Episodios

  • A Short History of MAGA Catholics: A Conversation with Matthew J. Cressler

    A Short History of MAGA Catholics: A Conversation with Matthew J. Cressler
    Dec 31 2025
    Welcome to Episode 13 of Season 4! In this episode I speak with Dr. Matthew J. Cressler. This episode is a distinct episode in the project, following that of Steven Tyra, which covers Christian nationalism in the reformed Protestant tradition, and Ruth Braunstein, who discussed Christian nationalism in US evangelicalism; today's episode is on Christian nationalism in Catholicism, particularly in the USA, as seen throughout the 20th century up until today. Matthew J. Cressler, Ph.D. is a rogue scholar, comics creator, and teacher whose work focuses on religion, race, and justice. He is also chief of staff for the Corporation for Public Interest Technology. He is the author of Authentically Black and Truly Catholic: The Rise of Black Catholicism in the Great Migrations and creator of Bad Catholics, Good Trouble, the educational webcomic series. He's written for America, The Atlantic, National Catholic Reporter, The Revealer, Slate, U.S. Catholic, and numerous academic journals, including Religion & American Culture for which he wrote "Real, Good, and Sincere Catholics." He also co-reported the Religion News Service series "Beyond the Most Segregated Hour," which won a Wilbur Award from the Religion Communicators Council. He has two forthcoming books currently under contract: Catholics and the Making of MAGA: How an Immigrant Church Became America's Law and Order Faith (Harper Collins, 2027), and the co-authored Body & Blood: Catholic Horror in America. Today's podcast is on Catholicism and Christian nationalism in the USA, although Matthew nuances whether this particular phrase is the best description of what is happening in some factions of the Catholic church. I also introduced the phrase integralism and asked whether this is a better descriptor of a particular form of Catholic Christian nationalism. Matthew again, as you will hear, demurred, as you will hear. Not because he rejected the language outright, but because he wanted to make a broader point about Catholics in general. What Cressler does is put this current MAGA Catholicism in the context of deeper American history and indeed a deeper international history, taking the French Revolution as an important starting point, though without question the whole reality of Christendom in late antiquity and the medieval period gives us a broad and general context. This is why Matthew was reticent to make a simple equivalency with Christian nationalism in evangelical USA or even with Catholic integralism because apart from its elite proponents, it reflects the Catholicism of a lot of ordinary Catholics. Matthew asked the question, why is our tradition a welcome home for right-wing and fascist movements in the past and today? How embedded is racism and intolerance embedded in what it means to be a "good catholic"? Matthew described Tom Homan, the man in charge of Trump's border policy, as the son and grandson of law enforcement officers, and a Catholic. He's such a good catholic, this is what he said in response to the US Catholic bishops denouncing of Trump's treatment of migrants: "The Catholic Church is wrong," Homan told reporters. "I'm a lifelong Catholic, but I'm saying it not only as a border czar, but I'm also saying this as a Catholic." Surely, he too feels he is a good Catholic. It's something to consider: in some cases Christian nationalists hear a message of nationalism from the pulpit, but in this case the Church has said, this is not in keeping with the Gospel, and it goes to the highest levels of the Church, directly from Francis and Leo and the bishops. But instead of the Gospel and teaching authority of the Church, one chooses the nation state and oneself. What does it mean to be a good catholic? I think sometimes you need to make good trouble, and perhaps just listening to the perennial message of the Gospel and following it is troubling today to the powers that be. Two last things: The Flannery O'Connor short story I referenced, poorly, is "A Temple of the Holy Spirit." If you have not read Flannery O'Connor before, it is worth doing, though she herself reflected some of the racism of Georgia in the mid-twentieth century, she is a terrific writer who offers spiritually powerful insights into the human condition. Good and bad. And the book that Matthew referenced on Catholicism in the southern USA is The South's Tolerable Aliens: Roman Catholics in Alabama and Georgia, 1945-1970, by Andrew S. Moore. This podcast emerges from the Centre for Christian Engagement at St Mark's College, the Catholic college at UBC, a centre that explores the Christian and Catholic intellectual tradition and seek to learn from others, other Christians, other religious traditions, and those who do not claim any particular or formal religious affiliation. What Matters Most is produced by the Centre for Christian Engagement at St Mark's College, the Catholic college at UBC. The CCE is a centre at St. Mark's College that explores the Christian and ...
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    1 h y 16 m
  • Pop Culture Matters: Christmas Movies (Part Two) with Martin Strong

