The Catholic Herald Podcast: Merely Catholic with Gavin Ashenden
Merely Catholic
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 impo...
92: Sex trafficking and the Catholic Church, with Karen Anstiss
This week, Dr Gavin Ashenden is joined by Karen Anstiss, the service manager for Caritas Bakhita House, a safe house in London for trafficked and exploited women which is run by the Catholic Church.
A former police officer, Miss Anstiss charts the origins of the project 10 years ago as part of a broader response to the “endemic and deeply embedded” global problem of an estimated 50 million people trapped in modern-day slavery, a scourge described by Pope Francis as a “wound in the body of humanity and therefore in the body of Christ himself”
She goes on to describe the pioneering work of Bakhita House, which since 2015 has given sanctuary to 188 women, aged between 15 and 70, who are drawn from 49 countries and who are overwhelmingly the victims of sexual exploitation or serious sexual assault.
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54:00
91: Good Christmas reads, with Fiorella De Maria
The Catholic novelist Fiorella De Maria discusses Catholic literature for Christmas with Dr Gavin Ashenden for this 91st episode of Merely Catholic. Fiorella tells how she wrote her first book in the summer after graduating from university before she went on to publish about a dozen books with San Francisco-based Ignatius Press and to win the Book Prize of Malta. Her works include acclaimed murder mysteries, biographies of saintly and heroic figures and even a recent foray into horror with This Thing of Darkness, a story she co-authored with KV Turley. She and Dr Ashenden discuss her inspirations, her observations about what makes a Catholic novelist, the threat of cancel culture. Finally she offers a few suggestions for good stocking fillers this Christmas. Check out our sponsor: https://jpcatholic.edu/landingpages/c...
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43:41
90: Anglicanism post-Welby, with Ann Widdecombe
Ann Widdecombe, the former Conservative Party minister, joins Dr Gavin Ashenden in this 90th episode of Merely Catholic, the podcast series for the Catholic Herald, to discuss the resignation of Justin Welby as Archbishop of Canterbury and the future of the Church of England.
Miss Widdecombe, who, like Dr Ashenden was a member of the Church of England before converting to the Catholic faith, charts the leadership difficulties and challenges which have split Anglicans in the last 30 years and discuss the prospects of reconciliation.
She and Dr Ashenden consider the strong possibility that the next leader of the Church of England and the Worldwide Anglican Communion will, for the first time in history, be a woman.
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45:47
89: Re-enchanted Christianity, with Rod Dreher
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 beauty of the Catholic faith that has animated and inspired the lives of so many saints.
An American author who now lives in Budapest, Hungary, Mr Dreher is perhaps best known for The Benedict Option, his 2017 book about how Christians might prepare themselves for a new dark age. It was one of three New York Times best-sellers, with Live Not By Lives and The Little Way of Ruthie Leming.
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88: Our right to be protected from suicide, with Professor David Albert Jones
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 the winner of the Paul Ramsey Award for Excellence in Bioethics, and in 2017 he co-edited Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide: Lessons from Belgium with Chris Gastmans and Calum MacKellar.
About 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.
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