A new podcast for Catholic audiences has launched this week, hosted by Theresa Alessandro, who is well known across the UK for her longstanding work in Catholic social justice organisations. All Kinds of Catholic features new conversation with a different Catholic guest released each Wednesday, and the dialogue focusses on how each person is living their faith in the world today – with all the hopes, joys and disappointments that any of us might experience.

Fresh from working at two different Catholic organisations and with her own lifelong experience of being a Catholic, Theresa felt called to develop this project in which she is joined by Catholic people who are often not in the public eye.

“I have talked to so many ‘ordinary’ Catholic people in my work and in my life, whose journeys in faith have resonated and given me such encouragement and affirmation – and sometimes challenge,” says Theresa.

“It has been hard work learning how to produce and distribute a podcast but it is a privilege to host the conversation with my guests. Each one is somehow beautiful, far from ‘ordinary’, and certainly spiritually nourishing.”

The All Kinds of Catholic podcast is especially timely during the current synodal process when we are asked to listen deeply to one another. In the first episode, Peter shares how his faith has been shaped by growing up in a Catholic family, serving the church from a young age, starting a new chapter in another country, and using his skills and experience to build community and to advocate for climate change: ‘You brought me here, so what do You want me to do?’ In the second episode, Maggie shares how she and her sister used to ‘race Jesus up the stairs’ to the third-floor flat they grew up in.

“Taken together, these stories illustrate the image Pope Francis uses in Evangelii Gaudium, of a ‘chaotic…genuine experience of fraternity, a caravan of solidarity, a sacred pilgrimage’ experienced by Catholic people ‘stepping into this floodtide’ of life,” says Theresa.

“Tune in, wherever you get your podcasts, and listen to Catholic people sharing their faith journey with you.”

Pod webpage https://kindsofcatholic.buzzsprout.com

e. Theresa@KindsofCatholic.co.uk

Social Media Fb and Twitter/X   @KindsofCatholic