Expanding Horizons
Religion & Spirituality Podcas
The Jesuit Institute is dedicated to encouraging debate on current social issues from a faith perspective and to stimulating critical reflection, research and dialogue. We provide reflection on, and critical analysis of, contemporary social and religious issues from a Catholic perspective. Expanding Horizons is a bi-weekly podcast from the Jesuit Institute. A new episode will be released on the first and third Thursday of the month. It aims to bring you candid conversations between passionate people on important issues.
Location:
South Africa
Description:
The Jesuit Institute is dedicated to encouraging debate on current social issues from a faith perspective and to stimulating critical reflection, research and dialogue. We provide reflection on, and critical analysis of, contemporary social and religious issues from a Catholic perspective. Expanding Horizons is a bi-weekly podcast from the Jesuit Institute. A new episode will be released on the first and third Thursday of the month. It aims to bring you candid conversations between passionate people on important issues.
Twitter:
@jesuitinstitute
Language:
English
Episodes
WLT 2018 - 1 of 6 - What is "Racism?" Why Is It So Difficult to Talk about?
6/7/2020
Winter Living Theology 2018 Racial Justice and the Demands of Discipleship presented by Rev Fr Bryan Massingale. Lecture 1 of 6 Introduction and Overview: What is "Racism?" Why Is It So Difficult to Talk about?
Duration:01:50:29
John Wotherspoon on drug mules, corruption and prison ministry
2/6/2020
“Johannesburg Airport has become a ‘narco’ airport. In the last 2 years, something like 22 people were arrested in Hong Kong for drugs. December 6 last year, two passengers caught a flight from Johannesburg, each of them had twelve kilos of cocaine…” Matthew Charlesworth SJ talks to Fr John Wotherspoon OMI about drug mules, corruption and prison ministry.
Duration:00:28:56
Gail Fowler & Günther Simmermacher on leading pilgrimages, love of the Holy Land and deepening faith
12/5/2019
“If you go on pilgrimage and you experience what you experience specifically… and I always talk about the Holy Land. You give people the hope that your faith is still that strong and that it still exists. When they read that Gospel in church, you go back and you see it and you experience the Gospel. The Gospel comes alive.” Russell Pollitt SJ, talks to Gail Fowler who is the owner and operator of Fowler Tours as well as Günther Simmermacher, editor of Southern Cross, South Africa’s Catholic...
Duration:00:27:15
Cardinal Wilfrid Napier on his book, his life and being a bishop
11/14/2019
“People are very critical of Pope Francis… I keep on reminding myself, don’t forget how conscious you were of the presence of the Holy Spirit during that conclave. Therefore, the man you’ve got now has to be the choice of the Holy Spirit.” Cardinal Wilfrid Napier is the Archbishop of Durban, South Africa. He recently published a book entitled “The Here and Now Christian”. Russell Pollitt SJ talks to Cardinal Napier about his book, his life, his studies and formation during the Second Vatican...
Duration:00:41:15
Günther Simmermacher on Catholic media, being an editor and 100 years of The Southern Cross
10/31/2019
“Above everything else, I’m a Catholic as Günther Simmermacher but I am also a professional journalist. As a journalist, it is not my job to do PR for the bishops or the Vatican. I have to reflect truthfully and fairly what is happening.” Next year, South Africa’s Catholic weekly The Southern Cross celebrates 100 years of publication. Günther Simmermacher has been with the paper for 25 years and almost 20 years as editor. Russell Pollitt SJ talks to Günther about Catholic media in general as...
Duration:00:36:01
Joanne Joseph on gender-based violence, the systemic issues and the struggle for justice
10/17/2019
“We’ve got this great Constitution, it certainly prohibits any form of violence. But when we step inside of our homes, many of us leave that constitution behind and we subscribe to a set of values determined by a religion. Most religions are made in this patriarchal mould. So you have got women across religions and cultures having to grapple with this in their homes…” Joanne Joseph presents Talk Radio 702’s Afternoon Drive. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Drama, Film and English, and an...
Duration:00:36:01
Laurence Freeman OSB on Christian meditation and the revolution of contemplative living
10/3/2019
Fr Laurence Freeman OSB is a Benedictine monk and a teacher of Christian meditation. He’s the author of several books on the topic and has been involved in the World Community for Christian Meditation since 1980.
Duration:00:55:30
Jean Bwasa on migration, human rights and xenophobia
9/20/2019
“We need to work together! Politicians need to put their positions aside and come together as a united front! Julius Malema, Cyril Ramaphosa, Musi Maimane… let’s hold hands, walk in the streets of Johannesburg and bring the citizens together.” Jean Bwasa is a husband and a father of four children. Originally from the DRC, he is a pan-Africanist, a motivational speaker and a humanist. Defending human rights is his passion. Jean has a degree in education and over 35 years’ experience teaching...
Duration:00:33:54
Nina Neubauer on working with children, single parenting and leaps of faith
9/5/2019
“All of our children come from the Department of Social Development and they’ve either been abandoned, removed or orphaned. They’ve all experienced trauma and loss. We’ve had babies that were 4 days old, 5 days old, wrapped in tinfoil, found in a field…” Nina Neubauer is a German-American volunteer and missionary. In the past eight years, she has served full-time at a children's home in Johannesburg. She has been a foster mother, and is currently an "Aunty" to more than 40 children. Russell...
