The Communion Project Podcast

In this Conversations in Communion episode, host Jonathan Lewis welcomes Catholic journalists Christopher White and Jonathan Liedl as Pope Leo prepares for his apostolic visit to South America and his homecoming in Peru. Drawing on their reporting in Rome, Peru, and around the world, Chris and Jonathan explore how Robert Prevost’s years as an Augustinian missionary formed the pope he is today.

The conversation examines Pope Leo’s closeness to ordinary people, his respect for the Church’s traditions and institutions, and the influence of Augustinian community life on his leadership. Chris and Jonathan also discuss ideological silos in Catholic media, the dangers of algorithms that reward outrage, and why curiosity and conversation across differences are essential to Catholic journalism. Together, they offer a portrait of Pope Leo as a missionary, listener, and pastor animated by the Gospel rather than partisan ideology.

About the Guests

Christopher White is associate director for strategic initiatives and a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life. A former Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter and former reporter for Crux, he is the author of Pope Leo XIV: Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a New Papacy.

Jonathan Liedl is managing editor of the National Catholic Register and was named the Catholic Media Association’s 2024 Writer of the Year. He served as the on-the-ground reporter for the EWTN News documentary Pope Leo’s Peru, which explores how the future pope’s missionary ministry in South America shaped his faith and leadership.

Episode Timestamps

01:27 — Jonathan and Chris share the childhood experiences that shaped their global outlooks

05:43 — Memorable liturgies and encountering the universality of the Church

06:11 — Mass in Prague, the Ugandan martyrs, and a million-person pilgrimage

08:59 — How attending Mass in Paris led Chris toward Catholicism

10:15 — Traveling with Pope Francis and worshiping with most of East Timor

12:54 — How the devotion of Catholics around the world challenges American complacency

14:34 — What reporting on Pope Leo has revealed 18 months into his papacy

16:02 — Following the future pope’s missionary path through Peru

21:57 — Padre Roberto, parish life, and Pope Leo’s collaborative approach to leadership

24:06 — Continuity with Pope Francis—and a different style of governance

26:19 — How Pope Leo is making unity and communion practical priorities

27:01 — Augustinian formation, community life, and leading people through change

31:59 — Social fragmentation, ideological parishes, and algorithmic outrage

33:33 — The responsibility of Catholic journalists to speak with people across the Church

36:07 — Accompanying an audience without simply confirming its biases

39:40 — Why Pope Leo cannot be understood through partisan categories

40:08 — Catholic social teaching as the foundation of Pope Leo’s public witness

41:27 — Pope Leo as a missionary and man of the Gospel

44:15 — What to watch during the pope’s visit to South America and return to Peru

46:23 — Argentina, Uruguay, evangelization, and a joyful homecoming

48:23 — El Niño, Chiclayo, and Pope Leo’s devotion to St. Turibius of Mogrovejo

51:16 — What fills—and breaks—the guests’ hearts about the Church today

55:20 — St. Francis and St. Philip Neri as patrons of communion

58:38 — Closing reflections on Catholic friendship and conversations across difference

Why is it easy to receive Jesus in the Eucharist on Sunday, yet treat members of the Body of Christ with suspicion the rest of the week?

Host Jonathan Lewis welcomes Catholic author, speaker, and evangelization leader Julianne Stanz to discuss Christian unity, polarization in the Catholic Church, and the holy boldness required to love people across differences.

Drawing on more than 20 years in Catholic ministry and her experience growing up amid religious and cultural divisions in Ireland, Julianne explains why evangelization begins with listening. She offers practical wisdom for difficult conversations, conflict resolution, prayer, discernment, and recognizing our own defensiveness. Jonathan and Julianne also explore social media division, missionary discipleship, the Eucharist, and what it means to remain one Body of Christ without demanding uniformity.

ABOUT JULIANNE STANZ

Julianne Stanz is Director of Outreach for Evangelization and Discipleship at Loyola Press and a consultant to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Catechesis and Evangelization. The Irish-born author, retreat leader, and storyteller has served the Catholic Church at parish, diocesan, national, and international levels.

