The Cordial Catholic

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by author, speaker, and Catholic convert Shemaiah Gonzalez to share the remarkable story of her journey into the Catholic Church. From the profound beginnings of her life, through some wild ups and downs and everything in between, Shemaiah's story is a fantastic tale of following Jesus where he leads – through heartbreak and joy – with utter abandonment. And, when Shemaiah begins to grow close to a long-time friend of hers and realizes...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined after a four year long hiatus, by the one and only Father Gregory Pine, OP to talk about the Eucharist. We dig deeply on the sacrificial nature of the Mass, the Catholic understanding of the Eucharist, and how, truly, an understanding of the 2,000-year old tradition of Christ's Real Presence in the Eucharist, available at every Catholic Church in the world, is an absolute game changer. Plus, we talk about Eucharistic adoration, how the...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by my friend and Eyram Klu, a Black Protestant convert to Catholicism, who joins me to share his amazing conversion journey. Raised with some Catholic background, Eyram became a passionate Evangelical Christian, deeply involved in campus ministry as a young adult. It was an encounter with his future wife, a Catholic, on a secular dating app, that he was first found himself asking questions about Catholicism, digging deeper into the doc...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Father Sammie Maletta, author and long-time pastor of St. John the Evangelist Parish in St. John, Indiana to talk about making Catholics into intentional disciples of Christ. With decades of experience in pastoral ministry, Fr. Maletta brings a wealth of experience and knowledge on why some parishes and parishioners are filled with the Spirit while others are asleep at the wheel, what it takes to move a casual Catholic into disciple...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined once again by my friend and world renown researched and bibliophile Gary Michuta to talk about the Old Testament prophecies fulfilled by Christ. Geared towards defending our Catholic Christian faith, Gary's new work, diving deep into the prophecies fulfilled by Jesus, is meant to equip the reader (and listener) with some incredible knowledge about exactly what the Jewish people thought about Jesus, the plan for salvation that God had f...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Dr. Robert Collins to talk about his incredible journey from non-believing skeptic to an absolutely on-fire Catholic! From death bed conversions, miraculous answers to pray, incredible spiritual insights, and an absolutely Holy Spirit soaked life is the topic of discussion this week on the show as Dr. Robert Collins, a renown oncologist and avowed skeptical scientist, shares his miraculous journey to faith. After an incredible, mi...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by my friend Dr. Andrew Swafford to talk about C.S. Lewis' masterpiece The Great Divorce and how this Protestant book creates so many questions and so many conversions to Catholicism with its incredible picture of purgatory. We talk about the Catholic understanding of purgatory, participation with Christ, suffering, and how C.S. Lewis presents a vision of the afterlife that simply doesn't line up with Protestant theology – and leaves ma...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by author Traci Rhoades to talk about her remarkable faith journey into the Catholic Church. Traci is a brilliant and insightful writer who I first met as someone exploring the different roots of Christian traditions. When I heard that Traci had, in fact, become Catholic I knew I needed to have her on the show! Traci's story is a fantastic one – and she's a great storyteller. From trying to incorporate the ancient elements of Chr...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Catholic evangelist, missionary, and Bible teacher Meg Hunter-Kilmer to talk about two of the most widely spread misconceptions about Catholics: that Catholics don't read their Bibles and that Catholics don't have a personal relationship with Jesus. We dig into the places where Catholics hear Scripture, why the Catholic-Protestant misunderstanding about Scripture exists and what it means, and how to empower Catholics to read more Sc...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Paul McCusker, the Peabody Award-winning creator of Adventures in Odyssey and the Focus on the Family Radio Theatre to discuss his incredible conversion to Catholicism. McCusker's worked defined generations of Evangelical Christians and as someone steeped in the Protestant, sometimes anti-Catholic world, we find out, in this episode, what made him consider Catholicism: what drew him in, what drew him deeper, and the questions and re...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Father Matthew Hawkins, a former Agnostic and a convert to the Catholic faith from a long line of ministers in the American Methodist Episcopal Church. Father Matthew's story is an incredible one and he's a wonderful storytellers. From early touchstones and experiences of Catholicism to a deep and abiding love of Scripture to a phase of serious rebellion and turning away from the Church to his ultimate conversion to Catholicism and, decad...