Close Encounters of the Catholic Kind (Dan McClellan; Data Over Dogma podcast)

Catholics don't read the Bible! Or at least, according to studies most don't read it in their homes. But according to our guest, Michael Peppard, that doesn't mean that they don't have a deep and meaningful relationship with it.

This week, we're talking with Dr. Peppard about his book How Catholics Encounter the Bible. It's a fascinating look at the world of Catholicism: the culture, the theology, and specifically the ways in which Catholic people learn and understand the teachings of the Bible.

In a world where Christian sects often put high emphasis on dissecting each passage of the Bible, it's refreshing to talk about coming to the book with a bit more ease. A lighter touch.
Interview: 

https://youtu.be/H2pVUWUFUts?si=tTwMYtuMIl6itJ2J

🚨JD Vance Just LOST HIS TEMPER Over Pope Leo, Insiders Reveal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozCHwzVEZvY

How the pope has confounded conservatives

"There are certain American conservative Catholics that hoped to see a course correction with the new pope, and many of those would be the sort of American Catholics who are more aligned with Maga. 

 "A pope who happens to be an American and who is suspicious and critical of unbridled free market capitalism is probably a disappointment to them. Francis was often dismissed by his conservative critics in the US who would say he just doesn't understand our country. They can't dismiss Leo so easily."

 Leo, he added, was "not temperamentally someone that is looking for a fight. But I think he also realises the responsibility on his shoulders to use the megaphone he's been given on behalf of those who are without a voice. His instinct is to build bridges. But he believes you can't do that while sacrificing your integrity and certain causes that require you to speak out."

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/22/how-pope-leo-confounds-conservatives-immigration-climate-crisis-poverty-francis

 

Maga Catholics are on a collision course with Leo XIV. They have good reason to fear him | Julian Coman | The Guardian

In a column published at the weekend, the American Catholic commentator Sohrab Ahmari referenced a sermon by Leo from last year, in which the future pope acknowledged that the issue of migration "is a huge problem, and it's a problem worldwide" that needed to be solved. This recognition, Ahmari suggested, could at least open up the possibility of fruitful future dialogue with the Maga Catholics in and around the White House. 

He failed, however, to quote the sermon's next passage: "Every one of us, whether we were born in the United States of America or on the North Pole, we are all given the gift of being created in the image and likeness of God, and the day we forget that is the day we forget who we are." Words for Vance and Rubio, who met Leo after Sunday's inaugural mass in Rome, to ponder...

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/may/21/maga-catholics-leo-xiv-trump-anti  

 

‘Maga Catholics’ are gaining ground in the US. Now their sight is set on the Vatican

Conservative US Catholics like Steve Bannon look to win 'war that lasts decades' with pope antithetical to Francis…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/28/maga-catholics-vatican-pope-conclave

 

Do Catholics have a different 10 Commandments?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1ea3ebJ-HI

 

Nuns Threaten Legal Action After ‘Disgusting’ Voter Fraud Accusation | HuffPost Latest News

A group of Pennsylvania nuns is fighting back after a conservative voter organizer publicly accused them on social media of falsifying their voter records to help fraudulently swing the presidential election in the Democrats' favor...

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nuns-voter-fraud-legal-allegations_n_671a3d06e4b07a680746ae77

Catholics claim "bigotry" after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer feeds podcast host a chip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VZvGcUFik8

More than 900 Native American children died while at Indian boarding schools in U.S. - The Washington Post

The Washington Post, in a year-long investigation published in May, found at least 122 priests, sisters and brothers assigned to 22 boarding schools since the 1890s were later accused of sexually abusing Native American children under their care. Most of the documented abuse occurred in the 1950s and 1960s and involved more than 1,000 children...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2024/07/30/indian-boarding-schools-native-americans/

Biden’s Christian ‘Persecution’? We Assess Trump’s Recent Claims. - The New York Times

Former President Donald J. Trump has repeatedly accused the Biden administration of criminalizing Christians, and Catholics in particular, for their faith. Here are the facts...

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/29/us/politics/trump-biden-christianity.html

100 years ago, the KKK planted bombs at a U.S. university – part of the terror group's crusade against American Catholics

To be 100% American, in the Klan's view, meant that you were a white Protestant Christian. 

In the years between 1890 and 1920, a flood of immigrants from southern and eastern Europe came to America, a large percentage of whom were Catholic or Jewish. 

While the Klan was – and still is – strongly antisemitic, in the 1920s its members were particularly worried about Catholics, as there were many more of them. This was certainly the case in Dayton, where 35% of churchgoers were Catholic, thanks to an influx of immigrants who worked in the city's factories...

https://theconversation.com/100-years-ago-the-kkk-planted-bombs-at-a-u-s-university-part-of-the-terror-groups-crusade-against-american-catholics-219287

Pope Francis chides his U.S. critics — but whom does he have in mind? - The Washington Post

… a few personalities on the Catholic scene whom Francis may or may not have had in mind:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2023/09/06/pope-francis-chides-his-us-critics-whom-does-he-have-mind/

US religious right at center of anti-LGBTQ+ message pushed around the world

The spread across the world illustrates how America's evangelical and Catholic right has globalized over the past 15 years by helping establish a vast web of anti-LGBTQ+ zealots who share ideas, messaging and funding...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/09/us-religious-right-lgbtq-global-culture-fronts

Pro-choice Catholics fight to seize the narrative from the religious right

"Catholic teaching supports and respects religious pluralism. And what rightwing Catholics are trying to do is have their theological ideas codified into civil law. By doing that, they're infringing on the religious freedom of everyone else. Our religious freedom guarantees not only our right to practice our beliefs, but our right to be free of the beliefs of others and so abortion bans and restrictions take away religious freedom," she said...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/03/pro-choice-catholics-us

Ron DeSantis and His Christian Crusaders Are Stealing Trump’s Religious Thunder | The New Republic

As the former president loses his edge with evangelicals, the man who might replace him is cashing in on the resurgence of right-wing Catholicism...

https://newrepublic.com/article/170206/ron-desantis-catholicism-trump-evangelical

Indigenous Americans demand a reckoning with brutal colonial history

…From the Arctic Circle to Tierra del Fuego, Indigenous Americans have taken aim at the Catholic Church, national governments and other powerful institutions...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/27/indigenous-americans-protesting-brutal-colonial-history

Michael E. Diamond: This Easter, gun control and abortion need equal priority from pro-life Catholics

... Catholic voters should look to where they can make a difference. Unlike abortion, there is ample opportunity for pro-life Catholics to help shift gun policy...

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/easter-gun-control-abortion-need-equal-priority-pro-life-catholics-ncna1262971

‘This is f—ing crazy’: Florida Latinos swamped by wild conspiracy theories - POLITICO

Telling Hispanics that real Catholics can't vote for Biden...
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/14/florida-latinos-disinformation-413923

Trump looks to reward conservative Catholics for their loyalty - POLITICO

American Catholics supported the Democratic nominee in all but four presidential cycles since 1952. Trump is looking to secure a 2020 repeat of their support for him three years ago, but he could face some roadblocks.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/14/trump-catholics-reelection-098518

Nones more prevalent than evangelicals, Catholics | Freethought Today

It another sign that religion is declining in popularity in America, the number of people who claim “no religion” now outnumber Catholics and evangelicals, respectively, according to a recent survey. For the first time, the Nones (those who profess no religion) now top Americans’ religious identity, according to the General Social Survey...
https://www.freethoughttoday.com/vol-36-no-04-may-2019/nones-more-prevalent-than-evangelicals-catholics