Her books include Start with Jesus, Braving the Thin Places, Developing Disciples of Christ, and The Catholic Parent’s Survival Guide.

IN THIS EPISODE

• Catholic evangelization through listening and accompaniment
• Navigating polarization and conflict in the Catholic Church
• Approaching difficult conversations with curiosity
• Christian unity without uniformity
• Fraternal correction versus “tribal correction”
• Praying for people and political leaders we dislike
• Lessons about reconciliation from Northern Ireland
• Recognizing personal and institutional defensiveness
• Living an embodied Catholic faith in a digital world
• Finding courage, hope, and belonging in the Church

EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:01 — Meet Julianne Stanz
01:59 — The “milk-crate Mass” and communion across differences
07:12 — Practicing communion within the Catholic Church
09:19 — Unity, diversity, and healthy tension
13:28 — Why conflict is not always negative
16:18 — How Jesus approaches difficult conversations
18:55 — Listening to people quietly leaving the Church
23:43 — Christian communication and conflict online
27:09 — Praying for people we dislike
30:47 — Flexibility, strength, and spiritual rigidity
34:06 — Discernment, curiosity, and disarming our words
39:51 — Religious division and reconciliation in Ireland
45:29 — Misneach: courage of the heart
48:28 — Why missionary disciples cross borders
50:08 — Embodied faith in a disembodied world
52:15 — Julianne’s hopes and heartbreaks for the Church
56:00 — Practical habits for building communion
59:05 — St. Dymphna and a Church with room for everyone

RESOURCES

Julianne Stanz and her books:
https://www.loyolapress.com/authors/julianne-stanz/

The Communion Project:
https://communionproject.org/

Ut Unum Sint: That They May Be One:
https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25051995_ut-unum-sint.html

If this conversation encouraged or challenged you, share it with someone seeking a more faithful way to navigate disagreement. Subscribe to The Communion Project Podcast and leave a review to help others discover the show.

In this episode, host Jonathan Lewis sits down with theologian, preacher, author, and conflict mediator Dr. Ann Garrido to explore how Christians can engage disagreement without damaging their relationships. Ann explains why healthy communities are not free from conflict, how to separate another person’s intentions from the impact of their actions, and why genuine dialogue begins with curiosity rather than persuasion.

The conversation also explores truthfulness in an age of misinformation, the limitations of social media, and the Church’s responsibility to model better ways of handling conflict. Ann shares how her experience of living with brain cancer has deepened her understanding of communion, vulnerability, and preaching—not only through words, but through the witness of one’s life.

Episode Timestamps

00:57 — Growing up in a large Catholic family in St. Louis

01:42 — The preaching that shaped Ann’s faith as a child

03:36 — Encountering Scripture throughout the week—not only at Sunday Mass

04:19 — Discovering a lifelong vocation to preaching and teaching

05:14 — Thirty years of forming preachers, priests, and deacons

07:33 — What it means to redeem conflict

10:19 — Why conflict avoidance is not the same as peace

12:21 — Healthy relationships require conflict—and the skills to repair them

13:02 — Why people often leave the Church quietly

14:27 — A practical skill for difficult conversations: separating intention from impact

17:55 — “The story I’m telling myself”: questioning our assumptions about others

18:41 — Closing the gap between our internal and external voices

20:49 — Christian habits for communicating online

25:36 — Misinformation, gossip, and our moral responsibility to verify what we share

26:26 — Thomas Aquinas and the difference between honesty and truthfulness

29:06 — Why truth is something we continually seek—not something we possess

32:49 — Dialogue as a spiritual practice of entering more deeply into mystery

33:16 — If you have no questions, you may not be ready for the conversation

34:33 — The bishop who transformed a crisis by coming to listen

38:03 — Living with brain cancer and experiencing communion through prayer and vulnerability

