#jimhanink

In this episode of The Open Door, panelists Jim Hanink, Valerie Niemeyer, and Christopher Zehnder discuss the multi-faceted issue of immigration. How can we better understand the new waves of immigrants, whether in the United States or Europe? What does the Church teach about the ethical issues that come into play? How can we assess the politics of immigration? What role should our parishes play and how might we best respond at a personal level? Our special and welcome guest is Fr. Piotr Mazurkiewicz. He is a professor of political science and Catholic social thought at Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw as well as Editor-in-Chief of the journal Christianity—World—Politics. From 2008-2012 he served as Secretary General of the Commission of Bishops of the European Community COMECE. Mazurkiewicz recently authored Two Towers and a Minaret: Migration from a Catholic Perspective (En Route Books, 2024). Among the questions we’ll ask are the following. 

 Fr. Piotr, could you tell us how you came to your work on the topic of migration?

How would you compare current migration to Europe with migration to the United States?

What is national sovereignty and what is its foundation? What are the limits of sovereignty?

Is there a right to emigrate? A right not to emigrate?

What happens to property rights in times of grave necessity? 

How do you understand multiculturalism? Is it an ideology?

On what basis can we evaluate the practices of a given culture?

Here in the United States we often speak of a “culture of death.” Might not the first concern of many cultures be the need for repentance?

Should Poland respond to migration from Africa and the Middle East in the same way that it is responding to refugees from Ukraine?

What might it mean with regard to immigration to be neither right nor left but simply Catholic? What might be some promising political approaches to migration?

This week on The Open Door (August 7th) we will explore the thought of Servant of God Romano Guardini, a widely influential theologian whom both Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis deeply admired. So did Flannery O’Connor! Guardini is often thought of as a unifying figure in the Church. Our welcome guest is Christine Myers Miller. She is a graduate of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies in Marriage and Family in Washington, DC, and is the Director of Adult Faith Formation, Marriage & Family Life at St. Bernard of Clairvaux Parish in Tulsa. Dr. Myers Miller researched Romano Guardini for her doctoral thesis, studying the topic of Christian responsibility for the world. She has published essays in the Catechetical Review, Humanum online review, and in the important theological journal Communio. Among the questions we’ll ask are the following. 

Could you tell us a bit about yourself? Have you always been an Okie?

What was it like to study at the John Paul II Institute? How does the Institute reflect the vision of St. John Paul II?

What are your responsibilities as Director of Adult Faith Formation and Marriage & Family Life at your parish?  

Could you introduce us to Romano Guardini? A time-line would help. And how did he survive World War II?

 In these “interesting times” there’s deep disagreement on just what it is to be a human being. What does this mean in terms of how we can best address ethical questions?

On your view, crisis can be an occasion of growth. How might this come about with regard to scandals in the Church?

Romano Guardini saw the apparent contradiction between faith and science as one of the main sources of crisis in his time, and it surely remains one for us. How might we effectively respond to it?

How might Guardini advise us to manage AI technology?

You have written that “faith needs culture to survive” and warned that “a faith without culture is a dying thing.” What would a Catholic culture look like today? 

In this episode of The Open Door, panelists Jim Hanink, Valerie Niemeyer, and Christopher Zehnder discuss Catholic social thought and economics. That means taking a long, hard look at capitalism in practice and the dominance of corporations. We’ll explore the nature of usury and what’s at issue in a fair wage. We’ll consider the State as a political community and the family as the cornerstone of social justice. We’ll talk about personal responsibility as the foundation of a just social order. Our welcome guests are Thomas Storck, the editor of Money, Markets, and Morals (En Route Books, 2024) and its Australian contributors Dr. Donald Boland and Dr. Garrick Small, as well as the American distributist thinkers John Médaille and David Cooney. Among the questions we’ll address to this panel are the following. Please feel free to suggest your own!

Is Catholic social teaching a dimension of moral theology?

How should we define capitalism? How can it become a threat to justice?

What is the origin of the modern corporation? Is there any way to challenge its power?

Can you compare and contrast for us, say, the Bank of America, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, a publicly owned bank or a credit union? What dangers does the former pose?

