The Cordial Catholic

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic , I'm joined by my very good friend Austin Suggs, to share his perspectives on some of the best arguments for Catholicism. Austin is an Evangelical and the host of the extremely popular Gospel Simplicity YouTube channel where he's spoken with and learned from some of the best and brightest minds in Evangelical Christianity, Catholicism, and Eastern...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic , I'm joined by my good friend, Catholic convert, historian, and author Rod Bennett to talk about how someone looking for a new church – especially our Evangelical friends – should go about it. Rod, a fellow convert, has some incredible perspectives on this question and talks about church unity (and shares some incredible statistics), what the ancient c...

In this episode,  I'm joined by Casey and Erin Phillips from the Bapticatholic Podcast to talk about their journeys out of their fervent Baptist roots into full communion with the Catholic Church. Strongly evangelical from the beginning of their journeys, Casey and Erin explain exactly what drew them to Catholicism – and it's an amazing story! From miraculous experiences of beauty to ask...

In this episode,  I'm joined by Leeanne Thomas to talk about her amazing and seemingly unlikely journey into the Catholic Church. Raised in a small Mennonite town in Northern Canada Leeanne journeyed through Charismatic Christianity, into a deep love for theology and the liturgy, and finally onto a pathway to ordination into the Anglican priesthood before deciding that she ultimately had to b...

In this episode,  I'm joined by Renzo and Monica Ortega, podcasters, ministry leaders, authors and the couple behind the apostolate Two Become Family. We're breaking down exactly what the Catholic Church believes and teaches about marriage, family, and sexuality – and it's an amazing conversation. We tackle Natural Family Planning, contraception, the Catholic vision of marriage (and...

In this episode, I'm joined by Olivia Spears, mother, educator, and curriculum creator behind the incredible Into the Deep catechetical series to talk about raising authentic Catholic kids. This conversation, especially for new Catholic families just starting out, new converts, and those looking at the Catholic Church wondering where their family fits in, is filled with incredible insights, i...

In this episode, I'm joined by the wonderful Karen Edmisten, author, Mom, and surprised Catholic convert, Karen joins me this week to tell her amazing story from atheism into the Catholic Church. Raised without any religion at all Karen was surprised when she began to ask questions about the meaning of life – to encounter people who caused her to ask these kinds of questions by the way they l...

In this episode, I'm joined by author, educator, and Catholic convert Lorelei Savaryn to talk about her incredible journey out of Evangelical Christianity into the Catholic Church. A passionate Evangelical, Lorelei and her husband began questioning the foundations of their faith when they encountered questions of "Once Saved, Always Saved," the example of the Early Church, and the b...

In this episode, I'm joined by Father Daniel-Maria Klimek, T.O.R. to talk about Mary. Father Klimek has a fantastic new book all about this subject and we dig in deeply. From topics like Mary's role as the New Ark of the Covenant, her power of the demonic realm, her prayers on our behalf, and exactly how and why we can – and should – grow more deeply in love with the Mother of Jesus, all...

In this episode, I'm joined by Casey Chalk, a Catholic convert/revert and author of The Obscurity of Scripture, to talk about one of the great big problems with the bedrock of Protestantism and the interpretation of Scripture. We're talking about the Protestant doctrine of the clarity of Scripture – the perspicuity of Scripture – or the idea that the Bible is so clear that any Christian...