43:08 — Preaching through one’s life when words are no longer enough

44:49 — What gives Ann hope about the Church today

47:59 — Offering the sign of peace across profound differences

50:32 — Why the departure of justice-minded Catholics breaks her heart

52:59 — Communion as seeking truth, speaking truthfully, and being true to one another

55:08 — Three practices for building communion in families, parishes, and online

57:27 — St. Thecla, Catholic agency, and refusing to wait for someone else to build communion

58:27 — The Catholic Church as the biggest umbrella in the rainstorm of life

About the Guest

Dr. Ann Garrido is associate professor of homiletics and pastoral theology at Aquinas Institute of Theology, where she also directs the Aquinas Children’s Worship Partnership. Her teaching, research, and consulting focus on Catholic preaching, Christian conflict management, leadership, administration, and ministry formation.

Ann is the author of ten books, including Redeeming Conflict, Redeeming Administration, Redeeming Power, Let’s Talk About Truth, and #Rules_of_Engagement. She holds a Master of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry in Preaching from Aquinas Institute and has worked extensively with dioceses, seminaries, ministry organizations, and leaders navigating difficult conversations.

What if disagreement with the people we love isn’t the enemy of communion, but a path toward it?

In this episode, host Jonathan Lewis sits down with moral theologian and bioethicist Dr. Charlie Camosy to explore how Catholics can resist the red-versus-blue binary and follow the principles of their faith wherever they lead. Drawing on his upbringing in a family that disagreed vigorously while remaining rooted in love, Charlie explains how a consistent ethic of life challenges every political tribe and offers a bold alternative to polarization.

Charlie also reflects on rebuilding trust among young people, the Catholic Church’s opportunity to shape the conversation about artificial intelligence, and the surprising relationships that become possible when we engage disagreement with humility and friendship. Throughout the conversation, he returns to one essential practice: always reserving the right to change your mind—about an issue, an argument, or another person.

Episode Timestamps

01:10 — Growing up Catholic in rural Wisconsin and being formed by his mother’s faith

03:16 — Meaningful experiences of the Mass, from his wedding at Oxford to being seen by Cardinal Dolan

05:55 — How a family shaped by love—and political disagreement—prepared Charlie’s vocation

08:42 — Why healthy disagreement so easily hardens into division

11:31 — The principles of a consistent ethic of life

13:37 — Following an ethical principle wherever it leads

15:45 — Why Catholic faith should make us uncomfortable with every political camp

17:12 — Questioning the categories of “Republican” and “Democrat”

19:43 — The Americans who don’t fit neatly into a left-right binary

22:15 — Gen Z, declining trust, and signs of religious revival

26:05 — Artificial intelligence as an opportunity for Catholic engagement

26:28 — What a friendship with Peter Singer unexpectedly made possible

29:41 — Why we should always reserve the right to change our minds

33:40 — The Magenta series and a bold alternative to red-versus-blue Catholicism

37:32 — What breaks Charlie’s heart—and what fills it—about the Church today

39:46 — A practical exercise: remember when you changed your mind about another person

43:38 — Mary, Undoer of Knots, as a patron for difficult dialogue

44:32 — What Charlie wants newcomers to know about the Church’s intellectual tradition

About the Guest

Dr. Charlie Camosy is an associate professor of moral theology and ethics at The Catholic University of America, where he teaches moral theology and bioethics. His work focuses on bioethics, moral anthropology, Catholic social teaching, transhumanism, and the dignity of vulnerable human life.

Charlie is the author of nine books, including Resisting Throwaway Culture, One Church, and Living and Dying Well. He is also the founding editor of Focolare Media’s Magenta series, which publishes bold Christian perspectives that resist polarized ideological categories.

What if uniting ourselves closer to Christ means caring less about our own liturgical preferences and more about our brothers and sisters?

Dr. John Cavadini, theologian and longtime director of the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame, reflects on the deep connection between Eucharistic communion and our communion with one another.

