Catholic Review Radio

As Box of Joy approaches the milestone of delivering one million gift boxes to children in need around the world, host Rita Buettner speaks with Michele Sagarino, president of Cross Catholic Outreach, about the ministry’s remarkable growth and enduring impact. Sagarino shares how a simple idea sketched on a napkin evolved into a nationwide Catholic outreach effort that invites families, parishes a...

Dorothy Day was a journalist, Catholic convert and co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement who devoted her life to serving the poor, welcoming the homeless and advocating for peace and social justice. On this edition of Catholic Review Radio, her granddaughter, Martha Hennessy, talks with George Matysek about Day’s life, faith and enduring legacy. Hennessy, who is active in the Catholic Worker...

In a new episode of Catholic Review Radio, host Christopher Gunty talks with two authors who discuss ways to live a Catholic life these days. In the first segment, Gunty, associate publisher and editor of Catholic Review Media, speaks with Tom Corcoran, associate to the pastor at Church of the Nativity in Timonium, Md., and co-author of “Jesus, the Rich Young Man and the Meaning of Life.” Together...

Soccer is the world's most popular sport, teaching teamwork, discipline, perseverance and respect. In the Archdiocese of Baltimore, those lessons reach nearly 2,000 young athletes each season through the Archdiocesan Parish Soccer Program's 156 teams. Host George Matysek explores how the league combines competitive soccer with Catholic values. President Steven Bartomioli and Vice President Bradley...

In this episode of Catholic Review Radio , Christopher Gunty speaks with Missionary of Jesus Sister Norma Pimentel , executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, about immigration, poverty and the Catholic call to welcome the stranger. Sister Norma describes her decades of service at the southern border and explains how Catholic Charities supports vulnerable families. The org...

In this episode of Catholic Review Radio , host Rita Buettner explores the life, legacy, and enduring spirituality of St. Francis of Assisi as the Church marks the 800th anniversary of his death. Through conversations with Conventual Franciscan Father Michael Heine , provincial of Our Lady of the Angels Province, and Conventual Franciscan Friar Gary Johnson , vicar provincial, listeners gain fresh...

In the latest episode of Catholic Review Radio, Catholic Review Managing Editor George Matysek talks with Father Steven Roth, director of vocations and associate vicar for clergy for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, about the current state of priestly vocations, why more men are discerning the priesthood, and how the Church is supporting them. The conversation covers the growth in seminarians, the va...

Christopher Gunty of Catholic Review Media talks with Monsignor Jason Gray, executive director of the Archbishop Fulton Sheen Foundation, about Archbishop Sheen’s life, his rise as a pioneering Catholic broadcaster, and the miracle that led to his beatification. Monsignor Gray also explains how Archbishop Sheen’s Midwest roots, prayer life and clear teaching style shaped a ministry that reached mi...

In this episode of Catholic Review Radio, Christopher Gunty, editor, talks with Greg Farno, chancellor for education for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, and School Sister of Notre Dame Patricia McCarron, superintendent of Catholic Education, about the start of the school year, what makes Catholic schools distinctive, and how they support students academically, spiritually and socially. They also dis...

George Matysek goes behind the scenes of Notre Dame football with Holy Cross Father Nate Wills, the team’s chaplain and author of "Pray Like a Champion Today: Sacred Stories from the Sidelines of Notre Dame Football." Ordained in 2006, Father Wills is also an education professor at Notre Dame and a national speaker on artificial intelligence in Catholic education. Father Wills discusses his minist...

For years, Tom Tirpak’s mother, Therese, thought about writing a book. She had a deep love for the Divine Mercy, and she wanted to share the personal stories and miracles in her life that reflected what she called Mercy Moments. She started writing some of her stories in a notebook, and she told others to one of her grandsons, who recorded them. After Therese passed away, Tom was moved to pull tog...

What do animation, comic books and Catholic faith have in common? For Tim Murphy, they are all part of one creative journey. In this episode of Catholic Review Radio, host George Matysek talks with Murphy, creative services director for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, about his passion for art, his background in animation and the faith that has guided his life's work. Murphy recounts how prayer and...

In this episode of Catholic Review Radio, Catholic Review Editor Christopher Gunty interviews Maria Ruiz Scaperlanda, promoter of the canonization cause of Father Stanley Rother, a priest from Oklahoma who became a martyr in Guatemala. They discuss Father Rother's upbringing, his journey to the priesthood and his deep connection with the local community in Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala. The conversa...

Kevin Brown shares a powerful story of transformation from addiction, incarceration and homelessness to a life defined by service, faith and hope. Growing up in Maryland, he faced poverty and insecurity before alcohol and drugs led him into years of substance abuse, repeated imprisonment and life on the streets. After the loss of his brother to a fentanyl overdose, Brown made the life-changing dec...

Rita Buettner speaks with Ilka Knüppel, author of "Finding Ruth: A Personal Story of Hitler’s Secret Euthanasia Program, Action T4." Knüppel recounts the life of her great-aunt Ruth Muehlmann, a young woman with a disability who was murdered in 1941 as part of the Nazis’ secret program that systematically killed people with disabilities. She shares her years-long search through German archives, he...

In this episode of Catholic Review Radio, Father J. Collin Poston shares his deeply personal journey through severe illness, faith and recovery. His story highlights how attentiveness, faith, and community support can transform suffering into a source of strength and hope for others. Christopher Gunty, associate publisher and editor of Catholic Review Media, talked with Father Poston about his lif...

As the nation approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Archbishop William E. Lori is inviting Catholics and all people of goodwill to reflect on the relationship between faith, civic life and the common good. In this episode of Catholic Review Radio , we share excerpts from the first installment of Archbishop Lori’s new podcast series, "In Charity and Truth," inspired b...

In this episode of Catholic Review Radio, Christopher Gunty explores with Taylor Black the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, its cultural and ethical impacts, and the Catholic perspective on technology. Black is director of AI and Venture Ecosystems at Microsoft. Discover how AI is shaping society, the importance of human dignity, and what the future holds. The conversation ta...

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...