    Pop Culture Matters: Christmas Movies (Part Two) with Martin Strong
    Dec 16 2025
    Welcome to the eighth episode of Pop Culture Matters, a conversation with my good friend and a great friend of the podcast, Martin Strong. We returned to a discussion of Christmas movies for this episode, but not our favorite Christmas movies, which we have already discussed; so please check out that first episode to hear about The Bishop's Wife, It's a Wonderful Life, Elf, A Christmas Story, and Alistair Sim playing Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. Instead, we are discussing movies that we have not seen before, even though they are considered Christmas classics. The list is smaller this time around, including Miracle on 34th Street (1947), Holiday Inn (1942), White Christmas (1954), and Meet Me in St. Louis (1944). Martin discussed the AFI Top Holiday Movies and the films we discussed today are quite high on that list, which I found at IMDB which had a top 20 list, with Holiday Inn ranked as number two, behind It's a Wonderful Life, White Christmas at number three, Miracle on 34th Street at number six, and Meet Me in St. Louis at number eight. So, we are discussing four of the top eight films on that list. But lists are meant to be debated and discussed, right? We also returned to the question of what we think makes for a good Christmas movie, and what ChatGPT thinks makes for a good Christmas movie. ChatGPT offers six characteristics of what makes for a good Christmas movie. Interestingly, last year we offered six characteristics: transformation of a character; warmth; earnestness; a level of comfort and peace; lovingkindness; and care for each other. Listen and see how closely what we determined made a good Christmas movie is mimicked by Chat GPT. And listen to our discussion of our four films, all older and highly rated, and think about the extent to which they capture the characteristics of a classic Christmas movie. As I said last year, get comfortable and cozy with your loved ones and settle in with a cup of hot cocoa and a Christmas cookie. If this podcast hits some of the right Christmas notes, you're going to change your selfish ways and be transformed by the warmth of Christmas. Or, given the films we're discussing, maybe you're going to put together a song and dance team, write a classic Christmas song, and buy a house in the suburbs. Merry Christmas from all of us at the Centre for Christian Engagement and St. Mark's College. Merry Christmas to Martin Strong for joining me in this venture! Merry Christmas to Kevin Eng for editing and engineering this episode and integrating all the wonderful music in the podcast. Merry Christmas to Fang Fang Chandra, the CCE assistant, who helps me bring this podcast to you, but also makes the CCE run so much more smoothly. Merry Christmas to Kenton McDonald-Lin for the interviews on the UBC campus that spiced up this Christmas episode. Merry Christmas to all of our donors to the Centre, whose generosity enables this work to take place at all: Peter Bull, Angus Reid, and Andy Szocs. We are thankful to their commitment to the life of the academic world and of the work of the Church in the world by funding the work of the CCE. I am also thankful to the Cullen family, Mark and Barbara, for their support of the ongoing work of the CCE through financial donations that allow us to bring speakers to the local and international arenas. If you are enjoying the podcast, please let your friends know and give the gift of What Matters Most by also rating and reviewing What Matters Most on your favourite podcasting platform. Thanks again for listening and remember Merry Christmas. Since St. Mark's Centre for Christian Engagement seeks to enable the creation of a culture of encounter and dialogue, let me invite you into that discussion. Follow us at our Instagram page, @stmarkscce, newly revived, and drop us a line as to what you want to see or hear. We'll post there with a question as to what you are most interested in. Or email us with your suggestions to jmartens@stmarkscollege.ca or cceconferences@stmarkscollege.ca. John W. Martens
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    1 h y 9 m
  • The Politics of Christian Nationalism: A Conversation with Ruth Braunstein

