The Big Tent

Pilgrim, disciple or none? Joe Wehbe and Grace Brennan bring their take on modern leadership and synodality as they make sense of what an evolving church means for them. They explore with Geraldine Doogue and Julie Thorpe the balance between belonging and searching, the role of schools and parishes and what kind of new structures – and stories – might give shape to a future synodal church. Joe, Grace, Julie and Geraldine recommend: Catholic theologian and philosopher Tomáš Halík argues that the difference between belief and non-belief is not as great as you’d think in The Irish Times Rowan Williams, The Skills of Survival , in The Tablet If you'd like to make Geraldine's dream come true, or you have even bigger dreams, please email us at catalyst-for-renewal@outlook.com. You can also find us on Facebook .

What can Australia offer a global church that is learning to walk together? Geraldine Doogue and Julie Thorpe are joined by Anne Benjamin and Charles Burford, Catholic educators and co-authors of a new book, Leadership After the Synod, to discuss what kind of leaders we need on the ground to be able to develop that synodal vision. Synodality is a culture, Anne and Charles argue, and cultures don't form without leaders willing to shape them. So how might the Catholic Church in Australia take shape – across hospitals, schools, parishes, dioceses and beyond – if leaders asked themselves: what would we look like at our best? Links mentioned: Anne Benjamin and Charles Burford, Leadership after the Synod , Garratt Publishing Pope Leo's address to UNESCO Rowan Williams, The Skills of Survival , in The Tablet Tomas Halík, What Europe can offer the global Church , in The Tablet Cardinal Mario Grech's events in Melbourne on 4th November and Sydney on 5th November organised by University of Notre Dame Australia's Global Centre for Catholic Leaders Kim Daniels' public lecture on AI, Pope Leo and The Future of Human Dignity in the Diocese of Parramatta Thanks for joining us in The Big Tent! Find us on Facebook for more episode updates and news.

At Sevenhill in South Australia’s Clare Valley, Julie Thorpe joins Jesuit priest Fr Brendan Kelly to uncover a remarkable journey from revolutionary Europe to the Australian frontier. Marking 175 years since the mission began, they explore the spirituality of its Austrian founders, their encounters with the Ngadjuri people, and the creative adaptation captured in Fr Alois Kranewitter’s enduring words: patience, courage and hope. Recommendations: Sevenhill Cellars Heritage Trail Rowan Williams, The Skills of Survival , in The Tablet Thanks for joining The Big Tent in Sevenhill! Find more on our Facebook page .

As the institutions that once held the world order together falter, can a transatlantic pope bridge the gulf between competing global visions? Historian Massimo Faggioli speaks with Geraldine Doogue about whether the Vatican is 'the last international' that can offer an alternative voice on democracy, technology and human dignity. But how much can the leader of a global church realistically carry without becoming, as Massimo warns, a spent force? Massimo Faggioli is professor of historical theology at Villanova University. His latest book, Leo XIV and the Global Church: Unity and Peace , is published by Liturgical Press. You can also keep up with his writings on Commonweal and Global Catholic . More recommendations: Tomas Halík, ‘ What Europe can offer the global Church ’ in The Tablet E.J. Dionne Jr, ' The U.S.-Born Pope Is Changing U.S. Catholicism ' in Commonweal Colleen Dulle, ' Vatican Notebook: The convening power of the church ' in America Magazine Let us know your thoughts! Send a message on The Big Tent Facebook page.

What happens when a woman’s vocation collides with centuries of Church tradition? Geraldine Doogue and Julie Thorpe speak with award-winning Belgian filmmaker Marie Mandy about The Forbidden Call: Women Priests, her documentary following women who have defied the Vatican’s ban on ordination, and those still pressing for change from within. With Pope Francis and now Pope Leo appointing more women to senior Vatican positions, and leading cardinals imagining the possibility of women priests, how might women's visibility at the altar reshape the Catholic Church's future? Thanks to Marie Mandy for permission to use audio from her film, The Forbidden Call: Women Priests, which won the Leslie J. Sacks Grand Prize at the 2026 Women's Voices Now Film Festival . More on women deacons: This year's Feast of St Phoebe Webinar , presented by Australian Catholics Exploring the Diaconate Tablet article on the Irish Synodal Pathway's National Assembly, ' Catholic Church in Ireland urged to advocate for women deacons ' We'd love to hear from you! Get in touch via The Big Tent Facebook page.