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined for an absolutely astounding conversation with Dr. Jennifer Bryson, a scholar, a military analyst and lecturer, a former Guantanamo Bay interrogator, and a Catholic convert to talk about the incredible life she's lived – and her amazing conversion to Catholicism! This episode is absolutely packed. Dr. Byrson begins talking a bit about the work she is currently doing translating the writing of Ida Gorres for Ignatius Press and then launches i...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Peter Carter from the Catholic Sacred Music Project and the author, with Cardinal Robert Sarah, of The Song of the Lamb, a wonderful new book from Ignatius Press which explores the idea of the sacred Mass and all its beauty. We talk about the idea of creating the sacred space appropriate for Mass, the evangelistic opportunities present in Mass, and how we can make the Mass mean more and grow deeper in our relationship to Christ through be...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by my friend Justin Hibbard. Justin is a former Baptist pastor, a convert to the Catholic faith, and the host of the Why Catholic Podcast and Instagram profile – and he's here this week to share his incredible conversion story with us! As a pastor and worship leader, Justin had decades of evangelical church experience under his belt when he began to question some of the foundations of the evangelical church structure: which Church was ...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by two of the best experts on the Canon of the Bible, my friends Matthew Mark McWhorter and Gary Michuta. Together, we'll dig into exactly why Protestant Bibles are smaller than Catholic Bibles – what happened to the missing books and the unfounded theories that led to them being removed. We look at modern evidence which proves that the Catholic canon of Scripture was what Jesus and the apostles were reading, that it contains more intact a...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by one of the most dynamic Catholic theologians alive today and Jewish convert to Catholicism Dr. Lawrence Feingold. Dr. Feingold joins us to answer the question, "What are Protestants missing by missing out on the Eucharist?" and his answer is nothing short of astounding. Using the Old and New Testaments, church history, the Early Church Fathers, and the Jewish context of Jesus's ministry to unpack and help us to understand exactly what...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by David L. Gray to talk about the Mass, the Liturgy, from his perspective as a Catholic convert – and how we can explain it to other converts, draw them in, and demonstrate the incredible truth and beauty of how and why Catholics worship through the Mass. This is a great conversation! With David as our guide, we dig deeply into what's happening in the liturgy of the Mass, the liturgies that are present in all non-Catholic Christian settings...

This week on the show I'm joined by my friend Nate Cline to talk about his amazing journey from Evangelical Christianity into the Catholic Church. Nate's story is one of a passionate Evangelical Christian, honestly and wholeheartedly seeking after Christ through a variety of churches, church plants, church splits, and serious soul searching to find Christ, ultimately, in the last place he ever thought he could: the Catholic Church. After all, the Catholic converts we know, Nate ...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by my friend and Early Church scholar Dr. Thomas Scheck to talk about his latest work, a translation of St. John Fisher's refutation of Martin Luther. The importance of this discussion can't be understated as we unpack one of those Catholic writers, theologians, and bishops who wrote against Martin Luther, and the Reformers, at the very time of the Reformation. Counter to what so many of us thought as Protestants, the Catholic response...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Bible scholar Dr. Stephen Boyce to tell the story of his conversion from Baptist to Anglican and, ultimately, into the Catholic Church. Stephen's story begins in independent Baptist churches, up through his PhD in a Baptist seminary, and through teaching and pastoring, researching the Early Church, and ultimately coming to the conclusion that his own denomination didn't look like Early Christianity. Driven by these realizations, Dr....

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Claire Noel, a convert to Catholicism, with an absolutely compelling story to tell. While almost impossible to summarize Claire's story is one that needs to be heard to be appreciated. From Christianity to a major deconstruction and years in the New Age movement. Claire's story is punctuated by twist after turn including encounters with dark forces as her and her husband tried to make their way out of the New Age movement. And...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by my new friend Deacon Patrick Lappert, MD a double-board certified Naval surgeon with what must be one of the wildest Catholic conversion stories you'll ever here. Seriously, buckle up for this one. Deacon Patrick's story is one of God relentlessly pursuing someone in love. Raised Jewish, Deacon Patrick spent most of his life as an atheist and through a series of increasingly unmistakable, unavoidable miracles, began to look into Chr...

