The Open Door

On this episode of The Open Door (April 17th), panelists Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos-Reyes, and Valerie Niemeyer discuss medical ethics. Our focus will be the debate about the criteria for brain death. Our special guest is John A. Di Camillo, PhD, BeL. He is an Ethicist and the Personal Consultations Director at The National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC). He manages its 24/7 free ethics consultation service as well as the Personal Consultations Fellows and Interns Program. He applies Catholic moral theology to science and medicine through research, writing, speaking, mentoring, and fielding hundreds of ethics questions every year. His areas of focus include cooperation with evil, sexual orientation and gender identity, reproductive technologies, and pregnancy complications. Among the questions we’ll ask are the following. Please feel free to suggest your own.What is Catholics United on Brain Death and Organ Donation about? What were the goals of writing it and seeking endorsements for it?Why is there no moral certainty of death when following the American Academy of Neurology guidelines for a determination of brain death?What is ongoing hypothalamic function? Is it compatible with brain death? What would be the effect of improved clinical guidelines that require cessation of hypothalamic function?Should patients expect that the existing American Academy of Neurology guidelines—or something even less rigorous—will be applied in practice? Is there a reasonable expectation that the existing guidelines will be improved in the near future?Does a person considering organ donation have good reason to expect that he or she will be truly dead at the time of vital organ procurement?Given that we must presume life until death is certain, and given the lack of moral certainty of death whenever the current brain death criteria are used, can we still assume that a majority of vital organ donors are deceased at the time of organ harvesting?Is it wise, at this time, to decline organ donor status at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) upon first receiving a driver’s license? To revoke organ donor status through the appropriate channel in one’s state?Should we advocate for the right of patients and health care professionals to conscientiously object to the use of the current brain death criteria for a determination of death?How can we best highlight the Church’s teaching on the need for moral certainty of death as a condition for vital organ procurement?What do you hope will happen next, now that Catholics United has been published?

In this episode of The Open Door, panelists Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos-Reyes, and Valerie Niemeyer discuss the politics of the presidency and vice presidency. November, and with it the national election, is not so far off. The Biden vs. Trump rematch is officially scheduled. Here at The Open Door we want to think outside the duopoly’s binary box. That means checking in on the candidates of the American Solidarity Party. Our returning and welcome guest is Mr. Peter Sonski. A New England native, Peter and his wife have nine adult children. He has a Master of Science in Management (MSM) degree from The Catholic University of America. His professional experience is in journalism, public relations, and business administration. Peter is concluding his second term as an elected member of Connecticut’s Regional School District 17 board of education. He’ll have lots to tell us about his presidential campaign. Among the questions we will ask are the following. What does it mean to you to be “pro-life” as a candidate for the President of the United States?How has your experience in local politics informed your approach to this campaign?They say behind every good man is an even better woman. How has your wife made you a stronger man and better candidate?How does your running mate, Lauren Onak, bring strength to your campaign?Has your campaign experience changed your perspective on what it means to be a citizen?Have you any new insights into “the system” of politics in America?Which of your stances as a candidate are you finding the most support for? The most push-back against?Any thoughts on Christian Democracy and how it may or may not be finding a place in American politics?How has your faith life been impacted by this adventure, if it’s not too personal a question?How can folks support your campaign in an effort to bring light to the darkness of our political reality in America?