    The Politics of Christian Nationalism: A Conversation with Ruth Braunstein
    Dec 5 2025
    Welcome to Episode 11 of Season 4! In this episode I speak with Dr. Ruth Braunstein, a sociologist at Johns Hopkins University's SNF Agora Institute. A cultural sociologist interested in the role of religion and morality in American political life, Ruth's award-winning research has been published in the top peer-reviewed journals in her field, and has been covered in major news outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, and Time Magazine. She also writes frequently for public audiences, including at The Guardian, Religion News Service, and The Conversation, and in her weekly Substack Democracy Is Hard. Ruth is also the creator of the podcast series When the Wolves Came, which we will be discussing in this episode and which I recommend highly that you go and listen to after you finish this episode. Ruth's research, writing and teaching have been recognized by numerous awards and fellowships. She received the inaugural Distinguished Early Career Award from the American Sociological Association's Religion Section, and her former department's 2021 Faculty Mentor Award. She is currently President of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR), a Faculty Fellow at the Center for Cultural Sociology at Yale University, and Chair of the Board of Directors of PRRI. I relied on PRRI research in my introduction to the CCE Christian nationalism Project. She earned her doctoral degree in sociology from New York University and her undergraduate degree from Georgetown University. She is originally from Atlanta, GA. Today's podcast is on Christian nationalism in the USA and I found it bracing, a wakeup call. As a scholar of early Christianity, the earliest stages of Christianity, it still shocks me as to how we got from there to here. I'm not arguing that the people who adhere to Christian nationalism are not real Christians, or challenging their devotion, but I will read a passage that Ruth cited from Matthew 7, giving it a bit more context from the chapter in Matthew: 15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns or figs from thistles? 17 In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will know them by their fruits. Keep this in mind as you listen to the episode. Are Christian nationalists bearing the fruit of love of neighbour? Are they bearing the fruit of the Spirit that the Apostle Paul delineates? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? Who is? Ask yourself this question as, as I ask myself this question: am I bearing this fruit? For me, this was an important introduction to Christian nationalism. We could not have had a better or more nuanced guide than Ruth Braunstein. It was my honour to speak with her. This podcast emerges from the Centre for Christian Engagement at St Mark's College, the Catholic college at UBC, a centre that explores the Christian and Catholic intellectual tradition and seek to learn from others, other Christians, other religious traditions, and those who do not claim any particular or formal religious affiliation. What Matters Most is produced by the Centre for Christian Engagement at St Mark's College, the Catholic college at UBC. The CCE is a centre at St. Mark's College that explores the Christian and Catholic intellectual tradition and seek to learn from others, other Christians, members of other religious traditions, and from those who do not claim any particular or formal religious affiliation. Our goal, then, is to talk to a lot of people, to learn from them, to listen to them, and to find out what motivates them, what gives them hope, what gives them peace, and what allows them to go out into the world to love their neighbors. A few thanks are in order. To Martin Strong, to Kevin Eng, and to Fang Fang Chandra, the team who helps me bring this podcast to you, but also makes the CCE run so much more smoothly. I also want to thank our donors to the Centre, whose generosity enables this work to take place at all: Peter Bull, Angus Reid, and Andy Szocs. We are thankful to their commitment to the life of the academic world and of the work of the Church in the world by funding the work of the CCE. I am also thankful to the Cullen family, Mark and Barbara, for their support of the ongoing work of the CCE through financial donations that allow us to bring speakers to the local and international arenas. If you are enjoying the podcast, please let your friends know. It's the free gift that you can give to all of your friends! And also let people know by rating and reviewing What Matters Most on your favourite podcasting platform. And ...
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    1 h y 9 m
  • An Introduction to the Christian Nationalism Project at the CCE