Drawing on the wisdom of St. Augustine, Dr. Cavadini explains why the Church must “become what she is,” how belief in Christ’s real presence can reshape the way we see difficult or inconvenient people, and why unity is first a gift before it becomes a task. He also reflects on the beauty and brokenness of the Church, the hidden wisdom of ordinary believers, and the practices that can help Catholics grow in gratitude, patience, and love.

Episode Timestamps

01:04 — Growing up Catholic and attending early Sunday Mass with his grandparents

02:19 — Memorable liturgies, personal taste, and the danger of judging the Mass by aesthetics

06:09 — Do we really believe Christ is present in the Eucharist?

11:10 — Responding generously to distracting music, preaching, readers, and crying children

15:38 — Pope Leo XIV, St. Augustine, and the meaning of “In the One, we are one”

19:27 — The Church’s unity as both a gift and something we must grow into

22:25 — “Become what you are”: what Israel’s journey from slavery teaches us about communion

27:59 — Digital culture, self-righteousness, and learning to bear one another’s burdens

28:03 — Bishop Daniel Flores, Eucharistic adoration, and recognizing Christ in an inconvenient neighbor

31:52 — Why defending human dignity can never become an either-or choice

32:40 — Building unity at Notre Dame by beginning with the beauty of the faith

37:05 — Mystical experience, popular devotion, and the quiet faith of ordinary Catholics

40:25 — What fills Dr. Cavadini’s heart—and what breaks it—about the Church today

42:58 — Two practices for building communion: weekday Mass and faithful daily prayer

46:55 — Servant of God Julia Greeley and St. Joseph as patrons of communion

52:18 — What every person curious about the Catholic Church should know

About the Guest

Dr. John C. Cavadini is a professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame and the former McGrath-Cavadini Director of the McGrath Institute for Church Life, which he led from 2000 to 2026. A member of Notre Dame’s faculty since 1990, he specializes in patristic and early medieval theology, the theology of St. Augustine, and the history of biblical and patristic interpretation.

What if unity requires us to lose? In this episode, host Jonathan Lewis sits down with Bishop Michael Mulvey, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Corpus Christi, to explore why communion comes at a cost—and why loving someone does not require agreeing with them.

Drawing on nearly five decades of involvement with the Focolare Movement, Bishop Mulvey reflects on its spirituality of unity, the power of living the Gospel together, and the example of Mary as someone willing to surrender her plans and follow the Holy Spirit. He explains why listening is essential to Christian life, how sacrificial love can overcome polarization, and why priests and Church leaders must choose God—not ministry, programs, or institutions—as their true ideal.

Bishop Mulvey also shares what breaks his heart and gives him hope about the Church, his reflections on Pope Leo XIV’s witness to unity, and why every Catholic has a part to play in building a more welcoming and united Church.

Episode Timestamps
00:51 — Growing up in a Catholic family in Houston
02:05 — An embarrassing—and memorable—childhood experience at Mass
03:48 — Bishop Mulvey’s path through parish, seminary, diocesan, and episcopal ministry
05:02 — Discovering the Focolare Movement and its spirituality of unity
06:45 — Living the Gospel in the devastation of World War II
08:40 — God is love: encountering Jesus in every neighbor
09:35 — Jesus forsaken and the choice to continue loving through suffering
10:25 — Mary’s presence, discipleship, and hidden work of giving life to Jesus
11:21 — Moving beyond ideas to live the Gospel together
12:14 — Why Christian wisdom grows through shared experience
14:49 — What does a spirituality of unity look like today?
15:25 — Unity has a price: becoming “all things to all people”
18:54 — Why the sacrifice required for unity is worth making
19:19 — Every person as a candidate for unity
20:04 — Leadership, discipline, mercy, and trusting the Holy Spirit
21:36 — How clergy and lay leaders can cultivate unity in their parishes
21:52 — Reaching out to those who disagree—and listening more than speaking
23:11 — Synodality, growth, and the danger of seeking security
24:20 — Choosing God rather than making an idol of priesthood or ministry
26:00 — Why we struggle to let go of our plans
27:08 — Mary and the spiritual practice of learning how to lose
29:17 — The seed must die in order to bear fruit
31:23 — What breaks Bishop Mulvey’s heart about the Church today
31:35 — Polarization, stagnation, and competing voices within the Church
34:21 — Why young Catholics give Bishop Mulvey hope
36:05 — Pope Leo XIV and the call to become a Church in communion
38:43 — Refusing to put popes—and one another—into ideological boxes
40:11 — Finding the thread of unity throughout the communion of saints
42:13 — What Bishop Mulvey wants those curious about Catholicism to know

