Catholic Review Radio

Welcome to Season 7 of Catholic Review Radio Celebrate America’s 250th anniversary with a fascinating look at the often-overlooked Catholic roots of the nation on Catholic Review Radio . Host Rita Bittner speaks with Dr. Dennis Castillo, professor of Church history at St. Mary’s Seminary, to explore how a small but influential Catholic community helped shape the founding of the United States. From...

Covering the Vatican and the popes full time brings opportunities to share information about the Church with readers all around the world. Carol Glatz, Rome Bureau chief for Catholic News Service, has been working in that field for more than two decades, covering four popes. In this episode of Catholic Review radio, Glatz sat down with Catholic Review Editor Christopher Gunty for a wide-ranging di...

On Father's Day, Rita Buettner speaks with Deacon Keith Chase, a permanent deacon at Our Lady of the Fields in Millersville, and his son, Deacon Andrew Chase, a transitional deacon preparing for priestly ordination in 2027. The father and son reflect on their faith journeys, from Deacon Keith’s unexpected call to the diaconate while praying the rosary to his son's experience growing up in a family...

An outreach program at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore is changing lives on city streets. George Matysek speaks with two missionaries from Source of All Hope — Erin Kelter and seminarian Daniel Otto — about their work accompanying people experiencing homelessness. Rather than acting as social workers, they build genuine friendships, off...

Host Rita Buettner speaks with Christopher Wesley, executive director of Marathon Youth Ministry, about faith, family and raising the next generation of Catholics. Drawing on more than two decades of youth ministry experience, Wesley discusses how parishes can help young people find belonging, purpose and identity, while encouraging parents to build strong faith-centered communities around their f...

Bishop Adam J. Parker, auxiliary bishop of Baltimore, returns for another installment of Catholic Review Radio's popular "Ask a Bishop" series. In this episode, Bishop Parker takes on a wide range of listener questions gathered from Catholic events across the Archdiocese of Baltimore. He offers practical advice for college students on peer-to-peer evangelization, guidance on approaching friends st...

In the early years of the Catholic Church in the United States, few figures were as unlikely — or as fascinating — as Prince Demetrius Augustin Gallitzin. Born into Russian nobility with Catherine the Great as his godmother, Gallitzin became a Catholic priest on the American frontier, earning the title "Apostle of the Alleghenies." Catherine O’Donnell, a historian at Arizona State University, join...

Gregg Landry, founder of Blue Rock Productions and president of the Catholic Business Network of Baltimore, didn't set out to be a faith leader. He came to UMBC to play baseball and ended up doing suicide crisis counseling and working in Baltimore's most troubled neighborhoods. Looking back, he sees God's hand in all of it. Mark Viviano talks with Landry about how saying yes has shaped everything...

He was once a rising concert pianist, performing for audiences around the world—until he answered a call he could not ignore. Catholic Review Managing Editor George Matysek speaks with Sulpician Father Paul Maillet about his journey from the concert stage to the priesthood. A former student of the legendary Leon Fleisher, Father Maillet reflects on the discipline and demands of a professional musi...

What do monks, monasteries and a great bottle of Bordeaux have in common? More than you might think. On this episode of Catholic Review Radio, host Rita Buettner speaks with Emily Stimpson Chapman, a bestselling Catholic author who has spent years tracing the deeply intertwined histories of winemaking and the Church in her new coffee table book, "Sacred Wine: The Holy History and Heritage of Catho...

When white smoke rose over the Sistine Chapel last year, Elise Ann Allen was one of the few journalists who already knew the man stepping onto the balcony. The Rome-based correspondent for Crux had first met Cardinal Robert Prevost in Peru years earlier while covering the Church's response to the abuse crisis — an encounter that eventually led to a dinner with the future pope and, after his electi...

On this episode of Catholic Review Radio, host Christopher Gunty speaks with architect Mauricio Cortés Sierra, one of the lead designers guiding the completion of Barcelona’s world‑famous Basilica de la Sagrada Familia. Cortés Sierra shares the remarkable story of a church begun in 1882, shaped by Antoni Gaudí’s visionary faith, and carried forward by multiple generations of artisans. He reflects...

Our God is a merciful God, and that is ever-present especially in the sacrament of reconciliation or confession. Catholic Review Editor Christopher Gunty talked with Father Michael DeAscanis , pastor of St. Louis Parish in Clarksville and St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Fulton, about his great joy in bringing people back into communion with God through confession. They also discuss St. Faustina an...