In this episode of The Open Door, panelists Jim Hanink and Valerie Niemeyer interview Karina Fabian, the president of The Catholic Writers Guild. (March 20, 2024)We discuss all things literary. For a start, was Walker Percy, as a naysayer claimed, the last Catholic novelist? We don’t think so. And what’s the range of the “literary”? It includes, of course, non-fiction. It welcomes poets and dramatists. But what about bloggers and podcasters? Just how ecumenical should we be? Our welcome guest is Karina Fabian. She is the new president of the Catholic Writers Guild, an association committed to the development of Catholic arts and letters. The following are among the questions we’ll be asking her. Karina, if we may, could you fill us in about the history of the Catholic Writers GuildHow did you—a self-described geek, teacher, humorist, and Miata driver—come to be involved in the Guild?How does the Guild help authors and readers? Book stores and publishers?What is your advice for aspiring writers who have not yet published any of their work?The Guild is serious about core Catholic values. In what ways does it promote these values?What makes a book distinctively Catholic? Did Graham Greene and Flannery O’Connor write distinctively Catholic novels and short stories?Has the internet helped or harmed our literary capacities? Can we sit still long enough to read and write serious literature?Who are some little known contemporary Catholic writers that we ought to become familiar with?Can you tell us a bit about some of the publishers that your members have worked with?Writers, so they say, (mostly) stay in and write. What are you working on these days? And is it true that you hate zombies?

On this episode of The Open Door, panelists Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos-Reyes, and Valerie Niemeyer discuss four giants of 20th century Catholic thought: Edith Stein, Jacques Maritain, Dietrich von Hildebrand, and Karol Wojtyla (St. John Paul II). Our welcome guest is Prof. Rick Spinello. He teaches at Boston College and St. John’s Seminary in Boston. The author of numerous scholarly articles on ethics, Spinello has written or edited many books including The Encyclicals of John Paul II: An Introduction and Commentary and The Splendor of Marriage: John Paul II’s Vision of Love, Marriage, Family, and the Culture of Life. Among the questions we’ll be asking him are the following. Rick, how did you end up authoring a book on four Catholic philosophers?Your book combines biography with hard philosophical questions. Why did you write it?Would the average Catholic layperson, if there is such a person, want to read this book?What’s it like to write a book about four saintly figures who were also intellectual giants?Why did you pick these four? Why not other Catholic “giants” of the last century?Is there such a thing as Catholic philosophy? Why has this been such a contested issue?What does this diverse group, Edith Stein, Jacques Maritain, Dietrich von Hildebrand, and Karol Wojtyla have in common?Three of these philosophers are converts to Catholicism. How would you compare their conversion experiences?Why are their philosophies important for the Church? What’s their message for us today?Of the four, who was your favorite?Four Catholic Philosophers: Rejoicing in the Truth (Jacques Maritain, Edith Stein, Dietrich von Hildebrand, Karol Wojtyła)This book unfolds the intersecting life stories of four important Catholic philosophers of the 20th century, namely, Jacques Maritain, Edith Stein, Dietrich von Hildebrand, and Karol Wojtyla, and examines the salient themes of their respective philosophies. Exploring the lives of these four individuals will unlock for the reader the nature of Catholic philosophy, which always aspires to a higher wisdom and the discovery of the hidden harmony of the universe. The spiritual itinerary of these faithful scholars is part of a larger story, therefore, of the intimate relationship between faith and reason that is at the heart of Catholic intellectual life.Four Catholic Philosophers: Rejoicing in the Truth (Jacques Maritain, Edith Stein, Dietrich von Hildebrand, Karol Wojtyła) | En Route Books and Media

In this episode of The Open Door (Monday, March 4th) we’ll discuss the role of tradition in forming Catholic teaching. Some argue that Pope Francis overlooks the normative role of tradition. Others argue that some papal critics, as well as critics of Vatican Council II, misunderstand the dynamic nature of tradition itself. We’ll discuss, too, the development of doctrine and what it means. Our guest is the Portugal-based Pedro Gabriel. Dr. Gabriel is one of the co-founders of the apologetics website “Where Peter Is.” He is also a medical oncologist. He recently authored Heresy Disguised as Tradition (En Route, 2023). The following are among the questions we’ll ask are the following. Please feel free to suggest others! What counts as “tradition”? Does a simple appeal to the social sciences answer this question? (25)What is a radical traditionalist? Is there such a thing as “hyperpapalism”?What is the scope of the teaching that Catholics are “to be united in mind and heart” with the Holy Father? Does it extend to matters of diplomacy? To philosophical orientation? How are we to know the mind of the pope, especially when it is changing?Should we assume that Pope Francis is as attuned to the Catholicism of Africa as he is to the Catholicism of Europe and the Americas? To what extent is culture normative?Would you assess Pope Francis’s restrictions on the Latin Mass as “harsh”? (17)“Subjective culpability” can become a “mitigating circumstance” in moral assessment of an act involving grave matter. In such cases how are we to provide sound moral guidance?Could you explain for us the concept of “complexio oppositorum”? Is it compatible with the principle of non-contradiction? Has synodality come to terms with fundamental theological disagreements?