    An Introduction to the Christian Nationalism Project at the CCE
    Nov 30 2025
    Welcome to the first What Matters Most podcast that is also offered in video form on YouTube. This episode introduces our Christian Nationalism project and our plans for the next few years in terms of podcasts, webinars, and lectures, culminating with an international and ecumenical conference in 2028. You will also find links here to the podcast episodes that have already started to examine Christian Nationalism. We hope to offer forthcoming episodes on our YouTube channel also. What Matters Most is a podcast focused on listening to people and what is on their minds, particularly dealing with the big questions of religion and spirituality. It emerges from the Centre for Christian Engagement, a Centre at St. Mark's College, the Catholic college at UBC, but our programming is intended for all interested parties, Catholic or not. In the What Matters Most podcast, we talk to people, some well-known, some not so well-known, some Catholic, some Christian, some not affiliated with any religion, some affiliated with other faiths (Muslims, Sikhs) to find out what matters to them. It is a podcast focused on spirituality and faith, but truly focused on listening to others, to learning from those connected to the Church and to those who are not. In this episode I begin to define what I mean by the term "Christian Nationalism"? For me, it reflects the desire by some Christians in Europe, the USA, and in Canada, and perhaps elsewhere, to have the roles of the state and Church connected in some fundamental way so that the desires of the state and the Church are formally acknowledged and pursued by each. One of the ways we can think about the relationship is a return to some form of Christendom or a type of theocracy. I take Christian nationalism as a particular, specific threat, separate from nationalism, which presents its own threats, and to my mind Christian nationalism needs to be defined on its own terms. A previous guest on the podcast, Bill Cavanaugh, sees nationalism itself as the threat and I cite from a recent article of his Nationalism as Idolatry: Why We Must Choose Between Elevating Religion or Country as an important consideration. Please do check out the podcast episode he was a guest on cited below. I also cite data from the Public Religion Research Institute, particularly "A Christian Nation? Understanding the Threat of Christian Nationalism to American Democracy and Culture," as important to understanding the nature of Christian Nationalism. This data comes from the USA, though, and there is little Canadian data to consult. One book worth consulting, though, is Lydia Bean's 2010 book The Politics of Evangelical Identity: Local Churches and Partisan Divides in the United States and Canada, in which she shows similarities in Canadian and American churches with respect to theology, but great differences in terms of their political identities. Our goal here is to understand the phenomenon and to understand how to stand against it, both from a political point of view and from a religious point of view. It does not offer the authentic face of Christianity, although it is definitely a face of Christianity that cannot be ignored or wished away. Part of our task too is to understand its attraction: what does it point to? What are the positives that people who desire Christian nationalism want? What does it offer them that they are missing? Why did it emerge now? Also, how does this impact people of other faiths? How is their place in a democracy understood by Christian nationalists? What do Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, indigenous peoples, and those with no particular faith, inclusive of all others, feel about Christian nationalism? So, where are we at right now in terms of our project? Right now, there are podcasts that introduce a variety of ideas and the history of Christian nationalism in North America on the podcast. Let me give you a list of episodes that touch on or discuss the topic in depth. The Rise of Christian Nationalism in the 1930s and Today in the USA: A Conversation with Charles Gallagher, S.J. on October 31, 2023 Listen here (Apple Podcasts) The Uses of Idolatry, or Many Old Gods: A Conversation with Bill Cavanaugh on October 22, 2024 on Christianity and nationalism, particularly the idolatry of nationalism. Listen here (Apple Podcasts) Reconsidering John Calvin: A Conversation with Ruben Rosario Rodriguez, January 16, 2025 examines Calvin's view of the proper relationship between church and state and the authority due each of them. Listen here (Apple Podcasts) Becoming a Catholic Peace Church: A Conversation with Gerald Schlabach January 30, 2025 In which Gerald reflects on the anabaptist understanding of the role of the church in the world and how the Catholic church can become a peace church. Listen here (Apple Podcasts) Reading the Bible in the Kingdom of Love: A Conversation with Tom Bolin June 25, 2025 In which Tom ...
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    19 m
  • Pop Culture Matters: The Great Speckled Bird and Gospel Music with Martin Strong

