Catholic Theology Show

Did you know that G.K. Chesterton visited America 100 years ago and wrote about his observations and encountered in the book  What I Saw in America ?  In honor of the 250th Anniversary of the United States of America, Dr. Dauphinais sits down with Dr. Susan Hanssen, associate professor of history at the University of Dallas, to discuss the history of the country through G.K. Chesterton’s eyes.  To...

What do women need not just to survive, but to truly thrive in today’s culture? This episode features a conversation on why so many women feel overwhelmed despite having a strong faith, the difference between spiritual formation and human formation, and the habits, virtues, and practical skills needed to flourish. Dr. Michael Dauphinais and January Donovan, founder of The Woman’s School and Cathol...

What is expected of Catholics when every company, institution and system seems morally compromised? Can Catholics buy coffee from companies with immoral policies? Can Catholics pay taxes to governments that fund evil? How are Catholics supposed to live in the world but not be of the world? In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show, host Michael Dauphinais is joined by Fr. Ryan Connors to explo...

Today's Release is a collaboration with The Magdala Ministries Podcast! Today on the podcast, Rachael Killackey sits down with theologian, podcast host, and Magdala board member, Dr. Michael Dauphinais, to discuss The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis. They talk about the healing imagery within this great work, the story of the red lizard and the white horse, and what we can learn about redemption f...

What does Moses have to do with Jesus—and why does it matter for Catholics today? In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show, host Michael Dauphinais welcomes back author, filmmaker, and Catholic convert Steve Ray for a sweeping exploration of the life of Saint Moses and his enduring significance for understanding Christ, the Church, and the Sacraments. Drawing from Scripture, Church tradition,...

The sacred liturgy is not a matter of personal preference or style it is the living heart of the Church’s worship and the clearest expression of her faith in Christ. In this episode of  The Catholic Theology Show , Ave Maria University welcomes Jesuit priest, publisher, and theologian Fr. Joseph Fessio, founder of Ignatius Press and founding provost of Ave Maria University. Drawing on decades of t...

Speech is made for communion—it’s meant to bind people together in truth and charity—but in a fallen world it so often does the opposite, slipping into distortion, division, and harm. In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show, Dr. Michael Dauphinais sits down with Dominican theologian Fr. Gregory Pine to discuss his book Training the Tongue: Growing Beyond the Sins of Speech. Drawing on the Ep...

Why do the most beautiful places on earth sometimes fill us with deep awe and wonder and yet other times leave us feeling empty? In this episode, Dr. Michael Dauphinais speaks with Fr. John Nepil about his book To Heights and Unto Depths, exploring how the beauty of nature can either deepen faith or become a substitute for it. Drawing from a 486-mile trek on the Colorado Trail, Fr. Nepil reflects...

Why did a writer who defended so many deeply Catholic ideas stop just short of becoming Catholic—and what can that tell us about faith, history, and influence? In this episode of the Catholic Theology Show, Dr. Michael Dauphinais and ⁠ Joseph Pearce⁠  ⁠ explore the fascinating tension at the heart of C.S. Lewis’ life and thought. Mr. Pearce is a Visiting Professor Literature at Ave Maria Universit...

What if our modern obsession with justice is actually missing its foundation? In this episode of  The Catholic Theology Show , Dr. Michael Dauphinais and Fr. Stephen Brock explore the meaning of justice through the lens of Thomas Aquinas. They contrast the classical view of justice as a virtue—a habit of giving others what is due—with modern approaches that reduce it to rights, power, or social sy...

What happens when timeless stories of faith are told in a way that feels immediate, human, and deeply personal? In this episode of the Catholic Theology Show, Dr. Michael Dauphinais interviews Peter Atkinson about the vision behind The Merry Beggars and its rapid growth through audio storytelling. Peter recounts his path from Ave Maria University to pursuing acting, and how an unexpected pivot dur...

Poetry is far more than personal expression; it is a contemplative encounter with reality itself. In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show, Ave Maria University welcomes poet, critic, and theologian James Matthew Wilson, Cullen Foundation Chair in English Literature and Director of the MFA Program in Creative Writing at the University of St. Thomas in Houston. Professor Wilson explores how th...