Just what is usury? Why is it wrong? Can you give examples of usurious practices

What is the distinction between a market wage and a fair wage? Where does a minimum wage guarantee fit in?

What is the basis of ownership? Do we own our bodies and our lives?

Should we think of the State as the political community of the highest degree?

Does the current economic order recognize the family as the first unit of a just society? What would a “family politics” look like?

In this episode of The Open Door (June 26),  panelists Jim Hanink, Christopher Zehnder, and Valerie Niemeyer discuss the role of spiritual direction. Just what is it? What is the ministry of the spiritual director? Our special and welcome guest is Msgr. Patrick Gaalaas. He is a priest of the Diocese of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma. Msgr. Gaalaas retired from parish work in 2022 at the age of 75. But “retirement” has led to “redirection.” He has worked as a spiritual director at Conception Seminary College in Missouri for the past two years. (Full disclosure: Monsignor has known Jim Hanink from the time they were fellow college seminarians at Assumption Seminary in San Antonio, Texas.) Msgr. Gaalaas spent his final four years in the seminary at the American College at the University of Louvain in Belgium. There he earned a bachelor’s degree in Sacred Theology and a master’s degree in Moral and Religious Sciences. Among the questions we’ll be asking are the following. 

You moved from parish work to a Benedictine Abbey. Is there a distinctive Benedictine spirituality?

Spiritual direction pairs a spiritual director with a person interested in direction. But how does the average Catholic, if there is such a creature, know whether to seek spiritual direction?

What’s the difference between spiritual direction and psychological counselling?

How does one go about finding a spiritual director? What might one expect if one Google searched “spiritual direction near me”?

How does one become a spiritual director? Who can become a spiritual director?

Is a personal calling from God requisite for being a spiritual director?

Do spiritual directors ordinarily have diocesan recognition?

What sort of direction do spiritual directors themselves have?

Might we say that the Holy Spirit is at the center of spiritual direction?

This week on The Open Door (June 12) we complete our series on education. Our focus is developing Catholic textbooks that give history its deepest perspective. Our welcome guest is Christopher Zehnder, M.A. He is the General Editor for the Catholic Textbook Project. A graduate of Thomas Aquinas College, he has worked as a graphic artist, journalist, school headmaster, and teacher of history, literature, theology, and mathematics. Mr. Zehnder has been affiliated with the Catholic Textbook Project since its founding in 2000. He has authored several of its textbooks, edited and contributed chapters to others, and made art selections for many of them. He is a novelist as well! A member of the American Solidarity Party, Christopher is on the town council of Hartford, Ohio. With his wife Katherine and their family, he has made his residence there since escaping Southern California. The following are among the questions we asked him: 

 How did you come to be an educator?

Why does it matter how we define education?

What led to your interest in history?

You write historical fiction. Is there any way to get beyond writing stories about history?

Can you sketch for us the history of education in the United States? What has led to the resurgence of interest in classical education?

How did the Catholic Textbook Project come about? What does it bring to the table in today’s educational milieu?

What do you make of “critical race theory”?

How can Catholic educators teach the truth about the uglier dimensions of history?

How can Catholic educators help form students into citizens who embody both charity and solidarity?

In this episode of The Open Door (May 29, 2024), panelists Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos-Reyes, and Valerie Niemeyer talk about the work of State Catholic Conference Directors. Our focus will be on the role that they can play in developing Catholic education. Our welcome guest is Tom Venzor. He has served as the Executive Director of the Nebraska Catholic Conference since 2016. Prior to this, he served as the Associate Director for Pro-Life & Family for the Nebraska Catholic Conference. Before joining the NCC, Tom worked as a legislative aide in the State Legislature, as well as in various capacities throughout several other legislative sessions. Tom earned his undergraduate degree in political science, philosophy, and religious studies from Doane College in Crete, his master’s degree in philosophy from Mount Saint Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Maryland, and his law degree from the University of Nebraska College of Law in Lincoln. Tom and his wife, Makayla, have four children at home: Monica, Claire, Anthony, and Julia. And they have a little one in heaven: Thérèse.

 Let’s start with an encouraging breakthrough and then move to context. The Nebraska Legislature recently passed school choice legislation! Could you tell us some of the particulars of this legislation? What led to this victory?