In this episode of The Open Door (February 7th, 2024), panelists Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos-Reyes and Valerie Niemeyer continue to discuss two unmentionables: Religion and Politics! Our welcome guest is Jeff Culbreath, a married father of six residing in the obscure suburbs of Sacramento. He works in the apparel industry, drives his busy kids around, and tries to be a low-maintenance husband to his hard-working wife. He enjoys writing on various topics and has maintained several blogs over the years. Please feel free to suggest others!By way of introduction, could you please tell us a bit about yourself and your family?You’ve been influenced by, among others, Russell Kirk, Wendell Berry, and Neil Postman. In what ways?How did you come to be a Roman Catholic?What led you to the Republican Party and, in recent years, away from it?Can we have good government without good people?Can public policy help people be good? If not, why not? If yes, can you give examples?The preamble to the American Solidarity Party (ASP) platform states, “we acknowledge the state should be pluralistic.” What does that mean? How do pluralism and solidarity impact each other?What is “the gift economy”? How does it relate to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)? Why is it important? What can be done to improve it?The ASP platform addresses “marriage and family” issues in detail, but doesn’t have much to say about extended families. How can public policy strengthen extended families?How do you reconcile belief in an “ownership society”, that is, Distributism, with the huge economies of scale that we all depend upon in a modern economy? We can’t all be owners, can we? BONUS: Do you plan on running for public office?

This week on The Open Door (January 24th) we virtually visit Norway. What’s going on with Christian Democracy there and in nearby Sweden? What sources do our Scandinavian friends draw on to build a creative alternative to politics as usual? What sources do we in the US share with them? Our welcome and special guest is Eilev Hegstad. He is working on a PhD with the title "The role of ethics committees and moral experts in democracy". Hegstad has a master's degree in political science from the University of Oslo. His professional interests are the role of knowledge and expertise in politics, ethics committees, democratic theory, and political ideologies. He has done research at Oxford University. In 2023, the book "Kristendemokrati" which he edited came out. We’ll be asking him the following questions.How did Christian Democracy come to the Nordic countries?In what ways has its development been distinctive? The core principles of Christian Democratic thought include subsidiarity, solidarity, social market economy, and popularism. Could you explain them to us? Could you please introduce us to some of the major Scandinavian proponents of Christian Democracy? There’s an old line that an expert is someone from 20 miles away. But surely there’s more involved than that. What’s required to be, say, a moral expert? There’s another old line that dismisses a poorly written document as the work of a committee. What’s the task of an ethics committee and how can we tell if it’s achieved?Democracy is not without its puzzles. When if ever is pure democracy feasible?What do you make of the Anscombe Paradox, namely that in a majority of instances the majority might be in the minority? Does political authority rest on convention, contract, consent, or something other than these?A bonus question: Do you think that Magnus Carlsen’s chess brilliance would lend itself to political analysis? After all, Gary Kasparov might serve as his mentor!