About the Guest

Bishop Michael Mulvey is the Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Corpus Christi, Texas, where he served as bishop for nearly 16 years. A Houston native, he has served the Church in parish ministry, Catholic education, priestly formation, seminary leadership, and diocesan administration. Before his appointment to Corpus Christi, he served as vicar general and diocesan administrator for the Diocese of Austin. Bishop Mulvey has participated in the Focolare Movement’s spirituality of unity for nearly five decades.

What if healing polarization begins not with winning an argument, but with asking someone, “How are you?” In this episode, host Jonathan Lewis sits down with Dr. Hosffman Ospino, professor of theology at Boston College and a leading voice on Hispanic Catholic life, to explore how communion, bridgebuilding, and the ministry of presence can renew the Church.

Drawing on his upbringing in Colombia and his experience of Catholicism in the United States, Dr. Ospino reflects on the Hispanic understanding of the Church as family, the difference between healthy disagreement and dehumanizing polarization, and the inseparable relationship between faith and public life. He describes Hispanic Catholics as gente puente—a bridge-building people whose experience of living between cultures can help the Church embrace a “both-and” vision rooted in the common good.

Dr. Ospino also explains why synodality is simply what it means to be Church, how our shared baptismal dignity calls us to listen to one another, and why a meal or cup of coffee with someone who disagrees with us can become a ministry of healing.

Episode Timestamps

00:10 — Welcome and introduction to Dr. Hosffman Ospino
00:22 — Growing up in Colombia and “breathing” Catholicism
01:54 — Experiencing Pentecost at Mass in St. Peter’s Square
03:37 — Communion through the Hispanic Catholic experience of family and community
04:50 — How polarization appears within Hispanic Catholic communities
05:38 — Healthy differences versus dehumanizing ideological polarization
10:55 — Recovering human dignity as the foundation of Catholic life
11:16 — Why faith and public life cannot be separated
14:35 — Public Catholicism and the need to choose communion intentionally
16:11 — Reconciliation, positive anthropology, and becoming instruments of healing
16:44 — Gente puente: Hispanic Catholics as people who live and build bridges
20:21 — “Both-and” thinking, community, the common good, and the American dream
22:34 — Synodality as walking and listening together
23:15 — Why synodality is simply about being Church
27:50 — Entrepreneurship, Pentecost, and recognizing the gifts of every baptized person
29:53 — Turning down polarization by affirming what Catholics hold in common
31:13 — What breaks Dr. Ospino’s heart—and what fills him with hope—about the Church
33:20 — Healing relationships through coffee, meals, presence, and the question “How are you?”
36:08 — Parish potlucks, salads, desserts, and the Catholic “both-and”
37:10 — St. Óscar Romero as a patron for rebuilding communion
39:12 — What newcomers should know about the beauty and mystery of Catholic initiation
40:47 — Closing thoughts

About the Guest

Dr. Hosffman Ospino is a professor of theology and religious education at Boston College’s School of Theology and Ministry and a nationally recognized scholar of Hispanic Catholicism and ministry in the United States. Born in Colombia, he has lived most of his life in the United States and has spent nearly 25 years teaching theology. His work explores how the experiences and gifts of Hispanic Catholics are shaping the present and future of the Church.

What if the Synod on Synodality isn’t really about meetings at all? In this episode, host Jonathan Lewis sits down with Julia McStravog, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ point person for the synodal process, to explore how prayer, dialogue, participation, and spiritual friendship can renew the Church’s relationships and mission.

