s Latest News In 4 Minutes. Updated Hourly.

    2. The Joe Rogan Experience

    The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.

    3. Dateline NBC

    Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.

    4. Crime Junkie

    If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people.

    5. The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

    The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2024 iHeartMedia, Inc.