In this episode of The Open Door (January 10), panelists Jim Hanink and Valerie Niemeyer talk about what’s involved in running for the Senate of the United States. What motivates a candidate to do so? What are the technical requirements? How much money does it take to mount a campaign? Need serious Christians apply for the job? Our special and welcome guest is Mark Ruzon. Yes, he is a candidate for the Senate! He is also the Chair of the California State Committee of the American Solidarity Party. Mark is a Senior Software Engineer with Google. He and his family live in Mountain View, California. The questions we will ask him include the following. Feel free to ask your own!Why did you decide to run for the U.S. Senate?Just what’s involved in getting your name on the ballot here in California?Is it true that only millionaires or their friends can campaign for the Senate?What does it mean to say that everyone, regardless of birth status, income, or behavior has an inherent value and dignity? And what is your basis for affirming this claim?As Senator, how would you advocate for more widespread economic opportunity and ownership?You believe that families are the fundamental unit of society. What does this mean in terms of specific policies? What is the proper role for government in a family’s child-rearing decisions?Your goal is a medical system that covers family members from prenatal care to hospice. How could California achieve such a goal?California is facing a housing crisis. What factors have brought it about? What steps do you propose for dealing with this crisis?Critics claim that our immigration system is broken. What measures do you propose for a truly humane immigration system?What role should the United States play in contributing to peaceful international relations?

In this episode of The Open Door (December 13th), panelists Jim Hanink and Mario Ramos-Reyes discuss the progress of the American Solidarity Party and the current presidential and vice presidential campaign of Peter Sonski and Lauren Onak. Our special and welcome guest is Marcos Lopez, the Chair of the American Solidarity Party. A first generation Cuban-American, he is a husband and a father of two and lives in Tampa, Florida. Lopez holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of South Florida. He works in marketing and spends most of his free time with his family. He’s also involved with the music ministry at his parish.Is it true that the fastest growing political party in the United States is the American Solidarity Party? If so, what accounts for its growth?What initially brought you to the American Solidarity Party?Conventional opinion says that votes for third party candidates are wasted votes. What’s your answer to this charge?How did you come to be the Chair of the Party?What sort of week to week challenges does the Party’s National Committee currently face?Can you tell us about Peter Sonski and Lauren Onak, the Party’s candidates for president and vice president of the United States?What is the process for getting on the ballot? How is the Party faring in doing so?Is there a way to use marketing skills to expand and develop political debate?Can the Party attract nationally known figures like Dan Lipinski or Robert George? Can it attract six figure donations?When will you be running for office in Florida?

This week on The Open Door (November 29th), panelists Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos-Reyes, and Valerie Niemeyer continue their discussion of the art of translation, Eastern Catholicism, and the relation between Thomism and Ressourcement theology with special and returning guest Professor Matthew Minerd. He is a Ruthenian Catholic, raised Roman Catholic in a mixed American-Slavic and Appalachian cultural context in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Matthew is a husband and father, a seminary professor, and a translator.Has your work as a translator triggered new questions for you about biblical translations? Are there any translations that you think are especially helpful?You are an Eastern Catholic and teach in an Eastern Catholic seminary. What do Western Catholics especially need to know about Eastern Catholic spirituality?After Vatican II there were major changes in the Roman liturgy. Some now prefer what Benedict XVI presented as the Extraordinary Rite; others have embraced the liturgy of Eastern Catholicism. How have Eastern Catholics reacted to the liturgical changes in the West?What are some distinctive theological influences in Eastern Catholicism?Has Eastern Catholicism experienced special difficulties in addressing the relation between Church and State?Some speak of Jacques Maritain as the single most influential Thomist of the last century. Was he open to Ressourcement theology?You have a leadership role in the American Maritain Association. Where do you see the spirit of Jacques and Raïssa Maritain active today?Maritain was deeply engaged in the politics of his time. Does Thomism offer a foundation for constructive politics?What’s your view of the American Solidarity Party?Could you tell us a bit about your current projects?