No new episode this week but Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We'll be back next week with an amazing new conversion story! Send your feedback to cordialcatholic@gmail.com. Sign up for our newsletter for my reflections on episodes, behind-the-scenes content, and exclusive contests. To watch this and other episodes please visit (and subscribe to!) our YouTube channel. Please consider financially supporting this show! For more information visit the Patreon page. All patrons...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by my friend Jeff Lukich, author and revert to the Catholic faith, to talk about his miraculous Christmas Eve return to the Catholic Church, all of the factors and facets that led up to that experience, and how others can follow in his footsteps. Jeff's written a fantastic book – The Long Way Home – featuring not only his story but his research and experience in what it takes to bring others back to the Catholic Church – and he shares ...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Father Tony Stephens, a Rector of Our Lady of Champion Shrine, the site of the first and only approved Marian apparition in the United States, to talk about Mary's miraculous appearances, the miracles associated with her intercession, and how to charitably help our Protestant brothers and sisters understand the role of our Blessed Mother. With Father Tony's expert guidance and cordial approach, we walk through not only Mary's appear...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Aaron Gunsaulus, the anti-Catholic, Calvinist pastor who became Catholic – although with 17 of his friends from the church he pastored! This is an amazing story. Aaron is a good friend of another good friend of the show, former Protestant Pastor Keith Nester, and the way their stories are connected is incredible. Aaron tells that story and explains how being "fair" to the Catholic Church began to soften his outlook and, ultima...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Professor of Philosophy, Dr. Christopher Kaczor, to discuss his new work on the reasonableness of belief in God and some of the most popular challenges – and changes – with how we approach this fundamental topic. What can we make of the shifting landscape of belief? Catholic conversions are on the rise! How do we address the perennial problems of Evil? God's hiddenness? And, hey, where did all those atheists go?! Dr. Kaczor is wonde...

n this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Matthew Mark McWhorter, a high-powered, high-profile corporate lawyer who turned his skills in the courtroom towards the Bible and Christianity. After a life-changing experience made him consider Christianity, McWhorter set out to research the evidence for belief in Jesus. He encountered the Bible and quickly realized that not all Christians believed in the same canon of Scripture – so which one is right. In this episode, we dive deepl...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by husband and wife Catholic power couple Katie and Tommy McGrady to talk about their work on First Reconciliation, First Communion, and on raising authentic, enthusiastic Catholic families. We talk about the importance of approaching those first sacraments as a family, the joy and impetus of passing on the faith, and how to approach the Church as a Catholic convert with a young family, seeking to catechize well. This was such a ...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by author Mary O'Regan to talk about one of the most incredible, influential, and mind-boggling saints out there, our very favourite, Padre Pio. Mary begins with her own amazing story of Padre Pio, a near-death experience, and some life-changing visions – and from there, it gets even weirder! Mary is a wonderful storyteller and brings to the fore the life and works of Padre Pio including his incredible ability to help convert sou...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by one of the all-time great Early Church historians, Dr. James Papandrea to talk about what the Early Church really looked like. We tackle subjects like baptism, the Eucharist, the sources of authority, and the structure of the Church – from the beginning and through to today – and tackle the question of, if our current Evangelical churches don't look like the Early Church did then when, and why, did that change? It's all tough ...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic it's near-Death experiences, demon-possessed cars, miraculous lottery wins, and miracles that seem absolutely unbelievable as I'm joined by Dr. John Sottosanti, an atheist surgeon, to tell his outrageous conversion to Catholicism and a deeper faith in Christ. Raised nominally Catholic, John drifted away from the faith an into a successful dental practice but was hounded – haunted, even – by the Catholicism of his childhood. Confronted, again and ...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by my friend Devin Schadt founder of the Fathers of St. Joseph, to talk about the critical need for authentic Catholic men and what it means to practice your Catholic faith for husbands, fathers, and Catholic men everywhere. We talk about what it means to live an authentic Catholic life as a disciple, the role of humility (and pride!), and the real battle underway for the soul of each and every Catholic men – and why Satan hates Cathol...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by the elder statesman of American Catholicism the one and only George Weigel. Author of countless award-winning books, a regular columnist and commentator, and an all-around completely reasonable and decent Catholic guy, George joins us the week with a kind of State of the Union, a medical exam, if you will, of the Catholic Church with an eye to helping those new to the faith and those looking at Catholicism from the outside understand what...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Barbara Heil a former Charismatic, Evangelical Ministry, Missionary, and Evangelist who heard the call of God – encountered Christ in a profound way – and became Catholic! This is an incredible story, buckle up! Barbara spent 30 years in what she called cutting-edge Evangelical ministry, always seeking to live on the margins of where God was calling her, her husband, and their thriving ministry, until she began to encounter Christ in the ...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by my friend Dr. Michael Barber, Professor of Sacred Scripture and Theology at the Augustine Institute, to unpack the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick from the Old Testament, the New Testament, and throughout Church History. This week is an awesome Bible study with a lens towards how we can understand this important sacrament – and all the sacraments – with an eye towards evangelization. How do we share the deep biblical and hist...