Jesuit Institute Launches ‘Expanding Horizons’ Podcast Series

This month the Jesuit Institute is launching a bi-weekly podcast series available every first and third Thursday of the month.

The series, titled “Expanding Horizons”, will look at diverse issues in conversation with different guests. Each podcast will focus on a specific issue that is current and relevant to society, Church, and faith.

The entire podcast, including music, will be produced by the Jesuit Institute in its studio in Auckland Park, Johannesburg, said institute director Fr Russell Pollitt.

Podcasting is a free service that allows internet users to download and listen to audio files on their computers or mobile devices.

“As more and more ways of communicating and engaging have become available, it is important that we use as many of them as possible to fulfil the mission of the Jesuit Institute — to build bridges between faith and society and expand the horizons of hope,” Fr Pollitt said.

The podcast will be hosted by staff from the institute, according to topic and expertise.

In the first of the series, Fr Bryan Massingale, professor of theological and social ethics at Fordham University in New York, speaks to Fr Ricardo da Silva SJ about the recent sex abuse meeting hosted by Pope Francis in Rome.

Fr Massingale believes there are still much-deeper systemic issues that need to be examined in the Church if we are to move through this dark part of the Church’s history and put it behind us.

Fr Pollitt said more and more people, as technology has developed, are listening to podcasts during their daily commutes. “People can download these 30-minute programmes and then listen to them at their convenience,” he said.

“For two years the institute has offered a weekly podcast reflection on the Sunday Gospel, with positive feedback,” Fr Pollitt said.

“This new series will, we hope, build on that, and offer more diverse listening opportunities.”

The podcast can be downloaded at jesuitinstitute.org.za/expanding-horizons