‘Field hospital’: a podcast interview

One of the most interesting and important Catholic sites to have sprung up in recent years is ‘Where Peter Is’. The brainchild of Mike Lewis, who used to work in communications in the US bishops’ conference, it brings together a network of amateur writers — theologians, catechists, even a surgeon — who were spurred into action by the vehement opposition to Amoris Laetitia in 2016. Just as that papal exhortation, the fruit of two key synods, pushed some conservatives into open resistance to Rome, so that resistance triggered in the contributors to WPI the desire for a robust but well reasoned defence of the pontificate of Francis, and indeed of the papacy. In the Catholic media landscape, WPI offers not just impressive articles with no axe to grind except love of the Church and authentic Catholic tradition (as opposed to the ersatz construction of traditionalists), but it does so with efficiently, and with good cheer — despite calling down on its head the wrath of the rad-trad lobby. If you haven’t yet come across WPI, you should give it a try.

Mike has recently teamed up with Jeannie Gaffigan to produce a new podcast hosted by the magazine US Catholic, and asked if I could their first guest. Naturally I was delighted. We rove over a wide range of topics, including the writing of Let Us Dream, and of course we discuss Pope Francis’s vision, the resistance to him, and the effect the pope’s example and leadership has had on me. It’s a 50’ episode, and I was glad to take part. Access it through WPI here or the US Catholic here or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Jeannie Gaffigan, by the way, is the author of Life Gives You Pears: The Healing Power of Family, Faith and Funny People, the story of her battle with a brain tumour. She is married to the hit comedian Jim Gaffigan, who appears on Stephen Colbert’s show here.

Jeannie and Jim Gaffigan