The Vatican has issued a document on “human dignity.” The hosts have Thoughts. And Words. (Some of which may be considered undignified.) Also Sydney Sweeney is a horror nun. Discuss. Want to watch an unedited version of this interview, which includes Stephanie’s lovely curls drying? Check out our PATREON! COLLECTION BASKET: https://www.pcrf.net LIN…

Listen in as the hosts chat about the very light and airy and not at all emotionally triggering subject of Catholic funerals. Mass cards! Wakes! Gorging yourself with fellow grieving family members! Laugh and cry with the hosts as they parse through how the Catholics handle death. COLLECTION BASKET: Support women in the Democratic Republic of Congo…

New Flash: despite what some may want you to believe, queer Catholics exist! Meet the woman who has made it her mission to to tell their stories. Emma Cieslik (she/her) is a queer, disabled, and neurodivergent museum professional, religious scholar, and writer based in Washington, DC. She explores the histories of gender, sexuality, religion, and m…

It’s March and the hosts are ready to learn about an Irish guy named Patrick…but not the one you’re thinking of! After just 5 years in comedy, comedian Paddy Raff has a record-breaking 6 solo sell-out nights at Belfast's SSE Arena under his belt, amassed millions of likes and views on his social media sketches, provided tour support for comedy lege…

Anne surprises Steph with a deep dive into Saint Blaise whom, as it turns out, Steph has literally never heard of. Listen in as the hosts talk throat blessing, wool combing, pig stealing and more. (#SaintBlaisePrayForUs) COLLECTION BASKET: This week we invite you to donate to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. CONNECT: WE HAVE PATREON! http://ww…

Eliana La Casa is a real life apostate! She’s also a bilingual Argentinean stand up comedian who has been featured on Comedy Central Latinoamerica, as well as BBC Radio 4. She was voted Best Stand Up Comedian of 2021 by the Chicago Reader. She moved to the US in 2021 and has since fallen in love with Storytelling. She affirms she moved to pursue co…

Today’s episode is throw back to the BEST OF LAPSED. Relisten to our Season 1 episode where the hosts welcome their first Catholic priest onto the show…and she’s a woman! Fr. Anne Tropeano is a Roman Catholic Womanpriest who is committed to seeing women welcomed into the priesthood within her lifetime. She has a deep love of the Society of Jesus, e…

Anne and Steph hash out their thoughts on the headline-making news of Pope Francis allowing Catholics priests to bless same sex couples. Radical change for the better, or too little too late? The hosts have Feelings. Listen in. Special collection: choose your own adventure! Donate time or money to a local cause and then let us know about it! Please…

It’s irritatingly cold and dark outside, so Anne and Steph are fully embracing all things Advent. Steph walks us all through the surprisingly sordid history of Advent calendars. The hosts quiz themselves on their Catholic Advent knowledge. Steph’s cat has some thoughts. Grab of mug of hot chocolate and tune in! Special collection: Community of Cong…

::::::This is a shorter version of a longer exclusive video episode that can be viewed in full on our PATREON.:::::: This episode has EVERYTHING: scorned conservative Cardinals, inclusive Papal dinners, slightly racy circus performers at the Vatican. Listen in! LINKS: Video of the Benedict circus performance Video of the Francis circus performance …

Four baptized-Catholic women walk onto a podcast…and two of them are Lutheran pastors! Listen in as Anne and Steph get alllll the Christian deets from Cafeteria Christian co-hosts Natalia Terfa and Emmy Kegler. Topics include biblical translation nerdery (the hosts are so here for this), differences and similarities between Catholicism and Lutheran…

Did you know that early Christian basilicas were repurposed Roman court buildings with the door in a new location? Or that there’s a chapel in Rome built from human bones? Tune in as the Anne and Steph talk all things early Christinity and art history with lapsed Catholic art historian Heather Bowling! (Also hear the moment when Anne realizes she m…