For decades, The Australian’s foreign editor Greg Sheridan has written about politics and faith as a veteran observer of the United States and author of three books on Christianity. He joins Geraldine Doogue to discuss the crisis of meaning among young men in particular and warns that Christianity in the US is increasingly being pulled into ideological contests in ways that distort its central message. Drawing on the insights of Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl, cited in Pope Leo’s encyclical, Sheridan argues that societies stripped of meaning become vulnerable to fear and extremism, on all sides. So how can churches provide a credible alternative to nihilism? Books mentioned: How Christians Can Succeed Today: Reclaiming the Genius of the Early Church by Greg Sheridan Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl Gilead by Marilynne Robinson The Benedict Option by Rod Dreher Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010 by Charles Murray Further recommendations: Pope Leo's address to writers at the Vatican Australian Catholic Bishops Conference Social Justice Statement, August 2026, ' Living the Gospel in Times of Social Division ' Share your thoughts in The Big Tent via our Facebook page .

While the world looks to Pope Leo for moral authority, he's looking to the cardinals for moral support. Br Mark O'Connor has been in Rome as the cardinals met against a backdrop of escalating conflicts and Leo's interventions on the limits of war. He tells Julie Thorpe that Leo's message to the cardinals sets a clear direction for a synodal church in continuity with Francis' papacy. Leo's first encyclical and his recent visit to Spain – where his appeal to Europe's complex past and focus on migrants came to the fore – reveal a pope finding his voice amid pressure from both the geopolitical stage and the church's internal critics. Recommendations: Mark O'Connor's first and second 'soundings from Rome' in Catholic Outlook Pope Leo's address to Spanish leaders Massimo Faggioli, A ‘Leonine’ Version of Synodality? in Commonweal Harvard historian Jill Lepore's piece on the pope's encyclical in The New Yorker Our 5-part mini-series on changing belief Thanks for listening to The Big Tent! Get in touch via our Facebook page.

In this final conversation in our mini-series on changing belief, Geraldine Doogue, Julie Thorpe, Grace Brennan and Joe Wehbe draw together some of the questions they've been left with: the evolving role of tradition, setting aside old habits and picking up new ones, the place of friendship, the language of search, and ultimately where belief goes from here. Mentioned in this episode: Iain McGilchrist, The madness of the West , The Tablet Lamorna Ash, How I became a poster girl for Christianity , The Observer Geraldine's interview with Canadian theologian Catherine Clifford at the synod in Rome Thanks also to the Diocese of Parramatta and Newman College for supporting the conversation in The Big Tent. Follow us for further updates and recommendations on our Facebook page.

Joe Wehbe sits down with his brother Mitchell to reflect on their family's Maronite background, their changing relationships to church, and finding meaning in anime. The journey of belief – from an Uber Eats God to a pirate healer – has led both brothers on a different but often surprising story arc between faith and fiction. Joe and Mitch's TV show recommendations: ONE PIECE The Light in Your Eyes Attack on Titan Lost Harry Potter You can get in touch via our Facebook page.

What does it mean to wrestle with belief while living remotely in rural Australia? In this episode of our mini-series on changing belief, Grace Brennan speaks with Maddie Burnheim – raising her family on a property in western New South Wales – about her relationship with Catholicism, sitting out her doubts, the rituals of a bush christening, and the times when faith turns up and steers you home. 'There are things still that don't sit right with me,' Maddie tells Grace, 'but I now use my faith as a tool to get back on track.' If you'd like to send a message, or share your thoughts about this miniseries, get in touch via Facebook .

In episode two of our miniseries on changing belief, Geraldine Doogue and Julie Thorpe explore why so many young men are drawn to online communities that promise seemingly a secure hold amid so much sliding from their grasp: education, jobs, relationships. With demographer Simon Kuestenmacher, they look at the pull of the manosphere, the hunger for belonging and whether older wisdom traditions can still offer a meaning – beyond the clicks. Mentioned in this episode: Adrian Rosenfeldt's Eureka Street article, Dostoevsky’s underground man and the rise of the manosphere Why More Americans Are Seeking Religion on The Daily podcast Rutger Bregman's How to start a moral revolution , The 2025 BBC Reith Lectures also available on ABC RN Big Ideas We'd welcome your feedback on this miniseries. Please get in touch via our Facebook page.