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by my friend Adom Postma and his brother Jason, a former Anglican priest, to talk about the incredible conversion – a journey made by three brothers into Catholicism. Raised in the Reformed tradition, these brothers loved their faith deeply and regularly spared with one another, as iron sharpens iron, on all kinds of topics in Evangelical Christianity. But when one brother began to look into the Early Church Fathers in order to win a d...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by the one and only Steve Kerekes to talk about the Brown Scapular. Steve, who's literally dedicated his life to the promotion of this Catholic devotion, joins us to unpack the origins of the scapular, dispel some of the common misunderstandings, and to share why he thinks that the Brown Scapular is the perfect companion to the rosary – the sword and the shield of our Catholic faith! Steve is such a dynamic guy and you're going to abso...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by the Dr. Shane Owens from the Franciscan University of Steubenville to talk about St. Augustine. Often claimed by non-Catholic Christians to support a low view of the papacy, the symbolic nature of Communion, and the doctrine of Sola Scriptura I ask Dr. Owens exactly what *did* St. Augustine believe about these ideas and how we can successfully win debates and discussions when a Protestant tries to claim that Augustine supports thes...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by our Marriage Therapist's favourite Marriage Therapist: Dr. Ray Guarendi! We talk about one of the most difficult things to do as a Catholic convert: convert without destroying your marriage. Dr. Guardeni, a seasoned clinical psychologist and devout Catholic, shares his insights into how the convert without destroying your family, while respecting your spouse, and how to create stability and harmony in an otherwise tumultuous situation...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Taylor from GemmaintheRough (on Instagram and TikTok) to talk about her journey as a charismatic, non-denominational Christian leading worship at her church to a full-blown conversion to Catholicism. Taylor's story is amazing as she asks incredible questions about how and why her non-denominational church worshipped the way they did – and how the Early Church worshipped differently! How could they have weekly "altar calls" without an alta...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by my friend Carla Lynch to unpack her outrageous journey from Charismatic, Evangelical Christianity into full communion with the Catholic Church. Carla's journey is one of a kind, beginning when her Evangelical Youth Group visited a well-known Catholic Church – the beauty, the stillness, and the devout worship of the Catholics she saw there coming up-ended her understanding of Catholicism and planted a seed that would slowly germinate...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Levi Sikes, the musical genius behind Former Ruins, to talk about his journey into Catholicism. What drew Levi out of his Evangelical Christian tradition, what drew him into Catholicism, and what continues to draw him in, evermore. And, as a musician, how Levi strives to bridge this gap, to explain and wrestle with his own paradigm shift, and to speak into a place of the deep faith and longing felt by others on journeys similar to his. I...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by former Protestant pastor Keith Nester and author and speaker Devin Schadt to discuss the process of Catholic conversion from two sides of the same story. In a first for this podcast we unfold the narrative of a Catholic conversion–Keith’s conversion, in this case–from two different perspectives; from the perspective of the Catholic loving and practising and sharing their faith, and from the side of the skeptical Protestant doing the exac...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Piece Benefield. A fierce defender of Calvinism, Pierce converted to the Catholic faith after a long and fascinating journey – including going head-to-head with Catholics in a group chat, fulling intending to convert them to Calvinism, but being challenged by their through and thoroughly biblical responses to many of his objections to Catholicism! This week, we talk about Pierce's evangelical upbringing, his shift to the serious and intel...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Mark Saunders, who has an incredible "reversion" story to tell. Raised in a devout Catholic household Mark explains why he initially left the Catholic Church – despite working as an altar server and even discerning the priesthood at one point! – and how his success as a musician led to a life of sin, depravity, and eventually found him seeking out Jesus once again – and finding him in an anti-Catholic, Evangelical church. ...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by ETWN's Dr. Matthew Bunson to talk about everything related to the Pope. We discuss Pope Leo XIV but also the history of the papacy, the biblical roots of the idea of the pope, how popes are elected and how that's changed over time, why the development of papacy authority is actually not what you think, and what we can make of the early papacy of the first American Pope. This plus a ton more on an amazing episode of The Cordial...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by early Church historian, scholar, and translator Dr. DP Curtin, to talk about what the documents left behind by the very earliest Christians tell us about the faith. Dr. Curtin, translator of hundreds and hundreds of documents from the Early Church, sits down to explain just how Catholic-sounding the first Christians were. What they believed about Communion – the Eucharist – baptism, the authority structure of the Church, and mu...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by the wonderful Dr. Carly York, a former Evangelical worship leader, a student of church music, a musician in her own right, and a Catholic convert. Dr. York's story – a journey from small-town baptist music ministry to studying Gregorian Chant at the Catholic University of America – is an incredible tale! Dr. York explains how following her passion and her gifts from God – studying and performing Church music – led her deeper and dee...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Deacon Frank – a deacon, author, columnist, and speaker – to unpack the biblical roots, proof, and evidence for the Perpetual Virginity of Mary. Using the Bible as the jumping off point, Deacon Frank is speaking directly to our non-Catholic Christian audience as he explains what makes Catholics believe – in tandem with the Early Christians – that Mary was not only a virgin before and after the birth of Jesus but was vowed, from the ...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Catholic Answers author, apologist, and columnist John Clark to talk about the stigmata – the incredible, miraculous wounds of Christ as experienced by some of the most profound saints down through history. And, the incredible evangelical power that the stigmata – and stigmatists – have today! We dig into the lives of great saints like Padre Pio, St. Francis of Assisi, and more and discuss not only the profound properties of their m...