This week on The Open Door (November 15th), panelists Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos-Reyes, and Valerie Niemeyer discuss the art of translation, Eastern Catholicism, and the relation between Thomism and Ressourcement theology. Our special guest is Professor Matthew Minerd. He is a Ruthenian Catholic, raised Roman Catholic in a mixed American-Slavic and Appalachian cultural context in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Minerd is a husband and father, a seminary professor, and a translator.You have become, in recent years, a distinguished translator. How did this come about?Some say that to translate is to betray: Traduttore, traditore! It’s a provocative charge, but could it be that where there is smoke there is fire?Is the art of translating a kind of interpretation? Does it involve compromisesYou are an Eastern Catholic and teach in an Eastern Catholic seminary, Ss. Cyril and Methodius. What do Western Catholics especially need to know about the Eastern Catholic heritage? How does it serve the Universal Church?Do you have any distinctive challenges in presenting Thomism to Eastern Catholics?How are you working to resolve the tension between Thomism and the Ressourcement of the Nouvelle Théologie?Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange has been dubbed “the sacred monster of Thomism.” Your recent translations of his books are Thomistic Common Sense: The Philosophy of Being and the Development of Doctrine, The Order of Things: The Realism of the Principle of Finality, Philosophizing in Faith, Essays on the Beginning and End of Wisdom, and The Sense of Mystery: Clarity and Obscurity in the Intellectual Life. What is your own assessment of Garrigou-Lagrange?Some speak of Jacques Maritain as the single most influential Thomist of the last century. You are active in the American Maritain Association. Where do you see the spirit of Maritain active today?Maritain was deeply engaged in the politics of his time. Does Thomism offer a foundation for constructive politics?What are some of your current projects?

This week on The Open Door (November 1st), panelists Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos-Reyes, and Valerie Niemeyer discuss India, religious freedom, and Thomism. Our distinguished and welcome guest is Prof. Timothy Samuel Shah of the University of Dallas. By training and personal passion, he is a scholar of politics and political philosophy, specializing in religion and global politics, religious freedom, and the history of moral and political theory. With his wife, Rebecca Shah, he is based in Bangalore, India. With Rebecca, he has established several initiatives in partnership with the University of Dallas, including a Jacques and Raïssa Maritain Program on Catholicism, Public Life and World Affairs. Under the auspices of the Maritain Program, Prof. Shah coordinates a monthly online Thomistic Study Circle, which involves numerous expert and amateur Thomists from around the world, and which seeks to re-enliven an appreciation of the Angelic Doctor’s timeless teaching and relevance, especially for public affairs. Most recently, he and Rebecca established a Program for Indo-American Understanding and Friendship at the Gupta College of Business at the University of Dallas. The program, among other things, seeks to promote deep dialogue and genuine understanding between Hinduism and Catholic Christianity. In addition to serving as a Distinguished Research Scholar in the Politics Department at the University of Dallas, Shah also serves as Director of Strategic Initiatives for the Center for Shared Civilizational Values, an organization he founded with senior leaders of the world’s largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama in Indonesia, in order to strengthen and preserve a rules-based international order founded upon respect for the equal rights and dignity of every human being.1. Prof. Shah, Tim if we may, how can Americans better understand India, now the most populous nation in the world?2. What might Mahatma Gandhi think of India today?3. Commentators are calling attention to the political and military implications of the developing relations between India and the United States. Can you explain for us something of what’s at stake?4. India’s Supreme Court recently declined to recognize same sex marriage, insisting that it was a matter for the legislature. What factors went into this decision?5. How did you come to have a special interest in religious freedom? What are some of the key challenges to religious freedom today?6. Could you tell us about how you came to the University of Dallas? How is it a distinctive institution?7. At the yearly conference of the American Maritain Association you presented a paper warning of the “siren song” of Catholic integralism. Why are you critical of this phenomenon?8. It has been said that everyone is born either a Platonist or an Aristotelian. But you are a keen Thomist. How did this happen? Were you, perhaps, trying to combine the best of Plato and of Aristotle?9. Is there a Catholic-Hindu dialogue in India? Is there a Catholic-Muslim dialogue in India?10. Pope Francis has said that we are already in the midst of World War III. What do you think he meant? Do you agree with him?