People of goodwill want public schools to be adequately funded in their service to students, especially the most vulnerable. Could you help us to understand how school choice does NOT undercut support for public school teachers and students?

What’s involved in serving as the Director of the Nebraska Catholic Conference? And what are some of your current projects? Are any of them related to education?

Catholicism has a rich tradition of promoting the liberal arts. Is there a way that the Nebraska Catholic Conference can contribute to that tradition?

How does the Catholic Conference work in conjunction with the bishops of Nebraska?

In what ways does the Conference seek the collaboration of the laity? Are they tuned in to your work?

What sort of press has the Conference had in past years?

How does the Conference forge bonds with particular legislators? And how does it engage with legislative opponents?

What organizational or advocacy mistakes have you made, and what have you learned from them?

In this episode of The Open Door, panelists Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos-Reyes, and Valerie Niemeyer continue our discussion of education. We’ll focus on preparing, and supporting, Catholic school teachers. Our welcome guest is Deacon Omar Gutiérrez, the President and Executive Director of the Evangelium Institute. An expert on Catholic Social Teaching, he has been published in many print and online periodicals, has authored several books on the subject, and has a podcast series on Discerning Hearts. Most importantly, Dcn. Gutiérrez is happily married to Miriam, and they are very blessed by their five children.

Could you tell us about your background and work in the area of Catholic Social Teaching? How did you come to teach and write about this topic that we here at the Open Door care so much about?

How did the Evangelium Institute come to be, and what are the services it provides?

Hillaire Belloc claims that "The faith is not taught. It is inhabited and breathed in." What's wrong about this claim? What's right?

Can you share some stories that illustrate the impact Evangelium Institute has been making?

What are the greatest challenges that Catholic school administrators and teachers face? What are some good ways to support them?

Religion is often seen as a matter of private feeling. But Catholicism has a rich intellectual tradition. Is this tradition at work in Catholic education as you have experienced it?

How do Catholic Social Teaching principles, such as solidarity, subsidiarity, economic democracy, and others, apply to the realm of education? Does the Evangelium Institute incorporate them into the formation you provide?

We’ve heard it said that the Church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum of Saints. We’ve all had occasion to be disappointed, if not scandalized, by poor leadership in the Church and in Catholic schools. Do you have any suggestions, based on your experiences, for how to respond or NOT respond to such situations?

How can folks support the good work the Evangelium Institute is doing in the realm of Catholic education?

Here at The Open Door, we are turning our attention to education for the next few episodes. This week (May 1) we will consider the growing trend of homeschooling. Our special guest is Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur. She is a lifelong Catholic who has been homeschooling her three children, two of whom are grown, for 17 years. In a welcome effort to provide both information and inspiration for homeschool families, she has managed, for over a decade, the Today's Catholic Homeschooling Website. From there folks can access her Homeschooling Resource Guide for free, along with a variety of helpful articles and book reviews. She herself has written a number of books, including The Crash Course Guide to Catholic Homeschooling. Patrice is a Member of the Catholic Writers' Guild and Catholic Library Association. She has a Master's Degree in Applied Theology and 20 years of experience working for the New Evangelization. Among the questions we’ll ask are the following. Please don’t hesitate to ask your own!

Perhaps we should begin by defining our terms. What is homeschooling? Simply doing school at home? What makes it "official"? 

We are pretty sure homeschooling is on the rise, but do you have any stats that might help us understand the reality by the numbers? 

What are the reasons people most often choose to homeschool, in your experience? 

What are some common misconceptions about homeschooling?

No doubt some criticisms of some homeschoolers are on the mark. Do any examples come to mind?

Some families feel called to homeschool throughout high school, often with the support of local or online educational services to one degree or another. As more and more kids have become homeschool graduates, are there any notable, established outcomes we are seeing that reflect the positive potential of this educational path?

We’ve all heard about teacher burnout. Is there homeschooling burnout? If so, what are the causes...and remedies?

Homeschooling parents come from many backgrounds. Are there some conversations across different backgrounds that you think might be productive but perhaps do not yet see?

Parents are the first educators of their children, and children are not the mere creatures of the State. Doesn’t it follow that the State’s role in education should be carefully limited?