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Jannah Russell to share her remarkable Catholic conversion story. Raised in the Jehovah's Witness tradition, Jannah explains how her and her husband became disillusioned with the group, eventually leaving, and rediscovering faith on their own. Their journey, ever seeking the truth of Christ and His Church, led them into Evangelical Christianity where experiences around Communion, baptism, and the interpretation of Scripture se...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by the incredible Dr. Peter Kreeft, philosopher, theologian, and one of the most important modern converts to the Catholic faith to unpack his own conversion journey and discuss why it makes good logical, philosophical, biblical, and historical sense to become Catholic. We talk about his journey from Calvinism to Catholicism, the centrality and logical sense of the Eucharist, the Reformation, and much, much more. Including, of course, ...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by my two friends and former Evangelical seminarians (and, in Chris's case, a pastor) to discuss the importance of the Pope. Why is the Pope so important? In their trademark cordial and insightful style, Brandon and Chris help us to dig deeply into the biblical and historical roots of the papacy, the importance of the Pope as a tangible point of unity for Christianity, the reality of apostolic succession, and the witness of the E...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Father Donald Haggerty, priest at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York and the author of a number of fine books including The Hour of Testing: Spiritual Depth and Insight in a Time of Ecclesial Uncertainty. We're talking about taking the temperature of society and responding to crises both in the world and within our very own Catholic Church. It's a great episode. We talk about the need for abandonment to God, the importance of praye...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by one of my all-time liturgical heroes Chris Carstens to talk all things liturgy – and the centrality of Christ at Mass. What is the liturgy? What is it meant to do and how are we meant to do it? Why do we worship liturgically? And how can we do it better? Plus, we talk about the future of the liturgy (and how the liturgy used to be) and Chris brings all kinds of hope and good thoughts with him on this visit by unpacking what he's see...

In this special episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined, from Rome, by Fr. Haig Chahinian, a priest in the Armenian Catholic Church, and the CEO of Salt and Light Media, to talk about the importance of a pope, the papacy, and papal conclaves for the Eastern Catholic Churches. While Fr. Haig was originally scheduled to talk about Eastern Catholicism our plans were completely up-ended by the passing of the Holy Father and the calling of the conclave – so, a very special episode is bei...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by my friend Brian Jacobson, a former Protestant pastor and a convert to the Catholic faith, to unpack his incredible story and the reasons why he absolutely fell in love with the Catholic faith. From the initial realization – at an ecumenical Bible study – that him and his fellow Protestants couldn't agree on the "essentials" of the faith, Brian's journey into looking for the source and authority of Scriptural interpretation takes a n...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by my friend author, podcaster, and former Episcopalian priest Andrew Petiprin to talk unpack one of the biggest misconceptions about the Catholic Church: that Catholicism is simply another Christian denomination. With aplomb, charity, and with Scripture and the history books in hand, Andrew explains exactly what's wrong with thinking of Catholicism as just another denomination, why that matters, and why it's abundantly clear fro...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Hugh Owen, the founder and director of the Kolbe Center for the Study of Creation to talk about the Catholic perspective on the literal story of creation. Can Catholics believe in a literal reading of Genesis? Has the Catholic Church officially adopted the theory of evolution? What does the science actually say? And what is lost is the typical discussion between science, evolution, and creation? Hugh joins me to unpack these q...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by my friend Matthew Becklo, writer, editor, and Publishing Director for Bishop Barron's Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, to talk about the Catholic "both/and" paradigm that uniquely defines the Church that Christ founded. Neither "earthbound" or too "heavenly-minded," Becklo shows how, time and again, the Catholic Church walks the line between being too worldly and being too disengaged with the world. In how the Church worships, the ...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by the one and only Fr. Robert Spitzer, SJ, PhD in a conversation that aims to turn the conventional tropes about Faith vs. Science on its head and to talk about areas where faith fills in the gaps left by science. The host of EWTN's Father Spitzer's Universe, the author of over 18 books and many scholarly articles, and the President of the Magis Center of Faith and Reason and the Napa Institute Fr. Spitzer, has the credentials coming out of...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Sophia Nikolai, a self-described anti-Catholic who is here to share her absolutely incredible conversion story with us. With an anti-Catholic, Evangelical background, Sophia considered herself firmly grounded in her Christian faith until an encounter with a quotation from the Early Church Fathers and some pretty miraculous interventions began her on a journey completely and utterly out of her comfort zone. Listen to Sophia's a...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Jill Simons, author, speaker, and the driving force behind Many Parts Ministries, which helps Catholics discern their spiritual gifting and charisms. We're going to talk, this week, about how we figure out where we fit in the Catholic Church – especially for those who have just become Catholic, will become Catholic shortly, or are thinking about becoming Catholic. We talk about how to discern what you're good at, how the lay pe...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined once again by my good friend and fellow convert Keith Nester to unpack a controversial claim! Keith spent over 20 years in Protestant ministry before converting to Catholicism and joins me to talk about the idea that so many converts – myself included – experience in their conversion to Catholicism: that they become better Christians! Keith joins me to explain why his love for Scripture, his devotion to prayer, his experience of Christ, and ...