This week on The Open Door (October 18), panelists Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos-Reyes, and Valerie Niemeyer dig deeper into arguments for and against the existence of God. These arguments matter greatly, and we think they have a necessary place in Christian evangelization. Is Christianity true? We confess that it is! But if God doesn’t exist, then it is not. Our welcome and returning guest is Patrick Flynn. He’s the author of the new book The Best Argument for God (Sophia Institute Press, 2023). A writer, podcaster, and speaker, Flynn lives in Wisconsin with his wife, five children, and a Saint Bernard. He is the host of Philosophy for the People. We’ve discussed the problem of evil. Do naturalists face what we might term “the problem of good”? How might a naturalist account for the good that people do?Is there a naturalist strategy for explaining the beauty we find in human creativity? In the natural world itself?Could it be that in the end one simply chooses to believe or not to believe?Pope Francis recently wrote an Apostolic Letter on Blaise Pascal. The Letter makes no reference, though, to Pascal’s Wager. How would you evaluate it?What is a worldview? Does everyone have a worldview? Can one change one’s world view on rational grounds?How does scientism differ from science?Is there only one universe? If so, does it show any signs of being “fine-tuned”?What is the principle of sufficient reason?How might one challenge the principle of sufficient reason?Does the principle of sufficient reason support the existence of God? If so, how?

This week on The Open Door (October 4th), panelists Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos-Reyes, and Valerie Niemeyer discuss arguments for and against the existence of God. We think that these arguments matter, and we want to think hard about them. After all, we want to know whether Christianity is true, and if God doesn’t exist then it isn’t! Our welcome guest is Patrick Flynn. He’s the author of the new book The Best Argument for God (Sophia Institute Press, 2023). A writer, podcaster, and speaker, Flynn lives in Wisconsin with his wife, five children, and a Saint Bernard. He is the host of Philosophy for the People.Among the questions we will ask are the following. Please feel free to ask your own!Does Athens have anything to do with Jerusalem? What did Justin Martyr think?When does a reason constitute an argument? When does an argument constitute a proof?Does an experience of the presence of God take the place of an argument for God’s existence?Just what is classical theism?Are there any challenging arguments against the existence of God?What is naturalism? Is it scientific?How do you understand the concept of a worldview?How does scientism differ from science?Does the principle of sufficient reason support the reality of God?Is there only one universe? If so, does it show any signs of being “fine-tuned”?

This week (September 20th ) on The Open Door, panelists Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos-Reyes, and Valerie Niemeyer will discuss religious freedom. Our special guests are Andrew Kubick and Nathaniel Hurd, both of the Religious Freedom Institute.Kubick is Deputy Director, National Center for Religious Freedom Education, and a Research Fellow in Bioethics and Medical Conscience. He has a Ph.D. in Bioethics from the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum. He has published in The Catholic Journal on Religious Freedom and Health Care, Dignitas, Ethics & Medics, National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, Public Discourse, and St. John Paul II Journal of Bioethics. Nathaniel Hurd is Director of the North America Action Team and Senior Fellow for Public Policy for the Religious Freedom Institute. He holds a Masters of International Affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. Hurd worked as Senior Policy Advisor for the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. In addition to advising Senators and Representatives, he directed hearings, monitored elections in Europe, and represented the United States with the United Nations and World Bank. He has spent time overseas with many survivors of violence who were forced to flee from their homes.The questions for our visitors include the following. Feel free to suggest others!What led to your interest in, and professional commitment to, religious freedom?Why should governments have a special regard for religious freedom? Isn’t it sufficient to secure civil liberties?Do you have a working definition of religion?Do you recognize a right not to profess a religion?Many see religion as a private affair and are willing to recognize it as such. Does religion, properly understood, have a public dimension? If so, what follows?How is it that religion often becomes entangled with nationalism?Should Christians advocate for the religious freedom of Muslims? Of Buddhists?A noted liberal scholar, the late John Rawls, contends that treating one’s faith as the overarching good of one’s life is a form of fanaticism. Indeed, he identifies St. Ignatius Loyola as a fanatic. How would you respond to Rawls?In today’s world, is the secular state a political safe haven for religious freedom?What are the prospects for religious freedom in Pakistan, Nigeria, and China?