Drawing on her background in ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, Julia describes synodality as a worldwide process of spiritual formation and conversion—not simply another Church program. She reflects on the wounds revealed through the Church’s listening process, the role of religious communities as models of shared discernment, and why genuine dialogue begins with prayer, humility, and the willingness to become comfortable with discomfort.

Episode Timestamps

00:13 — Cold open: why the “Synod on Synodality” is about much more than meetings
01:35 — Meet Julia McStravog and her work accompanying the U.S. synodal process
03:04 — New synod guidelines, continental assemblies, and what comes next
05:53 — Pausing the interview to pray: keeping the Holy Spirit at the center
07:12 — The Adsumus Sancte Spiritus: the prayer accompanying the synodal process
09:34 — Growing up Catholic in “Delco” and discovering a love for theology
12:20 — Being told she wasn’t Christian—and how it inspired Julia’s work in interreligious dialogue
14:18 — Why dialogue with other traditions can deepen rather than diminish Catholic identity
15:50 — Children at Mass and the formative power of genuine participation
20:29 — What is synodality? A worldwide process of spiritual formation and conversion
22:28 — Why Pope Francis believed the Church needed a renewed culture of dialogue
26:31 — Is the American Church really as divided as it appears?
27:46 — Relationship and encounter as remedies for polarization
29:08 — “Enduring Wounds”: what the synodal listening process revealed about pain in the Church
32:10 — Living in communion through the Church’s unity amid diversity
33:44 — What religious communities can teach the wider Church about synodality
36:30 — Pope Leo XIV, religious life, shared authority, and leadership rooted in community
39:39 — What breaks Julia’s heart—and what gives her hope—about the Church today
42:00 — Julia’s most important practice for building communion: prayer
44:34 — Engaging across differences through self-knowledge, humility, and discomfort
47:18 — What families can teach us about living with tension and remaining in relationship
49:03 — Communion, participation, and mission: what the synod is really for
50:34 — Lightning round: pepper jack, parish potlucks, and spiritual friendship
51:12 — St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal as patrons for this moment
52:13 — What Julia wants newcomers to know: there are many ways to be Catholic

About the Guest

Julia McStravog accompanies the synodal process for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Her theological studies and professional work have centered on the Catholic theology and practice of dialogue. She previously served in the USCCB’s ecumenical and interreligious affairs office and worked with clergy and professors at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. She has helped guide the U.S. Church’s participation in the global synodal process since 2021.

Is the Catholic Church in America really as divided as the headlines suggest — or are we being told a story that isn't quite true? In this episode, host Jonathan Lewis sits down with Dr. Tim O'Malley, theologian, author, and Associate Director for Research at the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame, to unpack liturgical division, the wisdom of St. Augustine, Pope Leo's early emphasis on unity, and what it really means to live in communion with people who are different from us.

Drawing on Augustine's response to the Donatist controversy, the legacy of Vatican II, and his own conversion story growing up Catholic in the Bible Belt, Tim offers a hopeful and refreshingly honest take on Church unity — and a practical challenge for every Catholic listening.

