Bethlehem priest's plea inspires Christmas podcast episode

School of Joy

The All Kinds of Catholic podcast is now in its third year. It exists to lift up the voices of ordinary Catholic people and share how they are living their faith in the world today. A new episode is released every Wednesday, all year round - something listeners who feel isolated in their faith have said matters deeply to them.

Last week, pod producer and host Theresa Alessandro sat down with Fr Mamdouh Abu Sada, a priest in Bethlehem. In nearby Beit Sahour, Fr Mamdouh founded the School of Joy twenty-five years ago, and it has been supporting children with learning and emotional difficulties ever since. Fr Mamdouh was visiting London on a speaking tour organised with the charity Friends of the Holy Land who have helped fund the School of Joy since 2009.

During their conversation, Fr Mamdouh spoke of the continuing suffering of Christians in the region. "I don't want Christians here in Britain to forget about us," he said. Moved by this, Theresa and Fr Mamdouh agreed to make a special Christmas episode of the podcast, in which he will share what Christmas in Bethlehem looks like today, two thousand years after Jesus was born there.

"Regular and new podcast listeners can look forward to a fantastic episode at Christmas time this year," Theresa said. "Fr Mamdouh's ideas for the episode are creative and beautiful."

In the meantime, catch up with All Kinds of Catholic on all the usual podcast platforms, on YouTube, and on Alexa. You can keep up with all the news on the podcast's Substack: https://allkindsofcatholic.substack.com/

Find out more, or support the powerful work of the School of Joy, on the Friends of the Holy Land website: www.friendsoftheholyland.org.uk/school-of-joy

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.