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For Immediate Release
August 28, 2023
WASHINGTON — The Just Politics podcast, a collaboration between NETWORK and U.S. Catholic magazine, will return for a third season on September 11, 2023. This new season will focus on democracy—the threats it faces, specifically, white supremacy and Christian nationalism; its promise; and how people can work to preserve, protect, and expand it.
Launched in 2022, Just Politics is hosted by Colin Martinez Longmore, NETWORK communication and social media coordinator; Joan F. Neal, NETWORK deputy executive director and chief equity officer; and Sister of the Humility of Mary Eilis McCulloh, NETWORK grassroots education and organizing specialist.
“Democracy is one of the most important topics we can be talking about right now. I live in Ohio, and we just went through Issue 1, which was a ballot initiative that threatened to take away the idea of one person, one vote. It terrified me to know that some people really do not understand that democracy, the rule of our country, is hanging by a thread,” McColluh says.
“This is not just a hypothetical or theoretical conversation. The threat is real. Our democracy is at a crossroads. People have been and will be hurt because this is about power, who has it and who hasn’t, who wields it and who doesn’t, and whose will, rights, lives, and values rule the day and whose don’t,” Neal says. “We are talking about democracy with Catholics right now because Catholics have been the swing vote in the last few national elections. To preserve, protect and expand our democracy, we can vote with an informed conscience—concerned not just with one issue but with a holistic understanding of the common good.”
Season 3 of Just Politics will also highlight the good work of pro-democracy advocates, the spiritual nourishment necessary to sustain this work, and the hope for democracy that our faith cultivates.
“How can our faith speak into this moment? I often hear messages coming from parishes and certain church leaders about a society that I don’t see myself in, or that doesn’t take my family and community into account,” Martinez Longmore says. “I want to find a space and other people talking about how our faith can speak into a multicultural and inclusive society. We have the opportunity to talk to people who see that vision and work for it, and to uplift that picture, so people know it does exist.”
Just Politics can be found on the U.S. Catholic website as well as on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and several other platforms. Listeners can subscribe, sign up for email updates, and find additional reading at www.uscatholic.org/justpolitics and join the conversation about #JustPoliticsPod on social media.
NETWORK—advocates for justice inspired by Catholic Sisters—educates, organizes, and lobbies for economic and social transformation. With a 50-year record of accomplishment and more than 100,000 supporters across the country, NETWORK lobbies for federal programs and policies that support those at the margins and prioritize the common good. www.networklobby.org
U.S. Catholic magazine puts faith in the context of everyday life, with a strong focus on social justice. Since 1935, U.S. Catholic has been a courageous, forward-thinking forum for discussion among a broad range of voices. U.S. Catholic is published by the Claretian Missionaries, a Roman Catholic congregation of priests and brothers dedicated to seeing the world through the eyes of the poor and to improving the world from these same communities. www.uscatholic.org
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