In this very special episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by my two friends Catholic Answers apologist Joe Heschmeyer and Gospel Simplicity host Austin Suggs for an extraordinary conversation about what it takes to convert to Catholicism. This is the most cordial, thoughtful conversation you'll ever hear! Austin, a Protestant Christian, has spent many years on his fantastic YouTube channel talking to the best and brightest in the Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant churches so I'm joine...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by author Dustin Shane, a convert to Catholicism from the Jehovah's Witnesses, to talk about his harrowing and incredible faith journey. From his experience growing up in a devout Jehovah's Witness family to his wandering years and his ultimate decision to leave the faith (and face being shunned by his family!) there's a whole lot to unpack in this journey that I'm sure you'll love. Above all, Dustin gives us a unique perspective we do...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Alex Dee from the Saints Alive podcast to talk about the incredible witness of the saints, the importance of passing on these amazing stories to our children, evangelization, and the amazing Lenten initiative that Saints Alive is about to embark on. Alex is an awesome, on-fire guy, and his insights into the stories of the saints, his own experiences in evangelization, and his heart for storytelling shines through in this episode. I ...

In this very special episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Kenny Burchard and Sam Nunnally, two former Evangelical, Charismatic pastors who converted to Catholicism to tell their stories, talk about their biggest misconceptions about Catholicism, and cordially explain how they set things straight. In this episode we'll talk about the misconceptions that Kenny and Sam held about Catholicism (and where they came from!), some of the struggles they faced as Evangelical pastors tryi...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Dr. Cheryl Hughes to talk about one of the most prolific "convert makers" in American Catholic history: Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Dr. Hughes, a biographer of Fulton Sheen, joins me to talk about what made his evangelism so effective, what we can learn from him today, and how God used Abp. Sheen who was in the right place at the right time. We talk about the role of Catholic apologetics when speaking to our non-Catholic Christia...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Avery Reukauf, a Catholic convert with one of the most incredible conversion stories you'll ever hear! From the untimely death of her mother following a radical decision to be baptized to her decision to join the military and her deployment to Iraq to her whirlwind marriage and the birth of her children to miracle upon miracle as Avery and her husband move from denomination to denomination in fervent pursuit of Christ – you'll be on the a...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by speaker, author, and accomplished Catholic Answers apologist Dr. Karlo Broussard to talk about praying to the saints. How do we know it's OK to pray to the saints? Why would the Church encourage it when it seems discouraged in the Bible? How do we know they can hear us? How is that even possible? This, and much more, as Karlo uses Scripture and evidence from the Early Church to explain why it isn't only OK to pray to the saints but act...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Dr. Matthew Wiseman for one of the most phenomenal conversion stories we've had on this podcast. Raised in a devoutly Southern Baptist home, Dr. Wiseman and his family, seeking a deeper understanding of the Bible, found themselves immersed in the Messianic Movement – also known as the "Hebrew Roots" movement – and seeking to put into practice the Old Testament Jewish laws as New Testament Christians. What transpires from here is nothing...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by my friend theologian, biblical scholar, and former Protestant pastor Dr. John Bergsma to talk about the deeply biblical roots of the Year of Jubilee. Pope Francis has declared 2025 a "Year of Jubilee" but what exactly does that mean? What are the "sacred portals" opening up across Rome? What kinds of special graces are available for Catholics? And where in the world does this idea even come from? With his deep knowledge of Scripture, ...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined once again by one of my favourite guests and yours, my good friend Rod Bennett. Rod is a Catholic convert with a unique way of looking at the faith and a penchant for asking some of the most penetrating questions about what connects as divides us as Protestants and Catholics. On this episode, we talk about the question of Christian unity and how can Protestants, ever, accomplish what Jesus prayed for in John 17? It's an utterly fascinating...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by celebrated Catholic author and convert (or, revert) to the Catholic faith Emily Stimpson Chapman to talk about all things Catholic. We dig into her own conversion story as someone who was raised Catholic during the "Father Ted in leotards" era of post-Vatican II Catholicism, her rediscovering Christianity in Protestant denominations while working in Washington, DC, and her eventual wrestling and return to the Catholic faith. We also d...

