Introducing New Contributor Stan Werne

This episode introduces a new person and a new feature of the podcast.  My friend and college classmate Stan Werne is going to join the podcast as an occasional contributor, and in this episode Stan tells us about himself, his background, and his interest in Catholic Social Teaching.  

Below are additional Catholic Social Teaching references provided by Stan:

1. Another useful resource on CST from St. Mary's University in San Antonio, TX.  Church Documents - Catholic Social Teaching - Blume Library at St. Mary's University
2. Another summary of CST by Caritas a global network to serve people in need. Catholic Social Teaching - Caritas
3. Podcast website with full transcripts for this episode and all other episodes.

Transcript

Tom:

Welcome to “Headline News and Catholic Social Teaching,” where we take a brief look at stories in the news, not from a left or right political perspective, but through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching.  I’m your host, Tom Mulhern, and my aim is to help us grow in our love of God and love of our neighbors.

This is not a headline news story, but rather, this is an introduction to a new person and a new feature of the podcast.  My friend and college classmate Stan Werne has not only been listening to my podcast, he has often taken the time to send me his reactions and observations in a follow-up email message.  

Because his comments are always thoughtful and thought-provoking, I asked Stan if he’d be interested in sharing his responses with others who listen to this podcast.  He has generously agreed to do that.

So, whenever he feels inspired to do so, he will record his thoughts, and I’ll publish a special episode with his observations regarding a previously-published show.   

My hope is that offering an additional perspective will help us grow in our understanding of and commitment to the principles of Catholic Social Teaching.

All right, without further ado, here is Stan’s self-introduction. 

Stan:

Hello, I'm Stan Werne. I'll occasionally be joining the podcasts as a guest at Tom's invitation because he thinks I might have something to contribute beyond what he conveys about Catholic Social Teaching (CST). I have tried to respond to most of his episodes, and we've had exchanges of emails about some of them, particularly when I have expressed disagreement or reservations about some aspects of CST on the issue in a headline. 

So you've been forewarned: while Tom is very capably applying CST to headline news without explicitly giving his own opinions, I will be expressing my opinions—sometimes favorably with, I hope, something to add to what he explains, but sometimes I might be expressing disagreement or reservations I have. 

When I express reservations, I will try to do so respectfully. I will give my reasons as best I can, and just as in his introductory episode Tom explained that he is presenting his podcast in a spirit of humility and a willingness to learn, I will try to do the same. 

So, as Tom introduced himself in episode 1, I should tell you a bit about myself and how Tom and I know each other. I too am a cradle Catholic, although I would be dishonest if I said I have been a practicing Catholic my whole life. I have never been an atheist, though I have certainly had periods of agnosticism both with respect to God's activity in the world and with respect to certain elements of Catholicism. More recently I have been trying to do better. 

I too attended Catholic schools from elementary school through college. It was in college that Tom and I became friends. We spent more than a few hours together in classes we had in common and on the basketball court during our four years in college. If I may say so, our team was the terror of the other colleges of our type that we played, though I'm sure we gave our coach some indigestion at some particular losses. 

After college Tom and I were present at each other's weddings. Then as our lives took different turns, we lost touch with one another until last year. I found Tom again then with the help of a mutual friend as I was helping another classmate encourage people to come to our 50th  college reunion.  After college while Tom was in Africa, I was in graduate school at Michigan State University in the philosophy department working on my masters and then my Ph.D. 

As I finished my coursework—ABD —all but dissertation, I had the opportunity to start teaching philosophy at our alma mater in southern Indiana within commuting distance of my wife's and my hometown, where we moved with our then two young sons. I taught there for 16 years before the college announced its closure. One class I taught there involved reading and discussing with my students the key encyclicals that form the basis of CST, including Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum, Pius XI's Quadragesimo Anno published on the 40th  anniversary of  Rerum Novarum, and John Paul II's Centesimus Annus published on the 100th  anniversary, among other encyclicals. 

After our college alma mater closed in 1998, I did academic administration and adjunct teaching for about five years at two different colleges—both, incidentally as it turned out—Catholic institutions. Then circumstances led us to move back to our hometown, and I became the financial aid director at Vincennes University, where I served for almost 20 years before semi-retiring in 2024. I'm happy to say that listening to Tom's podcasts has reconnected me with CST, and reading some of the references in his liner notes and writing to him about my responses is more interesting than the reading and writing I have done and continue to do on part-time base about federal and state financial aid. 

Just as Tom provides links to resources in his podcast liner notes, I'll try to do the same. Below are a couple of resources on CST that Tom has not referenced yet—nothing new or surprising but supplemental. 

To conclude, I can't promise in advance that I'll be as diligent as Tom has been in his every two week release, but we'll see how this goes. I will try to send Tom my first substantive contribution later this week. It will be a follow-up to episode 13 on birthright citizenship. I welcome any responses or messages you may have, if the Spirit so moves you, related to this or any other future posts.  

Tom:

Thank you Stan.  I’m excited to have Stan join the podcast as an occasional contributor, and I look forward to seeing where this might lead.  

Stan commented that I generally refrain from explicitly expressing a personal opinion in these episodes, and while it is true that this podcast is not about my personal opinions, I am expressing my opinion in every episode.  That’s because my opinion is that we should all be trying to the best of our ability to follow Catholic Social Teaching in our lives.   

My goal is to shine the light of Catholic Social Teaching on the news of the day, so that we can interpret and respond to what’s happening in the world around us based on the guidance of the Holy Spirit and Catholic teaching.  I welcome Stan’s contribution to this effort.

Thank you for listening.