Steph and Anne dive headfirst into season 3 with some major catching up on #CatholicismInTheNews! Listen in as they talk bogus bankruptcy claims, priest-related relationship drama, and mutinous nuns! ANNNNDDDD…..the podcast has a new PATREON! Head to https://www.patreon.com/LapsedPodcast to contribute and get access to exclusive content, Q&As, and …

School’s out for the summer (and so are we)! The hosts say “go in peace” and “see you in the fall” and things like that, but not before hearing a listener story about making a pit stop at Mass on the way to the ER (because #priorities). Have a great summer, lapsed friends! SPECIAL COLLECTION: Full Spectrum Community Outreach WE LOVE TO HEAR FROM YO…

The hosts try something new this episode as they each share a ***top secret*** (or maybe not-so-secret) interview with the other. Stephanie gets all the deets from real live Gen Z Catholic school girl Maeve. Anne interviews a fellow alum of her own Catholic high school, Katie Owens Mulcahy, whose recent article about the potential for women deacons…

The first rule of Kairos is that you don’t talk about Kairos….and today the hosts are rule breakers! Listen in as Anne recounts her experience with this widespread Catholic senior retreat program. References include Cindy Lauper and the Indigo Girls. NOTE: See below link for a (more or less) positive update on the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence/Do…

Show up for some awesome queer Latine BookTok gossip, stick around for the excellent #catholicgrandma content. Curl up with your beverage of choice and listen in as literary enthusiast and TikTok-er Lupita Aquino spills the tea about skipping out on catechism classes for the thrills of the mall, the trials and tribulations of celebrating your birth…

Listen in as Steph and Anne catch up Catholicism in the News. Topics include limbo, the devil holding Jesus ransom, a song that cuts down on Purgatory time, the AI-generated papal puffer coat that launched a thousand tweets, diocese on the Moon, and Jesus’s DNA. Weirdly, this episode includes two references to the decidedly non-Catholic British Roy…

Anne and Steph chat with Dani, (she/they) a writer, illustrator, Costa Rican, femme lesbian, and devout catholic who spends most of her time reminding everybody of those last two facts. Dani runs the blog and subsequent store “And Her Saints”, which seeks to illustrate the holy in an affirming and inclusive way. Topics include accidentally denying …

Beyond the green beer and corned beef, what is the actual deal with Saint Patrick? Grab a pint of Guinness and listen in as Anne and Steph learn the truth (maybe?) about shamrocks, banished snakes, and the true origins of corned beef of St. Paddy's Day. There’s also some deer-related pagan-esque magicky stuff which they totally did not expect. #the…

As #transdayofvisibility approaches, we are honored to share our conversation with @comebacktocare founder Nat Vikitsreth, a dot connector, norm agitator, and lover of liberation who supports social justice curious parents to practice social justice in their parenting while re-parenting their inner child. Listen in as Nat talks about what it was li…

Anne quizzes Stephanie on Ash Wednesday facts. Spoiler alert: as far as Catholic stuff goes, this may be the most loosey goosey day of the liturgical year! The hosts also talk Catholic toxic masculinity (gross) and about how the Sisters of Mercy are actually kind of rad when it comes to social justice stuff. Sidebars include 80’s Ballroom drag cult…

Steph and Anne engage in a much needed catch-up session on ***Catholicism In The News*****. College students are sharing dorms with nuns. The FBI is targeting Catholics (but in a needed way). Francis extolls the virtues of....flipping the bird (?!??!). The hosts know an embarrassing number of lyrics to Billy Joel’s “Only The Good Die Young.” LINKS …

This week we bring you something a little different: a story Anne recently performed live at A Very Serious Gallery in Chicago. Listen in as Anne grapples with the question of whether you really can’t go home again. (Related: Are the Bill Swerski’s Superfans of early ‘90’s SNL fame Catholic? Discuss. Write in and tell us. Anne has thoughts.) Share …

Anne and Stephanie have the pleasure of sitting down with Abby Rampone of Left Catholic. Abby has lived at two Catholic Worker houses and the Women’s Interfaith Residency Program at Union Theological Seminary. She currently lives at the Fireplace Community, an intentional community on the south side of Chicago, and works as a Ministry Coordinator a…