Duration:00:28:16
Janine Scott-dos Santos on raising a child with Autism, the fight for inclusion and family
8/22/2019
“The Church should be about community. The Church should be about inclusion. Often in the Church there seems to be quite a territorial sentiment about some of these things. When we are so territorial about something we think that we’re seeking to make it perfect, but actually, it starts to exclude and the Church is not an exclusive club!” Janine Scott-dos Santos is mom to Owen, a superhero boy with Autism. She runs her own HR business. Ricardo da Silva SJ talks to Janine about Autism, the...
Duration:00:37:11
Professor J. Patrick Hornbeck II on the sexual abuse crisis, power and sexuality in the Church
8/8/2019
“Our conversation today has been pushing in the direction of seeing this as a horrific symptom of a much deeper illness. The way in which we talk about sex in the Church, the way we talk about power in the Church and maybe even more than the ways we talk about these things… the way that we live them out.” J. Patrick Hornbeck II is Professor and Chair of Theology at Fordham Jesuit University in New York. He has a PhD from Oxford looking at heresy in the late medieval English Church. He...
Duration:00:45:17
Judy Klipin on life coaching, burnout and her new book
8/1/2019
Judy Klipin is a Martha Beck certified Master Life Coach, she offers individual, group and corporate coaching and workshops. She is the author of Recover from Burnout. Burnout wreaks havoc in multiple areas of our lives, as she herself discovered from personal experience. Russell Pollitt SJ talks to Judy about life coaching, burnout and her new book.
Duration:00:38:22
Vaughn Lucas talks about his life as a father, actor and Christian
7/25/2019
“I want my boys to understand that a real man needs to be first and foremost respectful of every single other human being out there, irrelevant of their point of view, their gender, their sexual orientation. That is something they have to give instantaneously. It’s respect.” Vaughn Lucas is the father of two boys, a South African voice-over artist and an actor — best known for his roles in 7de Laan and Getroud met Rugby. Ricardo da Silva SJ talks to Vaughn about his life as father, actor and...
Duration:00:37:22
Nicole Dickson on the Institute for Creative Conversation, narrative therapy and her PhD research
7/11/2019
Nicole Dickson is co-creator and leader of the Institute for Creative Conversation (I4CC), an NPO, which explores ways to weave narrative practices and pastoral theology into a meaningful ‘Narrative of Care’. The Institute attempts to help people grapple with the stories that have shaped their lives and therefore their sense of well-being and identity. Narrative practices help people to clarify for themselves the problems and situations that prevent them from having the kinds of lives and...
Duration:00:29:56
Ursula Chikane on life beyond Top Billing glitz and glam and her Catholic faith
6/27/2019
“Seeing the state of some of the people in our country and what the Top Billing lifestyle means to them — the inauthenticity of it — and I did play a huge role in it. And I feel badly. I know a lot of people will go, ‘Oh please, it’s not that deep.’ But, they haven’t walked my shoes and seen the results of it.” Ursula Chikane is a celebrated South African broadcaster and a former enchanting presenter of Top Billing and MTN Gladiators. Ricardo da Silva SJ talks to Ursula about life beyond Top...
Duration:00:38:28
Sr Judy Coyle IHM on women’s ministry in the Catholic Church
6/13/2019
Judy Coyle IHM has had extensive experience of being a pastoral worker in both the USA and South Africa. She holds a doctoral degree in theology and has taught liturgy and spirituality for many years at various academic institutions. She believes that the role of women, especially in ministry, needs to be urgently addressed in the Catholic Church. Addressing the study on women deacons instituted by Pope Francis, she says that she believes that women should be ordained but that this should be...
Duration:00:38:00
John Clarke on saving S.A.’s Wild Coast, and Catholic Social Teaching
5/30/2019
John Clarke is a social worker, social justice activist and Catholic. Over the past 17 years, John has been passionate about protecting and sustaining the people and the ecology of South Africa’s Wild Coast. Having worked for a variety of eclectic organisations – from the IEC to WHO – he now supports the Amadiba community near Xolobeni. The story so far has been plagued with troubles and setbacks. An Australian company is trying to mine the titanium-rich mineral sands. Bribery, corruption,...
Duration:00:32:42
Michele de Klerk — a divorced, gay, Catholic mother speaks
5/16/2019
Michele de Klerk served as a full-time paid lay youth coordinator at her parish in Johannesburg, South Africa. In 2017, she was finally able to recognise, admit and confront the truth that she is gay. The journey towards accepting her sexuality — as a Catholic, divorcee and mother — has been a struggle. It leaves her wrestling with God and the Church, asking whether God accepts and loves her as divorced, gay and a mother. Among those whom she looks to for comfort are priests with whom she is...
Duration:00:36:41
Peter-John Pearson on Pope Francis, priesthood and politics
5/2/2019
Peter-John Pearson is vicar general of the Archdiocese of Cape Town and director of the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office of the Southern African bishops. He began his journey to the priesthood after studying law and having experienced profound spiritual conversion linked to his involvement in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement and a passion for social justice in service of the poor. Ricardo da Silva SJ speaks to him about his vocation to the priesthood as a social activist during...
Duration:00:35:14
Reflection for the 2nd Sunday of Easter - Year C
4/26/2019
You’ve probably heard it said one too many times that “seeing is believing”. I wonder if, perhaps, it came from the biblical story which we popularly refer to as “The Doubting Thomas”. I dislike both of these characterisations. Thomas was not present when the Lord first appeared to the disciples in the upper room Now, a week later, Thomas enters the Upper Room he hears that the disciples have seen Jesus. Quickly, he speaks the words which have forever characterised him as the Doubting One:...
Duration:00:08:27