In this special episode from our archives, I'm joined by Dr. Michael Foley, renown author, professor of theology, and one of the best storytellers out there to explain some of the incredibly weird and terribly wonderful Christian roots of our favourite Christmas traditions. Dr. Foley unpacks the dating of Christmas, the roots of Santa Claus, the incredibly weird world of "Mutant Christmas Saints," and much, much more as we sit down for a glass of egg nog and stir up some Christmas cheer. ...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Nathan Smith, the Director of Ecumenism for Glenmary Home Missioners, a Catholic religious community, and as a consultant for the USCCB’s Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs and one of the authors behind The Gift of Being Christian Together, a new document seeking to build a bridge between Catholic and Evangelical communities. In this amazing conversation, Nathan shares the heart of ecumenism: how we can reach out...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by the inestimable Kenny Burchard. A convert to the Catholic faith, Kenny joins us to tell the remarkable story of his encounter with purgatory while preaching and studying the Bible. It was in his preparation work for a sermon series that Kenny first encountered the idea of purgatory – and it changed his life! Listen and learn, in this episode, about the deep biblical roots of purgatory in the Bible. Kenny takes us through verses, through ...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Wendy and Zoe, from the Instagram page Catechumemes, to talk about their absolutely remarkable conversions to Catholicism – as two best friends on a wild theological and spiritual journey! Wendy and Zoe are truly amazing. As two Christians taking their faith seriously they dug deep into every theological topic imaginable, sharing late night conversations and days long debates on everything from baptism to communion to the nature of the C...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Catholic convert, or revert from non-denominational Evangelical Christianity, Austin Habbish. Austin is the founder of Think Catholic, the host of the podcast Summa in a Year, and the heart and mind behind Sent Evangelization. In this episode Austin shares some of his experiences, as a Catholic, evangelizing door-to-door in his parish neighbourhoods. We talk about the obligation as baptized believers to evangelize, the importance of tak...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by one of my all-time favourite guests Steve Weidenkopf. Steve is a lecturer, author, renown speaker, and an absolute expert on the subject of Church history and he brings his knowledge to bear on today's fascinating topic: the greatest myths of the Reformation. We tackle the underlying philosophy of the Reformation – what is a reformation or a revolution? – and what was the original intentions of the Reformers? We also dig into what led u...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Evangelical convert to Catholicism Brandon Forschino to talk about his journey into the Catholic faith. Brandon was a zealous evangelist for Christ who went to Evangelical seminary to deepen his understanding of the faith, evangelism, and apologetics and after encountering crippling divisions in the faith he began to investigate other Christian denominations – and discovered Catholicism! It was in his unpacking of the things he thought ...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by the wonderful Sam Nunnally. Sam spent two decades as a charismatic, evangelical pastor before leaving to pursue the truth of Catholicism – a journey which took him many more years to confront, understand, and finally embrace... and it's all on his story, this week on the show! Sam's story is a phenomenal one – clocking in at one of the longest – including a serious examination of Sola Scriptura in an approach and context which we've ne...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by the extraordinary Justine Callis from The Theology of Conversion. She shares her journey from a staffer at a non-denominational, Evangelical Mega Church to a Catholic convert – and what drew her in. Her story – of learning about the Eucharist, the magisterium, the Early Church and more – is the story of so many converts but the incredible MIRACLES that accompanied her along the way make for some AMAZING stories. Including one about Dr. ...

In this not-to-be-missed episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Catholic Answers contributor, speaker, and apologist Joel S. Peters to talk about arguments for Sola Scriptura – "Bible alone" Christianity – and reasons why he thinks non-Catholic Christians should reconsider this theological position. For me, as host of this show, this topic gets to the core of what drove me to a deeper investigation of Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy: the question of the interpretation of Scripture...

