Saint Louis: The Story of Catholic Evangelization of America’s Heartland

Monsignor opens Chapter 4 with a sweeping look at the early 1970s—a moment when both American politics and Catholic life were shaken to their foundations. He revisits the stunning arc of Richard Nixon’s presidency, from a historic 49‑state landslide to the national trauma of Watergate, walking listeners through the break‑in, the cover‑up, the Senate hearings, and the unprecedented resignation that...

The late 1960s and 1970s brought a surprising and powerful wave of spiritual renewal to St. Louis, and this episode traces how it unfolded—from a Dominican professor’s curiosity about Pentecostal healing to a movement that reshaped parishes, prayer groups, and even the early permanent diaconate. Monsignor recounts the pivotal role of Fr. Francis McNutt, whose prayer gatherings at Visitation Academ...

In this episode, Monsignor takes listeners inside one of the most transformative developments in the Archdiocese of St. Louis during the 1970s—the restoration of the permanent diaconate. Beginning with Vatican II’s call to revive this ancient ministry, he traces how St. Louis cautiously but deliberately built its program from the ground up. You’ll hear how early concerns, pastoral questions, and p...

In this episode, Monsignor recounts one of the most dramatic and inspiring neighborhood victories in St. Louis history: the fight to save the Hill from being split in two by the construction of Interstate 44. As plans for the highway threatened homes, businesses, and the cultural heart of the Italian community, residents rallied with remarkable unity, aided by St. Ambrose Parish and the tireless l...

In this opening chapter of a turbulent new era, Monsignor traces how St. Louis Catholics responded swiftly and decisively to the shock of Roe v. Wade, revealing a community already mobilized through Cardinal Carberry’s early Respect Life initiatives and poised to defend the unborn with clarity, strategy, and conviction. He recounts the formation of the Archdiocesan Pro‑Life Committee, the bishops’...

In this episode, we explore how the Marianists transformed their presence in St. Louis from a network of thriving boys’ high schools into a bold new spiritual venture: the Marianist Apostolic Center at Glencoe. Drawing on the document’s vivid account of Brother Eugene Meyer Peter’s nationwide search for best retreat practices—“he went around the United States looking for retreat centers… taking no...

This episode explores the dramatic shifts facing Catholic high schools in the early 1970s, focusing on the founding of DeSmet Jesuit High School, the ripple effects on neighboring institutions, and the internal struggles at CBC as it wrestled with its long‑standing military program amid cultural upheaval. Monsignor recounts the closures of Augustinian Academy and Xavier High School, the bold effor...

This episode highlights the joyful arrival of the Daughters of St. Paul in St. Louis in 1973, tracing how Cardinal Carberry’s encouragement and a coalition of devoted Catholic lay leaders helped bring their media apostolate to the Archdiocese. Monsignor recounts the sisters’ early days downtown at 10th and Pine, their daily walks to Mass at the Alverne Hotel, their bookmobile outreach, and the rem...

This episode explores the remarkable rise of the Society of Our Mother of Peace, founded by Father Placid Gust, whose deep longing for contemplative prayer, apostolic service, and radical simplicity led him from New Orleans to France, Oklahoma, and ultimately High Ridge, Missouri. Monsignor recounts how this small community—rooted in six hours of daily prayer and fearless missionary outreach—broug...

This episode traces the remarkable founding of St. Louis Priory and the arrival of the Benedictine monks from Ampleforth, revealing how a group of determined laymen, a supportive archbishop, and three pioneering monks transformed 150 acres of West County farmland into a thriving monastery, parish, and school. From humorous early challenges—like learning to drive a Cadillac on the “wrong” side of t...

This episode opens Chapter Two—I Have Kept the Faith—by spotlighting the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus, whose steadfast devotion and flourishing vocations in the 1970s stood in striking contrast to the upheaval of the era. Monsignor recounts the remarkable story of their foundress, Mother Mary Teresa of St. Joseph, a former Lutheran whose deepening love for Christ and the Blessed...

This episode concludes the sweeping “Poseidon Adventure” chapter by tracing the final surge of cultural upheaval before the tide turns toward renewal. Monsignor wraps up the pre–Roe v. Wade pro‑life landscape—highlighting pioneers like Louise Summerhill and the rapid growth of Birthright—before walking listeners through the legal dominoes that culminated in Roe and Doe. He explains how legislative...

