Thomas More Centre Podcast

Dr Andrew Quinlan is an Australian liturgist who has been training seminarians in Ukraine for the past 13 years. He discusses the challenges faced by the Church in Ukraine, the communist-built intellectual prisons which persist in post-communist countries, sacramental confusion in the Latin (Western Catholic) Church, and the role of asceticism in the life of faith.

You can find a review of Barry's book at https://newsweekly.com.au/newsweekly/book-review-language-in-the-liturgy-past-present-future/

Dr Philippa Martyr is an historian, university lecturer and academic researcher. Her new book is "Witness: The Future Catholic Church in Australia" and she joins Mark to discuss issues such as vocational discernment and the single life, selling off the Catholic Education system, closing down or reimagining op shops, the amalgamation of dioceses, and the green shoots of Catholic life appearing in Australia.

Anna Krohn OAM is the Executive Director of the Thomas More Centre. Anna discusses her upbringing in a political and culturally engaged working class family, what differentiates her pro-woman mentality from feminism, and the work of the Thomas More Centre.

John Johnson is the cofounder and volunteer Executive Director of the Albertus Magnus Institute (a free online platform offering a truly liberal education) and host of the Magnus podcast. He is also the CEO of Patmos Hosting. He joins Mark to AMI, the benefits of liberal education, and his insights into the Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation.

Dale Ahlquist, is the President of the American Chesterton Society and co-founder of the Chesterton Academy in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He joins Mark to discuss Chesterton's interest in Shakespeare (and his Catholicism, in particular), the relationship of the family to the state, localism (formerly 'distributism'), his love of paradox, and the return to classical education.

Monica Doumit, the Director of Public Affairs and Engagement at the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and a regular contributor The Catholic Weekly. She joins Mark to discuss de-Christianization, fighting on in the culture war, and her favourite saint (perhaps after St Thomas More!), St Margaret Clitherow.

Professor Tracey Rowland is the St John Paul II Chair of Theology at the University of Notre Dame Australia, recipient of the 2020 Ratzinger Prize, and was the original Queensland organiser for the Thomas More Centre. Dr Rowland discusses her education under the Sisters of Mercy in Ipswich and Rockhampton, her time as Dean of the JPII Institute in Melbourne, and issues related to Catholic education in Australia today.

Alan Harrelson, an historian and pipe enthusiast, returns to the podcast to discuss the 2024 US Presidential election. He and Mark discuss the rural-urban divide, the history of the Democratic Party, and the prospect of Robert F. Kennedy Jr taking on Big Ag, 

Kevin Bailey is a former Special Air Service (SAS) soldier and honorary Consul-General to Timor Leste who now dedicates himself to Catholic philanthropy. He joins Mark to discuss his how his career in finance - for which he became well-known in Australian media - progressed into a mission to revive the Catholic faith in Australia.

Luke McCormack is the National President of the National Civic Council (NCC), a grassroots organisation guided in its actions by five principles: upholding the belief that the family, not the individual, is the fundamental unit of society; making decisions in the national interest; privileging economic and political decentralisation; protection human dignity; and recognising the importance of Christianity to the continuation of our civilization. He joins Mark to discuss what's needed for a fairer income tax system and more equitable childcare arrangements, as well as demographic decline and the need for affordable housing.

Monsignor Michael Nazir-Ali was ordained a Catholic priest in 2021, having once been on the shortlist for appointment as the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury. Born in Pakistan, Nazir-Ali embraced Christianity in his teenage years and rose to become bishop of Raiwind and then, Rochester. He joins Mark to discuss the situation of Christians in more neglected corners of the earth, the difference between true and false ecumenism, as well as the rise of Islam in the West.

Dr. Larry Chapp is a retired professor of theology.  He taught for twenty years at DeSales University near Allentown, Pennsylvania.  In 2013 he and his wife opened the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker Farm in Harveys Lake, Pennsylvania.  Dr. Chapp received his doctorate from Fordham University in 1994 with a specialization in the theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar.

Alex Dee, the creator of the children's radio drama 'Saints Alive,' speaks to Mark about his dream of being a Hollywood actor, the origins of the podcast, and what goes into making an episode of 'Saints Alive'