    Pop Culture Matters: The Great Speckled Bird and Gospel Music with Martin Strong
    Nov 25 2025
    Welcome to the seventh episode of Pop Culture Matters, The Great Speckled Bird and Gospel Music with Martin Strong, the ninth episode of season four. Martin is on fire in this episode, maybe due to the Louvin Brothers' plywood Satan burning in the background, and I lower the temperature with a complicated examination of Jeremiah 12:7-13, with a focus on verse 9, where it is possible your translation mentions a Great Speckled Bird or not. If not, I dig into the Hebrew and the Greek, the Septuagint, to explain why you might find a hyena instead of a Great Speckled Bird, or at least hawk, or birds of prey, which I will discuss below. Kevin Eng also offers his interpretation of the song the Great Speckled Bird, which he plays on the piano and sings in an old-timey Gospel manner, and which you will find interspersed throughout our discussion. Kevin recorded three verses of the song, but here is the link to the eight full verses of The Great Speckled Bird. 1.What a beautiful thought I am thinking Concerning a great speckled bird Remember her name is recorded On the pages of God's Holy Word. 2. All the other birds are flocking 'round her And she is despised by the squad But the great speckled bird in the Bible Is one with the great church of God. 3. All the other churches are against her They envy her glory and fame They hate her because she is chosen And has not denied Jesus' name. 4. Desiring to lower her standard They watch every move that she makes They long to find fault with her teachings But really they find no mistake. 5. She is spreading her wings for a journey She's going to leave by and by When the trumpet shall sound in the morning She'll rise and go up in the sky. 6. In the presence of all her despisers With a song never uttered before She will rise and be gone in a moment Till the great tribulation is o'er. 7. I am glad I have learned of her meekness I am proud that my name is on her book For I want to be one never fearing The face of my Savior to look. 8. When He cometh descending from heaven On the cloud that He writes in His Word I'll be joyfully carried to meet Him On the wings of that great speckled bird. (Lyrics: Guy Martin Smith) I want to offer some of the biblical background to this song, so get ready for a complex discussion: The two Hebrew words that are the source of the translation trouble are ʿayiṭ ṣābûaʿ(tzbua): is this a speckled bird or birds of prey or a hawk or a hyena (or a hyena's cave)? One thing I must mention is that the way the Great Speckled Bird is interpreted as the Church in this song is a common Christian way of adapting Jewish scriptures, but in the actual historical context of the prophet Jeremiah, who lived in the 600s BC, centuries before Jesus, the "heritage" that is destroyed refers to the kingdom of Judah. God has allowed all the wild animals to destroy Judah. My point here is that the song is based on particularly Christian readings that extract the passage from its historical Jewish context. Below are few recent English versions: Jeremiah 12:9: New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE - most current and academically sound translation) Is the hawk hungry for my heritage? Are the vultures all around her? Go, assemble all the wild animals; bring them to devour her. Jeremiah 12:9: New Revised Standard Version (NRSV – up until a couple of years ago, the most up to date translation until NRSVUE, which is based on this translation) Is the hyena greedy for my heritage at my command? Are the birds of prey all around her? Go, assemble all the wild animals; bring them to devour her. Jeremiah 12:9: King James Version (KJV – old-timey translation from 16th century) Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour. Jeremiah is originally written in Hebrew. So, the Hebrew is the basis for all the translations. Translators clearly have been confused by how to translate the " speckled bird," but this might go back to ancient times, especially the word being translated as "speckled," since it is a hapax legomenon, which means it only occurs once in the whole Bible, and the first translation of the Hebrew into Greek in the 3rd century BC (more on that in a bit) translates ʿayiṭ ṣābûaʿas hyena. That's how the hyena gets in there. The ancient Hebrew text (translating as literally as I can) is as follows: Is my heritage to me an ʿayiṭ ṣābûaʿ? Are the birds of prey circling round her? Go, assemble all the wild animals; bring them to devour her. The Septuagint (LXX) translates the phrase ʿayiṭ ṣābûaʿ as a hyena's cave: Surely my heritage is not a hyena's cave to me or a cave all around her? Go, assemble all the animals of the field, and let them come to eat her. Jack R. Lundbom, Jeremiah 1–20: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, vol. 21A, Anchor Yale...
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    1 h y 11 m
  • Who is a Martyr? A Conversation with Dr. Elizabeth A. Castelli

    Who is a Martyr? A Conversation with Dr. Elizabeth A. Castelli
    Nov 19 2025

    Welcome to Episode 8 of Season 4! In this episode I speak with Dr. Elizabeth A. Castelli. Elizabeth A. Castelli is Professor of Religion at Barnard College, Columbia University She is a specialist in biblical studies, late ancient Christianity, and feminist/gender studies in religion. As you will hear in this episode, she is particularly interested in the reception history and "afterlives" of biblical and early Christian texts, that is, how the how the Bible and early Christian sources are used in contemporary social, political, and cultural expressions and debates.

    I found this conversation really enlightening for framing conversations about martyrs and martyrdom in our present times. It was helpful to get this deep background about ancient Christian martyrdom and narratives about martyrdom. In terms of the content, I mentioned I would link to a few texts and websites. Here is a link for the four El Salvadoran Church women (Maryknoll Sisters Maura Clarke and Ita Ford, Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel, and lay missionary Jean Donovan) who died specifically for their Christian faith in 1980.

    Two places that identified Charlie Kirk as a martyr are linked here: The American Mind classified, Charlie Kirk as a martyr as did the Trinity Bible Chapel in Waterloo, Ontario.

    You can find the letter of Severus that used a memory of martyrdom to inspire violence and forced conversion of the Jews many hundreds of years ago at the link here.

    This podcast emerges from the Centre for Christian Engagement at St Mark's College, the Catholic college at UBC, a centre that explores the Christian and Catholic intellectual tradition and seek to learn from others, other Christians, other religious traditions, and those who do not claim any particular or formal religious affiliation.

