Jesuitical

Welcome to Jesuitical, a podcast for young Catholics hosted by two young, lay editors at America—Zac Davis and Ashley McKinless. Each episode features a guest who offers a unique perspective on faith, culture or current events. We also bring you some of the top (and maybe more obscure) Catholic news of the week. And we'll ask: Where do we find God in all this?

Religion & Spirituality
Christianity
News
251
Systemic Racism, Covid-19 and the U.S. health c...
If you are paying attention to the news these days, you have probably heard the term “systemic racism” used to describe the conditions in this country that made something as horrific as the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in broad...
47 min
252
Olga Segura on having frank conversations about...
In cities across the country, Americans are taking to the streets and plazas to express their outrage over the killing of yet another black man at the hands of a white police officer and to demand radical changes in how law enforcement is carried out...
37 min
253
Pete Holmes needed his life to fall apart to lo...
Pete Holmes played the game. He followed the rules. He went to church, attended a Christian college and saved himself for marriage. He was ready for God to hold up his end of the deal and deliver happiness and success.  Then his wife (the one he...
56 min
254
The impact of Covid-19 on immigrant workers
Bonus Quarantine Ep.9
29 min
255
What happens when your faith and health come in...
What do you do if God has commanded you to do something that could put your health and even life at risk? This is the who visit mikvah’s, small, public pools, which women immerse themselves in as part of the purity ritual after having their period....
46 min
256
Harry Potter, Soul Cycle and the Internet: say ...
You’ve heard of the “nones.” It seems like every week there is a new book, article or survey trying to explain the increasingly large segment of millennials and Gen-Zers who check “none” when asked about their religious affiliation. Tara...
54 min
257
What Pope Francis wants the world to look like ...
Bonus Quarantine Ep.8
29 min
258
The first Catholic high school for teens strugg...
For teens struggling with substance abuse and addiction, the typical pressures of high school can spill over into the realm of disastrous. Recovery high schools—with smaller class sizes, counseling and sober social activities—are designed to...
41 min
259
Living like monks in quarantine
Bonus Quarantine Ep.7
33 min
260
How will the Catholic Church change after the c...
A 25-minute conversation between President Trump and hundreds of bishops and other Catholic leaders sparked an intense debate about the right way for Catholic leaders to engage in politics. While the conference call got a lot of attention, it is just...
40 min
261
Father James Martin on praying in quarantine
Bonus Quarantine Ep.6
26 min
262
Meet the 30-year-old priest anointing coronavir...
Father Michael Trail had administered the anointing of the sick many times in his first three years as a priest in the Archdiocese of Chicago. Usually, he would sit at the bedside and hold the hand of a person nearing death while family and other...
42 min
263
What it’s like to be pregnant during Covid-19
Bonus Quarantine Ep.5
25 min
264
Lessons from West Africa’s Ebola response for C...
In late February, when the coronavirus still seemed like a far-off threat to many Americans, officials in West African nations began to prepare their public health response: They brought out thermometers, protective equipment and handwashing stations....
34 min
265
A Jesuit reflects on coronavirus quarantine in ...
Bonus Quarantine Ep.4
26 min
266
The Friar who won “The Great American Baking Sh...
Amateur chefs and wanna-be bakers have a lot more time to spend in the kitchen thanks to stay-at-home measures meant to slow the spread to the coronavirus. And this week’s guest has some great tips for upping your recipe game. Brother Andrew...
44 min
267
Walking with Mary Magdalene to the tomb on East...
Bonus Quarantine Ep.3
23 min
268
The coronavirus poem that went viral. Ep. 136
Laura Fanucci was up in the middle of the night with her 5-week-old newborn when the words came to her: “When this is all over....” She wrote the poem on her phone and when she posted it on Instagram the next morning it caught fire. Politicians,...
41 min
269
Picture this: What it’s like to walk with Jesus...
Bonus Quarantine Ep.2
34 min
270
How the Catholic Church adapted during the Blac...
It’s not really fair or responsible to draw comparisons between the Black Plague and our current coronavirus pandemic. Our situation pales in comparison to 50 million deaths, or roughly 50% of Europe’s population alone in the mid-14th century. But...
43 min
271
Bonus Episode: Jesuit leadership lessons during...
Bonus Quarantine Ep.1
28 min
272
One bishop’s response to the coronavirus. Ep. 134
No priest becomes a bishop imagining he will one day tell his people not to come to Mass. But across the United States and much of the world, bishops have had to make the heartrending decision to shutter their churches and cancel the public...
38 min
273
Catholic health care during the coronavirus pan...
Dr. Amy Compton-Phillips treated the United States’s first coronavirus patient. She is the chief clinical officer and executive vice president at Providence St. Joseph Health, a Catholic hospital located outside Seattle. We asked her about where we...
38 min
274
Is diet culture obscuring Lent? Ep. 132
With Lent in full-swing and warmer weather around the corner, many Catholics are probably thinking about food and their bodies more than normally. But what if the way that we’re approaching fasting and dieting is harmful—especially to our...
50 min
275
What’s it like to say Mass on death row? Ep.131
For the past 10 years, George Williams, S.J., has passed through metal doors plastered with the word “CONDEMNED” to minister to the men on death row at San Quentin State Prison, located on the north side of the San Francisco Bay. As the Jesuit...
30 min