Episode Timestamps

• 00:00 — Cold open: political idolatry and the worship shaping American life today
• 00:23 — Meet Tim O'Malley: professor at Notre Dame's McGrath Institute for Church Life
• 01:07 — Tim's conversion story: growing up Catholic in South Florida and becoming "the only Catholic" in East Tennessee
• 03:04 — Tim's most formative liturgical memories: confirmation, marriage, and Mass at Notre Dame on 9/11
• 05:01 — Why the ordinary, regular practice of Sunday Mass shapes identity more than the "big moments"
• 06:21 — Why liturgy is so often the flashpoint for division in the U.S. Catholic Church
• 09:26 — Is liturgy a proxy war? How Vatican II's reforms were historically unprecedented
• 12:31 — Most Catholics aren't fighting about the liturgy — so who is, and why?
• 13:58 — "The spicy part": Tim's hot take on infant baptism reform
• 15:11 — Docility and the wisdom of Romano Guardini: letting the liturgy shape you
• 16:03 — St. Augustine's letter to Januarius on liturgical diversity and unity in non-essentials
• 17:07 — What St. Augustine and the Donatist controversy teach the Church about unity amid division
• 20:06 — Naming America's real idolatry: political worship, MAGA, and eschatological hope in politics
• 21:01 — Pope Leo XIV, Chicago roots, and echoes of Augustine, "the Bishop of Hippo," in his early pontificate
• 22:08 — Pope Leo's motto "In the One, We Are One" and what it means for the Church today
• 22:55 — What breaks Tim's heart: exclusion, disunity, and forgetting the gift of grace
• 25:05 — What gives Tim hope: the rise of lay-led ecclesial and apostolic movements
• 27:01 — What does it actually mean to be "in communion"? Why difference is essential to real unity
• 30:36 — Tim's #1 practice for building unity: get off social media and know your literal neighbor
• 31:49 — Lightning round: potluck dish, patron saints for this moment (Augustine and Benedict)
• 32:48 — What Tim wants newcomers to know about the Catholic Church
• 34:06 — Closing reflection: "My fault, my fault, my most grievous fault" — why imperfection belongs in the Church
• 34:37 — Episode wrap-up and where to find more Communion Project resources

About the Guest

Dr. Tim O'Malley is a theologian and Associate Director for Research at the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame. He holds a PhD from Boston College and has spent his career studying and teaching on liturgy, sacraments, and the life of the Church.

Archbishop William E. Lori has spent nearly 50 years in Church leadership as a priest and bishop, over 20 years as chaplain to the Knights of Columbus, and 14 years as Archbishop of Baltimore, the first Catholic diocese in the United States. His 2026 pastoral letter, In Charity and Truth: Toward a Renewed Political Culture, names something most American Catholics feel but rarely say out loud: our political culture has gone toxic, and we've stopped seeing each other as brothers and sisters.

Host Jonathan Lewis talks with Archbishop Lori about where that forgetting comes from, what it costs a parish, a presbyterate, and a country.

Key Moments

[00:53] Growing up the youngest of four brothers in southern Indiana, and the sacrificial love his parents showed his brother Frankie, who had special needs.
Catholic formation · family · disability and dignity

[03:10] Two Masses he'll never forget: a Christmas liturgy at a homeless shelter that ended in "Jingle Bells," and saying Mass alone at the empty tomb in the Holy Land.
Eucharist · the poor · Holy Land pilgrimage

[05:59] Why American public and family life have grown so divided — collective amnesia about the image of God, an information ecosystem built to inflame, and the fading family dinner table.
polarization · pastoral letter · Catholic social teaching

[09:41] Is the Church a thermostat setting the culture's temperature, or a thermometer just reflecting it back? You can guess someone's news diet by how they react to a homily.
culture of encounter · Evangelii Gaudium · parish life

[13:10] Polarization isn't just a pew problem — forming younger priests, why bishops like each other more than the press assumes, and what changes when a presbyterate eats at the same table.
clergy formation · Church unity · leadership

[17:19] The line that anchors the conversation: do I want my side to win, or do I want Christ to win? Catholic identity ranked below political identity.
Catholic identity · partisanship · synodality

[27:09] Boutique parishes versus real belonging — and why 2,000 Easter converts in Baltimore say something about which one wins.
evangelization · parish renewal · Easter converts

[29:51] From Archbishop John Carroll and Cardinal Gibbons to Isaac Hecker's conviction that being Catholic and being American reinforce each other — in America's 250th year.
US Catholic history · religious freedom · Catholic schools

[37:47] Why a 19th-century parish priest started a fraternal order instead of letting immigrant Catholics join secret societies, and why the Knights are growing again in an age of "Bowling Alone."
Knights of Columbus · Michael McGivney · loneliness epidemic

[41:23] One practice to start with: find someone you're pretty sure disagrees with you, and have an actual conversation.
practical wisdom · dialogue across difference