    What Matters Most is produced by the Centre for Christian Engagement at St Mark's College, the Catholic college at UBC. The CCE is a centre at St. Mark's College that explores the Christian and Catholic intellectual tradition and seek to learn from others, other Christians, members of other religious traditions, and from those who do not claim any particular or formal religious affiliation. Our goal, then, is to talk to a lot of people, to learn from them, to listen to them, and to find out what motivates them, what gives them hope, what gives them peace, and what allows them to go out into the world to love their neighbors.

    A few thanks are in order. To Martin Strong, to Kevin Eng, and to Fang Fang Chandra, the team who helps me bring this podcast to you, but also makes the CCE run so much more smoothly.

    I also want to thank our donors to the Centre, whose generosity enables this work to take place at all: Peter Bull, Angus Reid, and Andy Szocs. We are thankful to their commitment to the life of the academic world and of the work of the Church in the world by funding the work of the CCE. I am also thankful to the Cullen family, Mark and Barbara, for their support of the ongoing work of the CCE through financial donations that allow us to bring speakers to the local and international arenas.

    If you are enjoying the podcast, please let your friends know. It's the free gift that you can give to all of your friends! And also let people know by rating and reviewing What Matters Most on your favourite podcasting platform. And subscribe to the podcast. If you are listening, please subscribe. It's free!

    Thanks again for listening and remember what matters most.

    John W. Martens

    Director, Centre for Christian Engagement
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    1 h y 11 m
  • "We are the Church Together Now:" A Conversation with Dr. Sarah K. Johnson

    "We are the Church Together Now:" A Conversation with Dr. Sarah K. Johnson
    Nov 5 2025

    Welcome to Episode 7 of Season 4! In this episode I speak with Dr. Sarah K. Johnson. The Rev. Canon Dr. Sarah Kathleen Johnson is Assistant Professor of Liturgy and Pastoral Theology at Saint Paul University in Ottawa and the author of Occasional Religious Practice: Valuing a Very Ordinary Religious Experience (Oxford University Press, 2025). Sarah is also an ordained Mennonite minister and has been made an honorary canon by the Anglican Church. Her research at the intersection of liturgical studies and sociology of religion explores Christian worship in a changing religious landscape. She holds a PhD from the University of Notre Dame and served as president of the Canadian Theological Society.

    Today's podcast is not specifically on the occasional religious practice that Sarah will be speaking about on November 12, 2025 for the CCE at St. Mark's College, but new research with which she has been engaged on young people and worship. With scholars at Samford University in the USA, and others, Sarah is exploring how and why young people worship at a variety of Christian faith traditions.

    This podcast emerges from the Centre for Christian Engagement at St Mark's College, the Catholic college at UBC, a centre that explores the Christian and Catholic intellectual tradition and seek to learn from others, other Christians, other religious traditions, and those who do not claim any particular or formal religious affiliation.

    What Matters Most is produced by the Centre for Christian Engagement at St Mark's College, the Catholic college at UBC. The CCE is a centre at St. Mark's College that explores the Christian and Catholic intellectual tradition and seek to learn from others, other Christians, members of other religious traditions, and from those who do not claim any particular or formal religious affiliation. Our goal, then, is to talk to a lot of people, to learn from them, to listen to them, and to find out what motivates them, what gives them hope, what gives them peace, and what allows them to go out into the world to love their neighbors.

    A few thanks are in order. To Martin Strong, to Kevin Eng, and to Fang Fang Chandra, the team who helps me bring this podcast to you, but also makes the CCE run so much more smoothly.

    I also want to thank our donors to the Centre, whose generosity enables this work to take place at all: Peter Bull, Angus Reid, and Andy Szocs. We are thankful to their commitment to the life of the academic world and of the work of the Church in the world by funding the work of the CCE. I am also thankful to the Cullen family, Mark and Barbara, for their support of the ongoing work of the CCE through financial donations that allow us to bring speakers to the local and international arenas.

    If you are enjoying the podcast, please let your friends know. It's the free gift that you can give to all of your friends! And also let people know by rating and reviewing What Matters Most on your favourite podcasting platform. And subscribe to the podcast. If you are listening, please subscribe. It's free!

    Thanks again for listening and remember what matters most.

