Catholic Review Radio

Father Brian Nolan talks with Monsignor Stephen Rossetti about exorcism and avoiding the power of evil. Monsignor Rossetti is the author of Diary of an Exorcist: Demons, Possession, and the Modern-Day Battle Against Ancient Evil, president of the St. Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal and a research associate professor at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. A licensed psycholo...

October is the month of the rosary, and this week on Catholic Review Radio, Catholic Review Editor Christopher Gunty has few guests to talk about this enduring devotion. First, a conversation with Bishop Bob Barron about the origins of the rosary and the prayer’s contemplative nature. The second segment features Mari Brady, president of Ranger Rosary, and Redemptorist Father Patrick Woods of St. M...

Bishop Bruce Lewandowski, auxiliary bishop of Baltimore, is heading up two archdiocesan efforts these days. Christopher Gunty of Catholic Review Media talks with Bishop Bruce about the Coordinating Council working on the Journey Toward Racial Justice, which the bishop chairs, and the archdiocesan preparations for the World Synod of Bishops to be held next October at the Vatican. Learn why the bish...

Oct 5 marks the feast of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, a Redemptorist missionary who ministered in the Archdiocese of Baltimore at parishes including St. Alphonsus Ligouri in Baltimore, St. Mary in Annapolis and Ss. Peter and Paul in Cumberland. Blessed Seelos came to the United States from Bavaria to minister to German immigrants and also worked with young men in formation to become Redemptorist...

Poverty, violence and climate change are all factors in migration – people moving from one region to another. It’s a story that has been going on throughout the history of humanity. This week on Catholic Review Radio, Christopher Gunty talks with Bill O’Keefe, executive vice president for Mission, Mobility and Advocacy for Baltimore-based Catholic Relief Services about migration, the coronavirus p...

Encouraging a love of reading is one of the best gifts parents can give their children. On today’s show, George Matysek talks with Cheri Blomquist about ways parents can cultivate that gift and how they can select works best suited for their children. Blomquist is the author of “Before Austen Comes Aesop: The Children’s Great Books and How to Experience Them.”

Every year, seminarians of the Archdiocese of Baltimore are placed in parishes throughout the archdiocese to learn about parish life and to experience ministry first-hand. Father Steven Roth, vocations director for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, talks with Rick Balog, parish manager at St. Isaac Jogues in Carney, about how seminarians serve at his parish.

The Baltimore Basilica is marking its 200th anniversary year with special events and celebrations. Catholic Review Radio hosts two special guests who recently spoke at the vigil and Mass for the patronal feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Aug. 14 and 15 – Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Bishop Robert Barron, respectively. Christopher Gunty talks with the two prelates about the history o...

The 2021-2022 academic year is filled with promise for Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. On today's show, George Matysek talks with Dr. Donna Hargens, superintendent of Catholic schools, about increasing enrollment, plans for educating children during a continuing pandemic and how schools will be involved in the Year of the Eucharist. In the second segment, we take you to the bless...

Father Brian Nolan talks with Daughter of Charity Sister Liz Sjoberg about a calling that has brought her to Pasadena, MD, Mount St. Mary’s University, and currently at the front lines serving the poor at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Isaac Scharbach, a graduate of Mount St. Joseph in Baltimore, was a gifted artist and iconographer who was considering a call to religious life when he was killed in an accident at 21. George Matysek talks with Father Albert Scharbach, Isaac's father, about his son's extraordinary faith and the countless lives he has touched around the globe in his death.

It’s Books and Authors Day on Catholic Review Radio. This week, Christopher Gunty talks with Dr. Holly Ordway about her new book, “Tolkien’s Modern Reading – Middle-earth Beyond the Middle Ages” and how Tolkien’s Catholic faith influenced the author’s work. Also, George Matysek chats with Emily Koczela about the Very Young Catholic Project, which is a series of books that deal with the life of eve...

