Building Communion: How All Kinds of Catholic serves the Church

Gail, this week's guest on the All Kinds of Catholic podcast talks about her experience of uncertainty and anxiety among young people today: 'People desperately want there to be something good…I'd say young people are searching, and more of them are finding the Catholic Church.'

In Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo says, 'The task that stands before us is that of being builders of communion.' Podcast listeners report a sense of the weekly pod conversations 'bringing people together.'

Each episode is a conversation with an 'ordinary' Catholic person, or small group, about their life and their faith.

There are experiences that resonate, inspiring stories of service and transformation, and sometimes things that jar but that might lead us to look under the surface of our assumptions, to understand ourselves and each other better.

Pod guests bring a diversity of experiences. A number of recent guests came to faith later and try to explain what drew them to the Church, whereas Diego, speaking from Uruguay, grew up living next-door to a basilica and being impressed by the preaching he heard from childhood. While some of us struggle to speak about our faith, Jim described how he is going on a mission year and will be practising street evangelising. Andy and Gail have each found a comfortable way of using social media to share the Gospel. In contrast, Paul, an upcoming guest will explain how learning to understand and paint icons in the centuries-old tradition has deepened his faith.

A new All Kinds of Catholic podcast conversation is released every week, come rain or shine. As Catholics, we have found the 'something good' that Gail notices young people searching for and there are echoes of the goodness, truth and beauty of God in the voices of Catholic people across Britain and other parts of the world.

Tune in over the summer and let these conversations help you to feel connected, in communion, with the whole Church.

The All Kinds of Catholic podcast community is supported by the Sisters of the Holy Cross, and by CAFOD.

Find the All Kinds of Catholic podcast on all the pod platforms, or subscribe for free and listen here: https://allkindsofcatholic.substack.com/

About the podcast

The All Kinds of Catholic podcast is created and hosted by Theresa Alessandro, a director of All Kinds of Catholic CIC. In each episode, Theresa is in conversation with a different Catholic guest exploring how they live their faith in the world today. Guests will often be people who are not in the public eye. Taken together, their 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.

Theresa convenes the Catholic Podcaster Network which meets regularly online. Get in touch if you work in this area and want to be connected. She would be happy to chat further about this podcast and podcasting.

The podcast is kindly supported by the Sisters of the Holy Cross and by CAFOD.