In this episode, I'm joined by my good friend Keith Nester and his wife Estelle to talk about their Catholic journey. Keith and Estelle met as Keith was beginning his work as a Protestant pastor; work that would take up 22 years of life his. Estelle, raised Catholic but not practising, was happy to follow Keith into Evangelical Christianity, to get married, raise kids, and live and serve as a...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by author, radio host, podcaster, and mother extraordinaire, the wonderful Katie Prejean McGrady, to talk about the ridiculous, terrible, and downright crappy ways Catholics can (and do) share the faith. Katie is an incredible human being and puts herself out there, on the radio and social media, every single day. She's an evangelizer,...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by The Miracle Hunter, Michael O'Neill, to share some of his fantastic insights and stories from years of gathering, cataloging, and investigating miracles around the world. Miracles, for me as an Evangelical Christian, were one of those things that challenged my paradigm – especially when it came to miracles involving the Eucharist, ap...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, for our 200th episode, I'm joined by Catholic Answers Senior Apologist Jimmy Akin to share some of the reasons why the Protestant doctrine of Sola Scriptura is problematic – and what a reasonable alternative, in the Catholic Church, may be! For me, as an Evangelical struggling with divisions over the interpretation of Scripture within my own faith comm...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by my friend – the guy who got me into podcasting in the first place! – Matt Pana to talk about the Kingdom of God. Matt was raised Catholic in a Filipino-American household but drifted into Evangelical Christianity as a young adult. He came enthusiastically back into the practice of Catholicism after being exposed to Catholic apologists lik...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, in one of the most enjoyable episodes to date, I'm joined by Daniel and Steven from The Catholic Brothers to talk about their journey out of and back into the Catholic faith. Raised in a devout Catholic home, Daniel and Steven unpack exactly what drew them out of the Catholic faith and into Evangelical Christianity, then Anglicanism, and finally back i...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Catholic convert Mike Sharp to tell the incredible conversion journey him and his wife experienced – culminating in their decision to join the Catholic Church! Mike's journey touches on so many interesting points like the insufficiency of Sola Scriptura, the Early Church and apostolic succession, the liturgy, the Eucharist, confessio...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined once again by the incredible Mike Aquilina, church historian extraordinaire, to talk about the African roots of the Catholic Church. Mike unpacks some of the interesting – and surprising – roots of things we take for granted in Catholic Christianity: the liturgy, the Latin language, some of our most important developments of doctrine and dog...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Lauren Bacon. Lauren is an "expected Catholic convert" and the wife of John Bacon, a former Anglican priest, and a previous guest on this show. John's own story featuring exorcisms, a friendship with Dr. David Anders, miracles, and the Early Church – and, this week, we hear it from his spouse's perspective! Lauren join...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic , I'm joined by Shannon Wimp Schmidt, Parish Vitality Coordinator for the Archdiocese of Chicago, to talk about the Catholic parish. What exactly should we expect from a Catholic parish?  How does it compare to an Evangelical church? How can we get more involved? What if nothing is happening in our parish – is it OK to go somewhere else? These questions...

In this episode, I'm joined  by David Patterson from Yes Catholic to talk about his own incredible journey out of, and then back into, the Catholic faith – thanks to some amazing miracles, plenty of grace, and some incredible moments of divine providence! Then we dig into what it means to say "Yes" to Christ and His Church, the beauty of being Catholic, the Eucharist, confession, an...

In this episode, I'm joined  Heidi Witte, aka Miss Heidi, from Children's Liturgy of the Word , to talk about just about everything to do with raising our kids Catholic. For this listener-requested topic, we tackle bringing kids to Mass, passing on the faith, creating a domestic church within our homes, celebrating the liturgical calendar and feast days, praying as a family, and a whole...

In this episode, I'm joined by the Marlene Watkins, founder of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospitality North American Volunteers, to talk about Lourdes: the apparitions of the Virgin Mary to a poor French peasant girl, the miracles that followed, and, incredibly, the mind-blowing miracles that science and medicine cannot prove which are still happening today! This episode is truly one of my favourite...

In this episode, I'm joined by Dr. Matthew Breuninger, clinical psychologist and associate professor of Psychology at Franciscan University of Steubenville to talk about finding freedom from our wounds in Christ and the Catholic Church. We talk about the healing power of the sacraments, how to begin letting go of what we put in the way of true healing and freedom and, practically, how we can...

In this episode, I'm joined by Dr. Justus Hunter, a Methodist seminary professor, church historian, and theologian to unpack his family's remarkable story of Catholic conversion. From an "all in for Jesus" faith background, Justus and his wife, both devout and deeply connected Christians, began to find themselves attracted to the Catholic faith and, following an incredible jour...