‘Humanity has never had so many people living beyond the working stage of life as now,' says demographer and social commentator Bernard Salt, 'and we have to work out how to fund it, how to manage it, how to house it, how to care for it and how to deliver a meaning.' Bernard joins Geraldine and Julie first up in this mini-series on changing belief to explore what's disappeared and what might endure in ageing Australia. Recommendations: Lamorna Ash, Don't Forget We're Here Forever: A New Generation's Search for Religion , and her interview in The Tablet Laurence Freeman, ‘An education of the heart’ in The Tablet We'd love to hear from you! Get in touch via Facebook .

‘Peace be with you all!’ Pope Leo’s first words to the world have resounded across continents — for all to hear. Fresh off the papal plane from Africa, CNN's Christopher Lamb speaks with Geraldine Doogue about what it means for the Church, and for the wider world, to have an American pope. A year into his papacy, what’s Leo like, up close? What kind of moral and diplomatic voice is he becoming on the world stage? And what happens when the pope’s words are read through the prism of politics? And a question for listeners: what would you like to hear more of in future episodes? Get in touch via our Facebook page or send a review via your podcast feed. Mentioned in this episode: Christopher Lamb's new book, American Hope: What Pope Leo XIV Means for the Church and the World Peter Wehner's article in The Atlantic, The American Pope vs. the American President Massimo Faggioli's Commonweal article, 'Cool' Catholicism?

When Archbishop Ryan Jimenez met Pope Leo at the Vatican last year, ahead of his ordination as Agaña’s archbishop in the US territory of Guam, he brought a message from the Pacific: ‘Holy Father, we’re sinking.’ During his recent visit to Australia he spoke with Geraldine Doogue about how church leaders can model genuine participation while also managing the impact of climate emergency and global conflict on local communities. And what lessons does Leo’s leadership of the Catholic Church hold for the Pacific? Archbishop Jimenez was in Australia for the Hélder Camara Lecture at Newman College, Melbourne, and as part of the Bishop Vincent Presents series in the Diocese of Parramatta. Links: Archbishop Ryan’s public lecture in Parramatta Pope Leo’s address to leaders in Angola , and in Equatorial Guinea Geraldine's interview with Archbishop Ryan at the synod in Rome Julie's book on the Helder Camara Lectures, Reasons for Hope: Helder Camara, Global Catholicism and the Australian Church We'd love your thoughts! Find us on Facebook , or send us a review via your podcast feed.

One year on from the death of Pope Francis, fellow Jesuit Frank Brennan joins Geraldine Doogue to reflect on a papacy that opened doors without dismantling tradition. From issues of conscience to authority, women’s leadership, global Catholicism beyond Europe, and amid escalating war, what might Francis’s disruptive vision continue to ask of the Church today? Further reading: Francis J. Moloney, ‘The “Jews” in the Fourth Gospel’, The Gospel of John , Sacra Pagina Series (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1998), and Brendan Byrne, Life Abounding: A Reading of John’s Gospel , St Pauls, 2014, where Byrne writes on p.302: 'Personally, I believe the term “the Jews” should be expunged from all translations in public use and “the authorities” substituted in its place. Sermons and expositions are needed to educate people on the technical meaning of the phrase “the Jews” and the way in which the phrase functions in the Fourth Gospel.’ Pope Leo's Palm Sunday homily Frank Brennan's Palm Sunday homily The final synod report on women: what it says, what it means and what’s next , by America Magazine's Colleen Dulle Frank Brennan, Pope Francis: The Disruptive Pilgrim’s Guide (ATF Press, 2025) For those in Sydney, Geraldine will launch Frank's book at the Ron Dyer Centre, St Mary's North Sydney, at 6pm Monday 27 April. Thanks for listening! Share your thoughts via Facebook on more conversations in The Big Tent.

In the week of International Women's Day, co-host Grace Brennan sits down with her Mum, historian and writer Margaret A. Clark, to explore the trailblazing women who helped build Australia’s healthcare system. In Good Company tells the 140-year story of how the Little Company of Mary cared for the sick and dying with radical hospitality. Grace and Margaret reflect on the quiet courage of women who kept showing up wherever care was needed most – at the bedside, in training new nurses, as leaders in maternity health and pioneers of palliative care, whose legacy continues through the work of Calvary Health Care today – and what these women's spiritual commitment means for new generations following in their trails. In Good Company by Margaret A. Clark was launched in Sydney by Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC, Governor of New South Wales, and is available to purchase . Thanks for tuning in to The Big Tent! Share this episode to help others find us, and share your thoughts via Facebook on more conversations in The Big Tent.