[42:42] What fills his heart, what breaks it — the condos going up that the Church isn't reaching, and the twenty-somethings packing the oldest cathedral in the country on a Sunday.
hope · evangelization · Church renewal

[44:35] Lightning round: a case for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, and the one thing he'd want a curious inquirer to know about entering the Church.
Elizabeth Ann Seton · human dignity · evangelization

Guest

Archbishop William E. Lori has served as Archbishop of Baltimore since 2012, leading the oldest diocese in the United States. He previously served as Bishop of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and Auxiliary Bishop of Washington, D.C. Since 2005, he has served as Supreme Chaplain of the Knights of Columbus. He is the author of several pastoral letters, most recently In Charity and Truth: Toward a Renewed Political Culture.

THE COMMUNION PROJECT PODCAST

Episode 1: Fr. Jim Martin and Tim Busch on Friendship, Division, and Dinner

Fr. James Martin, SJ and Timothy Busch have been portrayed by Catholic media as polar opposites. Neither man thinks that framing is accurate, and for seven years, quietly, they've been proving it wrong through private salon dinners: small gatherings of Catholics from across the ideological spectrum, built around Mass, the Rosary, a shared meal, and a favorite scripture verse.

In this inaugural Conversations in Communion episode, host Jonathan Lewis welcomes Fr. Jim and Tim for an honest, wide-ranging conversation about faith, friendship, and what it takes to stay in communion with people you're supposed to disagree with.

Key Moments

[00:08] The Friendship Nobody Expected
Seven years of honest conversation between two men Catholic media placed on opposite ends of the spectrum.
Catholic unity · polarization · dialogue across difference

[13:44] The Salon Dinners
Mass, the Rosary, dinner, a scripture verse. No debate. No agenda. Just people becoming less than strangers — and a possible model for the broader Church.
Community · bridge-building · synodality · parish renewal

[20:09] Formation Stories
Tim rode his bike to daily Tridentine Mass as a third-grader in Michigan. Fr. Jim had an encounter with God in a Pennsylvania meadow he couldn't name until years later.
Catholic formation · vocation · Jesuit spirituality

[24:27] The Mass That Changes Everything
Spiritual warfare, ordination Masses, liturgy with refugees in Nairobi, and what the words of consecration ask of us.
Eucharist · real presence · transubstantiation · liturgy

[31:22] What Breaks Their Hearts — and What Fills Them
Both say division. But Tim points to the largest surge in baptisms and confirmations in 25 years as evidence the Holy Spirit isn't finished with the Church.
Church renewal · sex abuse crisis · hope

[35:41] Pope Francis, Pope Leo XIV, and Unity
Fr. Jim knew Pope Francis personally and participated in the Synod on Synodality. Both men read Leo XIV's early papacy as a continuation — with unity as its defining note.
Pope Leo XIV · Pope Francis · Synod on Synodality

[45:51] The Church's Moral Authority in a Fractured World
On AI ethics, just war, and why the Vatican keeps drawing people who don't share the faith: two thousand years of moral theology is already there.
AI · just war · moral theology · Catholic social teaching

[51:58] Where They Actually Disagree
Sexual ethics, the role of government, Dorothy Day versus Mother Teresa. Communion doesn't require uniformity.
Catholic social teaching · subsidiarity · political diversity

[01:00:45] Advice for Catholics in the Pews
Tim: pray. Fr. Jim: listen without preparing your rebuttal. Be humble enough to be wrong.
Discipleship · dialogue · humility · prayer

Fr. James Martin, SJ is a Jesuit priest, editor-at-large of America Magazine, and author of Building a Bridge, Learning to Pray, and Work in Progress.

Timothy Busch is founder of the Napa Institute and co-founder of the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America.

In this introductory episode, host Jonathan Lewis lays out the heart and vision behind The Communion Project. This isn't a space for political debates or surface-level compromise. Instead, it is a podcast where Catholics actively practice communion in real time. We aren’t here to change your beliefs, but to deepen your conviction in a unity that is far greater than any difference.