In this episode of The Open Door, panelists Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos-Reyes, and Valerie Niemeyer discuss how to best respond to people who are devalued due to intellectual or physical impairment, mental disorders, age, and poverty. Our welcome guest is Jo Massarelli. She leads Social Role Valorization workshops both in the United States and internationally. She has also evaluated dozens of human service programs for schools, hospices, prisons, and homeless shelters. Massarelli and her husband Marc Tumeinski are members of a voluntary community responding the needs of the homeless in Worcester, Massachusetts.Valerie Niemeyer was blessed to meet Jo and her husband, Marc Tumeinski, in Omaha after the interview with Marc on The Open Door. Henry, Valerie's 18 year old, joined her and met a few of Jo's colleagues. Could you tell us about that weekend event? Why did it happen in my home city of Omaha?Can you tell us more about Wolf Wolfensburger? How did he influence you?What is the status of the social role valorization movement here and abroad?What are the goals of the International Social Role Valorization Association? How might folks support its work?You are part of a local Catholic Worker community. What can you tell us about it?What connections do you see between Wolf Wolfensburger and Dorothy Day, the co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement?Do folks in the social role valorization movement and the Catholic Worker movement face similar challenges?What patterns contribute to greater or lesser "success" within the two movements? And how would you define "success" in these contexts?Tell us about your conference this summer. And what's on the agenda for next summer's conference?Any last thoughts, invitations, or reading suggestions for our audience?

In this episode of The Open Door , without special fuss, and certainly without making a scene, we’ll explore the life and times of the man behind the scenes. Our welcome guest is our producer and, indeed, the producer of the full range of WCAT Radio & Television programs. The President of En Route Books and Media, the peripatetic Sebastian Mahfood, OP, Ph.D., will join us! Though his heart is in East Texas, St. Louis is the launching pad of his projects and peregrinations. He lives there with his wife, Dr. Stephanie Mahfood, and their children, Alexander and Eva Ruth. Among the questions we’ll be asking are the following. Dr. Mahfood, Sebastian, could you tell us about your roots and introduce us to your family?How did you become a lay Dominican and what does it mean for you?Back in the day, and our audience should hear it directly, you wrestled professionally. Were you, even then, a voice from the periphery?Turning away from the distractions of youth, you left the ring for the groves of academe. Your tenure at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary and Holy Apostles College & Seminary was rich: teacher, administrator, and pioneer developer of on-line academic programs. Could you share with us the highlights of your career?You’ve authored half a dozen books of special interest. To name a few: Catholic Realism, The Narrative Spirituality of Dante’s Divine Comedy and Missionary Priests in the Homeland: Our Call to Receive. Could you explain their themes to our audience?The Open Door, we understand, is your longest running WCAT Radio program. How did it start? What is its future?You are not one to let the grass grow under your feet. Could you tell us about your travels, especially in Africa and Europe?Before your retirement, what was the nature of your work as a professor of interdisciplinary and intercultural studies?How does the Institute for Theological Encounter with Science and Technology feature in your professional life?What's next for your publishing house and radio station?Some links: https://www.enroutebooksandmedia.comhttps://www.wcatradio.comhttps://www.faithscience.org