This episode traces the deepening moral and cultural divide of the early 1970s as Monsignor Stehly examines how contraception, abortion, and shifting views of human anthropology reshaped American society and challenged the Church. He outlines the clear and consistent Catholic teaching—from Pius IX’s condemnation of abortion at conception to Pius XI’s Casti Connubii—and contrasts it with the rapid...

This episode continues the sweeping chronicle of 1968–1973, tracing how the United States plunged deeper into cultural and political turmoil. Monsignor and Teresa explore the rise of Native American activism, the media’s growing power to shape public perception, and the Nixon administration’s mounting paranoia amid leaks, protests, and geopolitical gambles. From the occupation of Alcatraz to the P...

This episode follows Cardinal Carberry as he confronts post‑conciliar liturgical experimentation—unauthorized Eucharistic prayers, illicit general absolutions, Communion in the hand before approval—and works to steady parish life amid rapid change. At the same time, he emerges as one of the nation’s earliest and strongest pro‑life voices, declaring a statewide Right to Life Sunday in 1970 and mobi...

This episode explores how Cardinal Carberry confronted the rapid social and demographic upheavals of the early 1970s—from the collapse of urban neighborhoods like the Ville, to the exodus of Catholic families from University City, to the sudden loss of religious sisters that destabilized dozens of parish schools. Monsignor Hellrigel’s liturgical legacy, the challenges of textbook reform, and the a...

This episode traces the rapid cultural unraveling of 1968–1973, beginning with the Supreme Court’s Griswold v. Connecticut decision and its creation of a constitutional “right to privacy,” which opened the door to widespread contraception, no‑fault divorce, and the rise of radical feminist and sexual‑liberation movements. Monsignor Stehly explores how thinkers like Kinsey and the Frankfurt School...

In this episode, Monsignor continues guiding us through the turbulence of 1968, a year when cultural upheaval, political unrest, and spiritual confusion collided with the release of Humanae Vitae. As he unpacks the encyclical’s reception—both the fierce dissent and the courageous defenses—we witness how conscience, authority, and moral clarity became battlegrounds within the Church itself. Through...

In this episode, Monsignor Stehly and Teresa step into the turbulence of 1968—a year marked by political violence, cultural upheaval, and deep fractures within both American society and the Church. As Archbishop John J. Carberry arrives in St. Louis, he is immediately confronted with the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the intensifying civil‑rights struggle, and the looming storm surr...

As Book Three draws to a close, Monsignor wraps up the turbulent final years of the 1960s, reflecting on the storm unleashed by Humanae Vitae and the courage required to defend it. Through letters, backlash, and unexpected support, we witness Cardinal Carberry standing firm in a moment when the Church—and the world—seemed to tilt on its axis. The episode becomes both a coda and a bridge: a sober a...

In this episode, we enter the turbulence of 1968 as Archbishop John Joseph Carberry steps into leadership just as Humanae Vitae detonates across the Catholic world. Monsignor and Teresa trace the firestorm of reaction—priests rebelling, theologians dissenting, newspapers misreporting, and confused Catholics writing anguished letters—while Carberry responds with clarity, charity, and unwavering fid...

In 1968—a year marked by war, assassinations, civil unrest, and cultural upheaval—Archbishop John Joseph Carberry arrived in St. Louis and stepped into one of the most turbulent moments in American Catholic history. Installed before a packed cathedral and surrounded by civic and religious leaders, he immediately faced the shock of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, the ongoing strain of r...

This episode introduces Cardinal John Joseph Carberry as he arrives in St. Louis at a moment of profound upheaval in the Church and the wider culture. Born in Brooklyn and shaped by deep scholarship, pastoral experience, and a lifelong devotion to Our Lady, Carberry brought a steady, principled, and quietly courageous leadership style to a diocese shaken by post‑conciliar confusion. The program tr...

In this episode, Monsignor recounts the turbulent final years of Cardinal Joseph Ritter’s leadership as the post–Vatican II era reshaped Catholic life in St. Louis and across the nation. As religious vocations sharply declined, schools struggled to staff classrooms, and Catholic universities embraced the sweeping independence of the Land O’Lakes Statement, Ritter faced mounting challenges with cha...

In the turbulent years following Vatican II, Monsignor Martin Helrigel emerges as a steadying force—an anchor of liturgical fidelity amid sweeping experimentation. This episode traces how his deep scholarship, pastoral influence, and collaboration with figures like Paul Zipfel, Nicholas Schneider, and Dr. Marie Kramer helped preserve authentic renewal in St. Louis even as unauthorized innovations,...