Introduction

The purpose of this episode is to introduce the podcast series.  I’ll provide an overview of what this podcast is all about and the approach that it will take, to give you an idea of what to expect from upcoming episodes.

Helpful notes and references for this episode (links underlined):

1. US Conference of Catholic Bishops Overview of Catholic Social Teaching  Great place to start if you’re new to the idea of Catholic Social Teaching.
2. Key Principles of Catholic Social Teaching  This is a very helpful online resource from the Office for Social Justice of the Archdiocese of St Paul and Minneapolis MN.  Scroll down the page for an extensive “Frequently Asked Questions” section about Catholic Social Teaching.
3. Catholic Social Teaching 101 is a collaborative 7-part video and discussion guide series presented by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and Catholic Relief Services on Catholic social teaching principles. The videos highlight the core Catholic Values and inspire us to put our faith into action.
4. The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church  This is a comprehensive Vatican document published in 2004.  It is not light reading.  However, if you want a deeper dive into Catholic Social Teaching up to 2004, you’ll find it here.  The Church's social doctrine has continued to develop since 2004, and more recent teachings are found in later papal documents and revisions to other foundational documents like the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
5. Tom Mulhern LinkedIn Profile

Transcript

Welcome to “Headline News and Catholic Social Teaching,” where we take a brief look at specific stories in the news through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching.  I’m your host, Tom Mulhern, and my hope is that this podcast will help us grow in our love of God and love of our neighbors.  

The purpose of this episode is to introduce the podcast series.  I’ll provide an overview of what this podcast is all about and the approach that it will take, to give you an idea of what to expect from upcoming episodes.

First, though, I should probably introduce myself.  I’m a cradle Catholic and grew up in a small farming community in Kansas.  You know, I remember when I was young, 8, 9, 10 years old, at harvest time there was often so much grain that it wouldn’t all fit in the grain elevator in our town, so it would be temporarily stored in huge piles on the ground.  Now this is about the same time that I became aware that there were people who were hungry, even starving, in other parts of the world.  It just didn’t make sense to me that people could be hungry in a world where there was so much food.  It still doesn’t make sense to me, and that awareness of the injustice of poverty has influenced many of my life choices.  It’s also a recurring theme in Catholic Social Teaching, as we’ll see.

But, back to what I promise will be my really brief life story.   I attended Catholic schools all the way through grade school, high school and college.    

I thought I might have a vocation to the priesthood, but eventually I realized that what I really felt called to do was feed the hungry and help people in physical need.  So I went to Africa with Catholic Relief Services, where I spent four and a half years providing food and other assistance to people living in poverty, first in Gambia in West Africa and then in Burundi in East Africa.

While in Africa I met my wife, who was a Peace Corps volunteer.  After we eventually returned to the United States, I spent the rest of my working career as a manager and developer of nonprofit organizations.  Most of these organizations were fairly modest in size and scope, and primarily focused on meeting basic human needs.  There’s a link to my LinkedIn profile in the episode notes, if you’d like more details about when and where I worked.  I retired from the paid workforce in 2023, when I turned 70.

All right, that’s enough about me.  Let’s talk about this podcast.

Each episode will provide a succinct assessment of a recent news story in light of Catholic Social Teaching.  If you’re wondering what is meant by the term “Catholic Social Teaching,” I’ve provided links in the episode notes to some excellent resources that explain Catholic Social Teaching in ways that anyone can understand, whether you’re Catholic or not.  

But, at its heart, Catholic Social Teaching is the extensive and constantly-growing body of Church teaching on how to live out our faith in the world.  It’s a broad term that is particularly applied to Church teaching on social issues over the past 140 years, with the papal encyclical Rerum novarum issued by Pope Leo XIII in 1891 often used as the starting point for modern Catholic Social Teaching.  However, its roots are in the Old Testament prophets and the life and words of Jesus Christ.

So this podcast attempts to connect the dots between Catholic Social Teaching and some of the news stories that have recently been in the headlines.

The podcast is not coming from a particular political orientation – it’s not left or right, it’s not progressive or conservative, it’s not Republican or Democrat.  It will attempt to critique actions from across the political spectrum based on Catholic Social Teaching.  If you are listening from a particular political perspective - whether left or right - then you will probably be happy with some episodes and unhappy with others.  My hope is that you will try to listen and consider the news story addressed in a particular episode from a Catholic Social Teaching perspective.

Each episode will assess and make judgments about the actions that underlie and led to the news story, but it will not judge the people taking the action.  That’s an important distinction.  Only God can judge what is in another person’s heart and the state of their soul.   However, we can and we should make judgments about actions taken by those in power that have a significant impact on others, guiding our judgments by Catholic Teaching.  

Also, I want to say upfront that this podcast will not buy into the false dichotomy between Catholics who focus on social justice and helping the poor and Catholics who focus on personal sanctification and love of God through prayer, sacraments and devotions.  This is a false dichotomy because you can’t have one without the other.  We’re all Catholics and we’re all called to love God and love our neighbor.  Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church show us how to do that.  

In these episodes, I’m going to strive to be accurate, faithful and obedient to the teachings and teaching authority of the Church.  One of the ways I’ll do that is by providing references for the relevant Catholic Social Teaching in the episode notes, so you can check them out for yourself.

And when it makes sense to do so, each episode will provide suggestions for actions that you and other listeners can take to demonstrate support for Catholic teaching with respect to the particular news story in question.

Finally, this podcast will be presented in a spirit of humility and willingness to learn.  I’m not an expert in theology, philosophy or Catholic teaching.  I’m not an expert on politics, governmental affairs or current events.  I don’t represent the Catholic Church or any other organization.  I am a layman who is drawing on readily-available information about Catholic Social Teaching and connecting it to news stories that are reported in public news outlets.  If it turns out later that any of the podcast episodes are inaccurate or mistaken in some way, I will not whine, pout or blame someone else . . . instead, I will acknowledge the error and provide a correction.  This podcast will address serious topics, but it will not take itself too seriously.

In terms of a schedule, I plan to publish a new episode every 2 weeks, and I anticipate most episodes will come in under 15 minutes in length.

Well, that’s all for this introduction to “Headline News and Catholic Social Teaching.”  I hope that, in some small ways, this podcast might help us live our lives guided by the Holy Spirit through the teachings of the Church.  If you want to learn more about Catholic Social Teaching, and I hope you do, I encourage you to check out the resources included in the episode notes. 

Thank you for listening.