In this episode of The Open Door , panelists Jim Hanink and Valierie Niemeyer interview Lauren Onak, the new vice presidential candidate of the American Solidarity Party. Lauren was born and raised in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. She studied English Literature at Barnard College of Columbia University and received a Masters in Adolescent Education from Hunter College. Onak is a stay at home mom to three young children and lives in the Boston suburbs. She teaches natural family planning and is active in several community organizations. Among the questions we’ll be asking are the following. Please feel free to ask your own!Lauren, can you share some of your back story with us? Back before you joined the American Solidarity Party? Tell us about your discernment process when invited to represent the American Solidarity Party as vice presidential candidate alongside Peter Sonski. Why did you say yes to such a weighty commitment?The American Solidarity Party believes strongly in the principle of subsidiarity, a principle that reflects the social teaching of the Catholic Church. How do you explain subsidiarity to folks who aren’t familiar with it?How do strong communities relate to this principle of subsidiarity?We also affirm the importance of solidarity, and living it out both personally and collectively. Can you give us some examples of what solidarity looks like or could look like from the personal to the national and even international level?Dorothy Day, the co-founder of The Catholic Worker Movement, once said that we don’t want to trade one poverty for a worse poverty. What do you think that she meant? At one point Day also said that more than ever she believed we need to foster personal responsibility. How can we balance that with concrete expressions of personal and collective solidarity?How does the evangelical counsel of a personal and even communal commitment to voluntary poverty relate to this dynamic?As a stay-at-home mother, how have you sought to strengthen the communities in which you live? What are your hopes for the future in that regard?What’s it like so far on the campaign trail?

In this episode of The Open Door (July 26th), panelists Jim Hanink and Mario Ramos-Reyes talk about children’s literature, writing for a popular audience, and Lady Philosophy. Our guest is Susanna Spencer. She has a Masters in Theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville. Spencer is both a writer and the content and theological editor for Blessed is She. In addition, she co-authored the children's book, Rise Up: Shining in Virtue. She lives in St. Paul, Minnesota with her philosophy professor husband and four children. You’ll find her online at her National Catholic Register author page.The following are among the questions we’ll be asking. What led you to study theology at Franciscan University? And how did you find the experience?Could you introduce us to Blessed is She? How does being both a writer and editor work?You’ve just published, with Blessed is She, your first book, Seek His Kingdom: A Meditation on Matthew. How did it come about?Have you used your co-authored children’s book, Rise Up: Shining in Virtue, with your own children? How does St. Thomas Aquinas inspire this book?Let’s go from the particular to the general! What is your favorite literature for children? And how do you form your children in the Western tradition through literature?As a frequent book reviewer, what are some of your favorite books and who are your favorite authors?What’s it like to live with Lady Philosophy”? Just who is she? And can Athens have anything to do with Jerusalem?You are hard at work on a book about virtue ethics. What are the key themes that you are exploring?You’ve noted that you write for a popular audience. Might we say that Scripture is written for a popular audience? And did Shakespeare write for a popular audience?Let’s close with a bonus question. Are there way more mosquitoes in Minnesota than out-of-staters suppose?

On this episode of The Open Door, panelists Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos-Reyes, and Valerie Niemeyer discuss “the prosperity Gospel” as the tip of an unholy alliance between individualism in theology and philosophy and capitalism in economics. This alliance reaches into the larger culture, including education, science, and the arts. We have a welcome and returning guest, Thomas Storck, to help us. He’s the author of several books, most recently The Prosperity Gospel: How Greed and Bad Philosophy Distorted Christ's Teachings (TAN, 2023). Arouca Press published a revised edition of his Foundations of a Catholic Political Order last year. In addition, he recently translated and wrote a new forward for Louis Cardinal Billot’s Liberalism: A Critique of Its Basic Principles and Various Forms (Arouca Press, 2019). Storck is a prolific contributor to the New Oxford Review. And, to top it off, he’s associated with the American Solidarity Party. We’ll be asking the following questions. Please feel free to suggest your own!Just what is “the prosperity Gospel,” and who are some of its current proponentsYou note that some central elements in our culture give rise to the prosperity Gospel. Just how do you define “culture”?What is a bourgeois culture? A consumerist culture?You draw on the work of Max Weber. Why is Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism of special significance?What happens to a culture that loses sight of teleology?6Supreme Court justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in his opinion in the 1992 case of Planned Parenthood vs. Casey: “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.” What does this declaration imply?Why do you claim that technology is not neutral?Fewer and fewer students major in the humanities. What are the social consequences of this steep decline?Is there room in art for expressive individualism?What’s your next book?