What does it really mean to be a man in a culture that often confuses strength with dominance and softness with compassion? In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show, Michael Dauphinais welcomes Fr. James Mason for a focused discussion on a largely overlooked challenge in priestly formation: the vice of effeminacy. Drawing on his article, “The Forgotten Vice in Seminary Formation,” Fr. Mason e...

Storytelling is intensely human, and is the matter of our own humanity. In this CTS episode, Ave Maria University alumnus, filmmaker, Director of Dramatic Arts & Fellow in Catholic Studies at the University of Mary (Bismarck, ND), and founder of Canticle Productions, Daniel Bielinski, shares his faith, everything that goes into making film and the art of storytelling. Dr. Dauphinais engages wi...

In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show, host Dr. Michael Dauphinais welcomes back Joseph Pearce—acclaimed author, literary scholar, and Visiting Professor of Literature at Ave Maria University (currently teaching an intensive course on G.K. Chesterton)—for a rigorous examination of the place of pre-Christian ("pagan") Greco-Roman literature in the formation of the Catholic mind. T...

Whether you are starting your career, a CEO, or a college student, this episode is for you. In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show, host Michael Dauphinais welcomes Jeff Schiefelbein, Managing Partner of Undivided Life, to explore the Catholic theology of work as a true vocation. Drawing on the Pontifical document The Vocation of the Business Leader (“the bane of man’s existence is the divi...

In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show, Dr. Michael Dauphinais speaks with Dr. Carrie Gress, author of The End of Woman: How Smashing the Patriarchy Has Destroyed Us. The conversation explores the historical, philosophical, and theological roots of modern feminism and its cultural impact. Dr. Gress reflects on her academic journey in philosophy and explains how her research led her to exami...

In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show, host Michael Dauphinais is joined by Dr. Christopher Kaczor, Professor of Philosophy at Loyola Marymount University, Honorary Professor of the Renewal of Catholic Life at the Word on Fire Institute, and President of the American Catholic Philosophical Association, on his recent publication Is Belief Believable? Reasoning About God from Plato and Aquin...

In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show, host Michael Dauphinais engages Dr. Chad Pecknold, Associate Professor of Theology at The Catholic University of America and Theologian in Residence at the Basilica of St. Mary in Alexandria, Virginia, on his recent work Fire on the Altar: Setting Our Souls Ablaze through Augustine's Confessions. Pecknold offers a rigorously Catholic interpretation of...

In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show, Dr. Michael Dauphinais speaks with Mark Brumley, president of Ignatius Press and longtime contributor to the Catholic apologetics movement. Together, they reflect on the rise of Catholic apologetics in the United States during the 1980s and 1990s, a time marked by doctrinal confusion, limited catechetical resources, and strong evangelical critiques of...

In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show, Dr. Michael Dauphinais is joined by Dr. Paul Gondreau, professor of theology at Providence College, for an in-depth conversation on the full humanity of Jesus Christ and its implications for Christian anthropology, masculinity, femininity, and moral life. Drawing on St. Thomas Aquinas, Scripture, and the Catholic tradition, Dr. Gondreau explains how a...

In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show, Dr. Michael Dauphinais speaks with Immaculée Ilibagiza, survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide and author of A Blessing in Disguise: Miracles of the Seven Sorrows Rosary. Drawing from her harrowing experience of hiding for three months while much of her family was murdered, Immaculée reflects on how suffering became a place of encounter with God rather...

In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show, Dr. Michael Dauphinais is joined by Dr. Gerald Boersma, professor of theology at Ave Maria University, for an in-depth conversation on St. Augustine’s City of God. Together they explore Augustine’s historical context, writing in the aftermath of the sack of Rome, and his enduring vision of the two cities: the City of God and the City of Man. The discu...

Dr. Aaron Kheriaty, psychiatrist and author, discusses his upcoming book "Teach Me Your Suffering" and shares insights on how contemplating Christ's passion can transform our experience of personal suffering. The conversation explores the prayer "doce me passionem tuum" (teach me your suffering) as a spiritual practice that helps people move from isolation to communion with...

In this episode of the Catholic Theology Show, host Michael Dauphinais interviews Father James Mason, pastor and vicar of clergy for the Diocese of Sioux Falls, who has been giving Ignatian retreats for seventeen years. Father Mason shares his personal conversion story as a late vocation who entered seminary at thirty after a career in law, describing his spiritual struggle as fighting God until h...