This Easter marks a remarkable moment in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, where more than 1,280 catechumens and candidates entered into full communion with the Catholic Church — a number drawn from those attending formal rites and not including several hundred others welcomed at individual parishes. In this episode of Catholic Review Radio, host Rita Buettner highlights two of these journeys. Laura M...

In this Earth Day-themed episode of Catholic Review Radio, host George Matysek explores how faith can inspire care for creation through the perspectives of two guests. First, Father Jim Bors, a former naval officer and widowed father ordained to the priesthood in 2022, shares how his lifelong love of nature informs his ministry. Now serving as priest-secretary to Archbishop William E. Lori, he has...

Discover the inspiring intersection of faith and America’s pastime in this week’s episode of Catholic Review Radio . Catholic Review Editor and Host Chris Gunty speaks with filmmaker John Scheinfeld , writer and director of the new documentary Baseball Beyond Belief . Inspired by John Sexton’s bestselling book “ Baseball as a Road to God: Seeing Beyond the Game,” the film explores how faith, ritua...

Catholic Review Associate Publisher Christopher Gunty has two guests on the program this week. First up is Deacon Kevin Cummings of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, talking about the ministry he and other members of Deacons of Hope starteed to create residential homes for unwed women experiencing homelessness. He notes how addressing all the needs – pre-natal and post-natal – saves the wo...

🎬 Enjoy additional conversation with our guests on Hollywood and the movies in this special bonus episode for the 2026 Oscars season! Catholic Review Associate Publisher Chris Gunty is joined by Daughter of St. Paul Sister Rose Pacatte, OSV News media reviewer John Mulderig, and co‑host Ann Augherton of the Arlington Catholic Herald for a fast‑moving, insightful conversation about Hollywood’s big...

🎬 Catholic Review Radio’s 2026 Oscars Special dives into the year’s most surprising, soulful, and genre‑bending Best Picture nominees. Catholic Review Associate Publisher C hris Gunty is joined by Daughter of St. Paul Sister Rose Pacatte, OSV News media reviewer John Mulderig, and co‑host Ann Augherton of the Arlington Catholic Herald for a fast‑moving, insightful conversation about Hollywood’s b...

Mark Viviano welcomes Baltimore Orioles pitcher Cade Povich for a heartfelt conversation about faith, baseball and purpose. Preparing for his third Major League season with the Baltimore Orioles, Povich reflects on a life-changing milestone: his reception last year into the Catholic Church at age 25. Povich shares how his journey began with childhood curiosity, deepened in Catholic high school the...

Exploring the beauty and challenge of Catholic marriage, this week’s episode of "Catholic Review Radio" features author and homeschooling mother Caitrin Bennett discussing her award-winning book, "Holier Matrimony: Married Saints, Catholic Vows and Sacramental Grace." A parishioner of St. John Francis Regis Parish in Leonardtown, Bennett shares how her desire to find married saints as companions i...

In a new pastoral letter released Feb. 9, Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore takes the occasion of the nation’s 250th anniversary to address “a moment of grace and responsibility.” Catholic Review Editor Christopher Gunty talked with the archbishop about the motivation for the letter, which is subtitled, “Toward a Renewed Political Culture.” Archbishop Lori notes in the interview that the ext...

Oscar Wilde once said, “Every sinner has a past. Every saint has a future.” Catholic Review Editor Christopher Gunty talks with Tim Jeffries and Joe Reynolds, producers of the popular video series “Sinners and Saints,” which is now filming its third season. They talk about how each of us is a broken sinner and how we should strive to become saints. Even some of the holiest saints we can think of,...

Catholic Review Radio this week explores faith, education and community across generations. George Matysek speaks with Dr. Mary Lou Yam, president of Notre Dame of Maryland University, and Austin Koo, development director at Brightview Senior Living, about a long-planned partnership that will bring a senior living community to the university’s campus. The project will create housing for independen...

Addiction and recovery touch countless individuals and families, yet the deeper story behind the recovery movement is often unknown. On this episode of Catholic Review Radio, Rita Buettner speaks with authors Tom Adams and Joy Jones about their book, "A Marriage That Changed the World: Lois and Bill Wilson and the Addiction Recovery Movement." Their conversation reframes the familiar history of Al...