Dante Barksdale had some wrongs in his life, but in the end he became a peacemaker in Baltimore’s Safe Streets program before his own life was snuffed out by gun violence. Baltimore-based Panacea Media made a documentary film, “Dante Barksdale’s Last Act,” to reflect on the redemption and healing that came toward the end of Dante’s life when the woman whose son he killed in a car accident forgave...

Blessed Father Stanley Rother was trained at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md., and ordained in 1963. In 1981, he was martyred in the rectory of the mission he served in Guatemala. He was beatified in 2017, and his feast day is July 28. This week on Catholic Review Radio, Christopher Gunty speaks with Monsignor Thomas Tewes, a classmate of Father Rother, and Maria Ruiz Scaperlanda, who...

Pope Francis declared a World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, which will be observed for the first time July 25 this year. Joining us to talk about the dignity of the elderly is Erin Younkins, director of the Archdiocese of Baltimore's office of life, justice and peace within the Institute for Evangelization. Younkins is a former occupational therapist who worked primarily in geriatrics.

Since they were first published in 1548, St. Ignatius Loyola's Spiritual Exercises have been helping people across the world deepen their relationship with Christ. A compilation of prayers, meditations and contemplative practices, the exercises are known for engaging the imagination and challenging believers to stretch themselves spirituality. In this encore episode, George Matysek speaks with Jes...

Luke Koski, a seminarian of the Archdiocese of Baltimore stationed at Christ the King in Glen Burnie for his pastoral year, shares his call to the priesthood and talks about Quo Vadis, an upcoming vocations camp for high school boys.

This program delves into the process of how priests are assigned to parishes and gives a glimpse into how a current priest in transition prepares for and experiences a change in assignment. Our guests are Father Jim Proffitt, director of clergy personnel and Father Michael DeAscanis, outgoing pastor of St. Philip Neri in Linthicum and St. Clement I in Lansdowne.

Josephite Father Kingsley Ogbuji shares some of his experiences ministering to prisoners and what he has learned about the importance of fatherhood. Also, Tony Pagnotti talks about his new book, "My Scripted and Unscripted Life: A Memoir of a TV Newsman."

In honor of Flag Day, Vince Vaise, one of the world's foremost experts on the history of the Battle of Baltimore and Fort McHenry, tells us about the fascinating history of the battle that inspired our national anthem and also shares Catholic connections in the fort's long history -- including during the Civil War.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore launched a Year of the Eucharist on the feast of Corpus Christi, June 6, to help Catholics “Encounter Christ’s Presence” in the Body and Blood of Christ, in the congregation, in the Word of God and in the priest/celebrant. Christopher Gunty of Catholic Review Media talks with Edward Herrera, executive director for the archdiocese’s Institute for Evangelization, about t...

In this encore episode, George Matysek speaks with Sulpician Father Robert Leavitt, former president-rector of St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore, about his book, “The Truth Will Make You Free: The New Evangelization for a Secular Age.”

St. Thérèse of Lisieux embraced a simple spirituality she referred to as the “Little Way.” It encourages believers to see themselves as children of God, to trust in God with child-like simplicity and to do the ordinary things of life with extraordinary love. In our first segment, we speak with Father Michael Orchik, pastor of the Shrine of the Little Flower in Baltimore, about the spirituality of...

The Baltimore Basilica will celebrate the 200th anniversary of its dedication May 31, the same day it will launch perpetual eucharistic adoration. We take a look at the architecture of America's first cathedral with Duncan Stroik, professor of architecture at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. Father James Boric, basilica rector, also tells us about the inauguration of perpetual eucharistic...

Gerard Manley Hopkins is regarded as one of the most beloved poets of the 19th century. Hopkins grew up in the Anglican Church in England and later converted to Catholicism and became a Jesuit priest. On the May 9 episode of Catholic Review Radio, guest host Shaileen Beyer interviews Catharine Randall about her new book, “A Heart Lost in Wonder: The Life and Faith of Gerard Manley Hopkins.”