Many thanks to listeners who shared their stories! The hosts enjoy the heck out of your funny stories about growing up Catholic, from altar server mishaps to altercations with nuns to giggling and church. Additionally, Stephanie has some intel on a rather mysterious calendar of dreamboat priests, while Anne ponders Catholicism as she watches too mu…

What’s the deal with nativity scenes? That’s what the hosts want to know. A young Steph leveraged her family’s nativity set as a chance at her directorial debut. Little Anne coveted her best friend’s family’s nativity set (there was real hay!). The hosts learn about a rather shocking Catalan nativity tradition and how some Catholics are super smug …

We'll have a new episode ready for you in a couple weeks, but for now we’d love to invite you to share your stories! In the past we have asked you to share your experiences, and you have come through. From questions about navigating Catholic family to stories about how you chose your confirmation name, we are so appreciative of the ways you have co…

The hosts learn about the Church’s beef with birth control. Anne shares some rather racy Catholicism in the News. Steph points out some colorful language used to describe contraception in the bible. There’s also a Steve Carrell reference, and really, who doesn’t love Steve Carrell? LINKS Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly Being Weird The Pope Urges Pr…

The hosts do a deep dive (pun only kind of intended) into Catholic baptism. Anne realizes her older son’s baptism involved a lot of fibbing. Steph is freaked out by all the Satan talk. This episode also involves some fangirling over one of our very favorite lapsed celebrities, Melissa McCarthy. LINKS Test scores show Catholic schools largely escape…

Things get unexpectedly spooky as Stephanie and Anne talk murdered saints, postmortem popes, and the occult in this Halloween season-appropriate episode. Join the hosts as they dive into feast days, patrons, canonization, and martyrdom. Steph is still proud to be the only Chavara cousin who got $3 instead of $2 on her patron saint’s feast day. Litt…

Stephanie and Anne take a deep dive into what Catholic school and CCD taught them about life after death. A young Steph imagined a cloudy heaven that was harp-filled and toga-forward. Anne realizes how the Wizard of Oz impacted her early view of the afterlife. The hosts also launch into their own lapsed Catholic version of #yesyesno as they struggl…

Steph and Anne are back with Season 2 of Lapsed! Steph discusses one rather big development in her life (hint: he’s adorable and shares a name with a very Jesuit saint). The hosts also catch up on several months of Catholic news, including Francis updates, newly Catholic celebrities (we’re looking at you, Shia LaBeouf), and Catholic references in t…

The hosts grapple with their feelings around the recent Dobbs ruling. Steph dishes on the Kardashian’s recent brush with Catholic aesthetics even though by all accounts they practice…Kardashianism? Anne recalls that one time as a kid when she accidentally stumbled into a Protestant Vacation Bible School. The hosts announce they’re going extra lapse…

The hosts catch up on ***Catholicism IN THE NEWS****. Steph dishes on Francis’s drink of choice. Anne is jazzed that some Catholic bishops are starting to speak out about gun control legislation…until Steph totally (rightfully) harshes her mellow. Anne also fangirls over a fellow progressive, midwestern, redhead “straight, white, Christian, suburba…

An Interview With Nate Tinner-Williams of Black Catholic Messenger You’ve probably heard of a pandemic marriage or a pandemic move, but what about a pandemic Catholic convert/seminarian/nonprofit founder/writer? In this episode, the hosts chat with someone who checks all of these boxes and more. Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Blac…

Hey listeners. Some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that we don't have a new episode this week. The good news? We want to hear from you! So much of what we talk about on this show is rooted in parts of the Catholic church we've had trouble making sense of. So now it’s your turn. Which parts of Catholicism did you or do you find confusi…

There are scary things happening in US politics right now, and Anne and Steph are working on unpacking it, lapsed Catholic style. Listen in as they recount what they were and weren’t taught in Catholic school about a pregnant person's right to control their own body. Along the way they do manage some levity….like when they learn of the 9 sins that …