    John W. Martens

    Director, Centre for Christian Engagement
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    55 m
  • Pop Culture Matters: Halloween, All Saints, All Souls, and Samhain

    Pop Culture Matters: Halloween, All Saints, All Souls, and Samhain
    Oct 27 2025
    Welcome to the sixth episode of Pop Culture Matters, the sixth epsiode of season four. In today's episode I discuss Halloween, All Saints Day, All Souls Day, and Samhain. (sow-in) information too. Growing up, I was clear what Halloween was: a night to get candy and dress up. Halloween is All Hallows Eve, hallows referring to Saints, that is, Halloween was the day before All Saints Day on Nov. 1, and two days prior to All Souls Day on Nov. 2. These links seem strangely tenuous now. Halloween stands on its own. But then I also heard later that Halloween emerged from or was adopted from Samhain (sow-in), an ancient pagan Celtic festival that was celebrated on November 1 in Ireland and Scotland and preceded the arrival of Christianity. These connections, touted both by modern Wiccans and pagans and bemoaned by fundamentalist Christians, have led some Christians not to celebrate Halloween due to pagan or satanic connections. Fang Fang tells me Christians in Indonesia are encouraged not to celebrate the festival. Since I am no expert on Halloween, but do see its ubiquity all around me, I wanted to understand how we got from a Church festival that focused on purgatory, to a modern celebration of wirches, goblins, spooky movies, and a lot of candy. I relied specifically on an excellent book from 2003 by Nicholas Rogers, a historian now retired from York University. The book is Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night (Oxford University Press, 2003), and one its best features is that history and practices from both Canada and the USA are discussed. I have to say that one thing that I did not get into, as I think it needs its own episode, is Dia De Los Muertas (Day of the Dead). This festival, which is celebrated in Mexico and parts of the USA, traditionally is celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31, are often included. Day of the Dead in some ways preserves more of the medieval traditions surrounding All Hallows Eve than Halloween does. Nicholas Rogers covers it in depth, but not only does it need its own episode, I think it could benefit from a conversation with someone who knows the lived experience of Dia De Los Muertas. Next year! This podcast emerges from the Centre for Christian Engagement at St Mark's College, the Catholic college at UBC, a centre that explores the Christian and Catholic intellectual tradition and seek to learn from others, other Christians, other religious traditions, and those who do not claim any particular or formal religious affiliation. Upcoming Events We will be having some new in person and virtual events starting in this coming Fall and I can now give you some details. Save the date of November 12, Sarah Johnson will be joining us from Ottawa to speak about her new book, Occasional Religious Practice: Valuing a Very Ordinary Religious Experience (Oxford University Press, 2025). You can come in person or virtually, so sign up at Eventbrite for Occasional Religious Practice and Grassroots Ecumenism, also featuring a panel discussion with Rev. Dr. Nick Meisl and Rev. Alisdair Smith. On February 20, 7 pm, Cathy Clifford from St. Paul's University in Ottawa will join us to speak about the synodal process at St. Mark's College. Her lecture is called, "Toward a Spirituality for a Synodal Church," but her lecture will be the end point of a number of lectures offered throughout the Lower Mainland: - November 20 - Dr. John Martens, The NT Foundations of Synodality (St. Matthew's, Surrey), 7 pm. - December 13 - Dr. Fiona Li, Mary as a Model for a Synodal Church (St. Peter's, New Westminster); Fr. Nick Meisl, The OT Origins of Synodality (St. Peter's, New Westminster), 2:30 pm - January - Dr Nick Olkovich - The Synodal Parish: A Sign of Hope for a Broken World (St. Paul's, Richmond) TBD and on March 17, Pavlo Smytsnyuk will speak on Christianity and nationalism, a part of the Christian Nationalist project until we get a new title. Pavlo Smytsnyuk specializes in political theology and religious nationalism in modern Orthodoxy and neo-Hinduism. In particular, he is interested in how the dichotomy between the religious and political manifests itself outside of the Western context. His research explores how non-Western, especially Orthodox, traditions deal creatively with the category of religion (as separated from the political), and how holistic theological-political narratives make space for violence. If you are enjoying the podcast, please let your friends know. It's the free gift that you can give to all of your friends! And also let people know by rating and reviewing What Matters Most on your favourite podcasting platform. And subscribe to the podcast. If you are listening, please subscribe. It's free! Thanks again for listening and remember pop culture matters. John W. Martens Intro music for this podcast from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/simon-folwar...
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