In this not-to-be-missed episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Russ Breault, a long-time researcher, writer, speaker, and evangelist who has made it his life's mission to share the incredible miracle that is the Shroud of Turin with audiences across the globe. Russ brings an absolute wealth of knowledge about this intriguing biblical artefact to explain why it is absolutely a miracle – a tool for evangelization – for the 21st century. Russ talks about the scientific data, the attem...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by the incredible Brayden Cook, the host of The Catechumen YouTube channel, to talk about his conversion to Catholicism as an intern Baptist minister. Brayden's story – which is my own story in so many aspects – begins by encountering the Early Church Fathers and realizing that they didn't look like his local Baptist and non-denominational churches. This realization spurred Brayden to look deeper in Catholicism and to begin to unwind some ...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Paul Zucarelli. A Catholic author, speaker, and evangelist to talk about the Church. Did Jesus found the Catholic Church – or many, different churches? What was Christ's plan from the beginning, and how do we know? What evidence do we have from Scripture? The Early Church? And from history... With charity and clarity Paul walks us through these questions to answer what he argues is one of the most fundamental questions of Christi...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by my new best friend Nic Davidson to talk about how he, and his whole family, converted to Catholicism. Nic's got an amazing story to tell. As a missionary following the call of Christ Nic has some amazing adventures to recount, how God was with him and his family every step of the way, and how listening and following that call he had become to accustomed to led him to pursue Christ right into the Catholic Church. Nic discusses the impo...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by the renown expert on the Bible, apologist Gary Michuta. With bucketloads of insight, wisdom, and decades of research and experience Gary explains exactly how the Bible came out of the Catholic Church and why understanding the origins of the Bible is so important when talking to our non-Catholic Christian friends – who love their Bibles! Gary explains the process used to discern which books of the Bible belonged in the Canon, how this beg...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by the indefectible Dr. Larry Chapp to talk about the heart of what draws Catholic converts into the Catholic Church – the truth, beauty, and goodness – and what sucks when those things don't seem to exist in the way they ought to in day-to-day, on-the-ground Catholicism. With Dr. Chapp's trademark clear-eyed perspective, we talk about divisions in the Church, what happens when the truth of Catholicism is tested against fringe ideas on the...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Catholic convert Nate Ebel to explain how he became Catholic – by accident! Nate walks us through his faith journey. A journey not unlike my own conversion – it was in dispelling the misinformation he had about Catholicism, about looking into Catholic sources to discover how seamlessly the Church's theology and practice fit together, and about being attracted to the beautiful and ancient contemplative prayer practices of Catholic mystici...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Noah Bradon, the Director of Marketing at the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame and the founder of Cross the Tiber, to talk about his conversion journey, his experience in evangelization, and what the work from his Master's Degree in Theology and Communication says about how we can be Catholic, online, in today's virtual landscape. It's a fascinating conversation about evangelizing online without losing o...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by David Douglas, President of the St. Therese Institute of Faith and Mission, to tell us his long, winding, and incredibly compelling faith journey. It begins, for David, in a socialist commune, the son of a prominent bluegrass musician, David's parents had a radical conversion to Evangelical Christianity through the Jesus People movement in the 1980's which would forever shape the trajectory of David's faith life – and this would only be...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by JuliaMarie Woolbright, an atheist convert to Catholicism to tell, first of all, her story of conversion to the Catholic faith, but then the story of her ongoing conversion through the experience of her daughter, Anastasia. Diagnosed in utero with Anencephaly – a fatal type of neural tubal defect where a baby is born without parts of their skull or brain – JuliaMarie shares deeply from her experience of Anastasia's life, from the time of...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Cameron Riecker, a Catholic apologist, speaker, and YouTuber to share his thoughts on a variety of topics including discernment, evangelizing our Protestant brothers and sisters, common Evangelical misunderstandings of Catholicism, Mary's role in the Church, and much more. It's a great conversation and Cameron is a phenomenal apologist and a wonderful guy! For more from Cameron check out his YouTube channel and make sure to subscribe w...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Nathan Lancaster, a campus missionary completely sold out for Jesus Christ and His Church – with a fantastic passion for his faith and a great story to tell! First, Nathan talks about his incredible story of deeper conversion to Christ through campus ministry. Then, Nathan and I dive into what's going on on college and university campuses around North America, what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, what it's like to do missionary work...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by the incredible Ken Kopelson to tell what I think is one of the most unique and amazing conversion stories I've ever heard. Raised in a conservative Jewish home, Ken began asking questions about Christianity when a family member converted and began to share about Christ. Those discussions sparked a radical conversion to Christ and 45 years of serving as God's "errand boy" across all manner of ministries, crisscrossing the world, to go whe...