Ruler-wielding tyrants or holy social justice warriors? Join the Anne and Steph as they attempt to sort out their feelings about nuns and religious sisters (and the difference between the two). COLLECTION BASKET: This week we invite you to support Kina Collins for Congress. Share your stories, thoughts, and questions with us at lapsedpodcast@gmail.…

Anne and Steph serve up some Holy Week and Easter realness as they talk palms, confession, stations of the cross, itchy tights and egg hunts. Grab a chocolate bunny and tune in. COLLECTION BASKET: This week we invite you to donate to the Chi Nations Youth Council. Share your stories, thoughts, and questions with us at lapsedpodcast@gmail.com or at …

It’s our 20th Episode! Stephanie and Anne take some time to reflect on what they’ve learned, what has surprised them, and what they dream of moving forward. The hosts also talk wordle and a Dan Brown-eque conspiracy theory involving the Pope, Russia, and the Virgin Mary. It’s a doozy. COLLECTION BASKET: We invite you to donate to the UN Refugee Age…

Stephanie and Anne sit down with writer, advocate, and racial justice educator ShaRhonda Knott-Dawson. ShaRhonda is a “taco enthusiast, a proud member of the Beyhive, and truly believes that she will be receiving her letter from Hogwarts any day now.” She’s also the self-proclaimed “most Catholic non-Catholic in the world.” ShaRhonda chats with the…

The hosts talk all things LENT as they spill the tea (the Communion wine?) on Ash Wednesday, fasting, giving things up, and fish fry Fridays. Stephanie explains why her dad is legitimately the King of Lent (there is ice cream involved). Anne explains the intricacies of how Irish Catholics manage to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day to its fullest despite…

The hosts are beyond excited to welcome actor, photographer, friend, and fellow former Catholic school kid Matthew Scott onto the show! Matthew recounts stories of being a queer theater kid who had no real beef with the Catholic Church but just kind of…wasn’t that into her. Matthew, Anne and Steph talk Catholic-style high school musicals (NO to ref…

The hosts welcome their first Catholic priest onto the show…and she’s a woman! Fr. Anne Tropeano is a Roman Catholic Womanpriest who is committed to seeing women welcomed into the priesthood within her lifetime. She has a deep love of the Society of Jesus, earned a Master of Divinity from Jesuit School of Theology, and has worked in multiple parish…

The hosts give detailed accounts of what leaving the Church looked like for each of them. One of the hosts makes a VERY BIG ANNOUNCEMENT that would probably make a certain cranky pope very happy. COLLECTION BASKET: This week we invite you to support voting rights at https://fairfight.com/. Share your stories, thoughts, and questions with us at laps…

Anne talks with author Monica Dux! Monica is a writer, columnist, and social commentator. She’s also the author of Lapsed, “the story of one woman’s attempt to exorcise her religious upbringing.” You can learn more about Monica here. Then go BUY MONICA’S BOOK HERE. COLLECTION BASKET: This week we invite you to support https://www.foodbank.org.au/ S…

This week the hosts talk Catholicism and Christmas memories! Stephanie reveals the carol for which she would sell her soul to the devil in order to be able to sing well (and nearly suggests a certain church choir should maybe have considered such things). Anne recounts the time she got to walk down the aisle at midnight Mass in a green velvet dress…

The hosts take a deep dive into the history of Your Lady and mine, the Blessed Virgin Mary (aka Our Lady of Perpetual Sorrow, aka Star of the Sea, aka Queen of Angels, and and and…). Steph makes some shocking discoveries about where Original Sin supposedly derives from (hint: it has to do with men, but don’t worry, it’s still women’s fault). Anne d…

This week the hosts share their Confirmation names and then hear from listeners about the names they chose! Stephanie gives off some serious pagan goddess vibes. Anne shocks Steph with her own grand name reveal. The hosts discover the 1970 hit that apparently inspired a heck of a Confirmation name trend, though confusingly in the late 90’s/early 00…