Vatican reporter and author Colleen Dulle joins Geraldine Doogue in this new year episode of The Big Tent to reflect on what it means to remain – and grow – as a Catholic in the face of disenchantment and polarisation in the institution. How might Pope Leo's Lenten call to disarm our language, 'refraining from words that offend and hurt our neighbour,' be heard by Catholics everywhere but especially in Leo's American Catholic heartland, schooled in a more permissive speech culture? And how will Leo be known by his words and actions about women and leadership in the Church? Mentioned in this episode: Pope Leo's Lenten message, Listening and Fasting: Lent as a Time of Conversion Massimo Faggioli's Commonweal article, Leo’s Transatlantic Task Hendro Munsterman's Substack article, Lay People Exercising Authority Over Clergy Colleen's book, Struck Down, Not Destroyed: Keeping the Faith as a Vatican Reporter and her reporting for America Magazine Follow us on Facebook and let us know where you'd like us to head next in 2026.

Geraldine Doogue, Julie Thorpe, Grace Brennan and Joe Wehbe offer their 2025 Christmas stocking recommendations for summer reading, watching and listening. Join us in 2026 for more conversations in The Big Tent! The End of Days by Jenny Erpenbeck Visitation by Jenny Erpenbeck Reasons for Hope: Helder Camara, Global Catholicism and the Australian Church by Julie Thorpe Donkey Roads and Camel Treks: A Pilgrim's Guide for Advent by Gemma Simmonds Ethan Zuckerman, Artificial intelligence isn't magic. It's just weird , in Prospect magazine Michael Kalisch, We need friends not followers , in The New Statesman The Summertime of Our Dreams by Michael Pascoe Metaphors: Understanding Philosophy through Images by Pedro Alcalde and Merlín Alcalde, illustrated by Guim Tío The Director by Daniel Kehlmann Leopoldstadt by Tom Stoppard Freud's Last Session film Geraldine Doogue, We can make a difference by deciding to act together , in The Australian Time of the Child by Niall Williams Ben Abraham's music website The Dream Life of Mr. Kim drama series Never Let me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro Thanks for listening, stay tuned for the new year, and find us on Facebook in the meantime!

In this special episode of The Big Tent, Geraldine Doogue speaks with Sydney journalist Michael Visontay in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack at a Hanukkah festival about its impact on Jewish Australians and the broader Australian community. Drawing on research and his personal experience as the son and grandson of Holocaust survivors from Hungary, Michael’s article on how antisemitism education can backfire, published in the days before the attack, offers a now even more urgent question: how can education truly combat antisemitism in a changing Australia? Recommendations: Michael's article: Mishandled antisemitism education is not just ineffective, it’s dangerous The Jewish Independent editorial: A message from TJI at this time of profound grief Massimo Faggioli in Commonweal, No More Nostalgia: It’s time to talk about Vatican II in new ways Relisten to The Big Tent episode, Bridges not walls: Nostra Aetate at 60 Michael Visontay's book on his family history, Noble Fragments: the maverick who broke up the world’s greatest book Plus Michael's book recommendations: The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson, and The Granddaughter by Bernhard Schlink All feedback and recommendations very welcome via The Big Tent Facebook page.

As Pope Leo wrapped up his first international visit, Geraldine Doogue spoke to Pope Francis’ biographer Austen Ivereigh about the continuities and priorities of the two papacies. While Leo’s twin messages of peace and unity to Catholic, Orthodox and Muslim believers in Türkiye and Lebanon put interfaith and ecumenical relations at the heart of the new pontificate, Leo is also continuing his predecessor’s agenda through an eco-village that will open to the public on the grounds of Castel Gandolfo. And in his first address to the cardinals who elected him, Leo signalled his commitment to the implementation of Vatican II through synodality, which Austen sees as Leo’s roadmap for the Church in our times. Plus Austen’s reading tips to help us distil the times we’re living in. Further reading: Austen's Tablet articles, Laudato si' puts down roots , and Pope Leo's roadmap for the Church (185th anniversary Tablet lecture) Austen's book recommendations, The Tears of Things , by Richard Rohr, and Do Not Judge Anyone: Desert Wisdom for a Polarized World , by Isaac Slater We'd love your recommendations too! Follow The Big Tent on Facebook .