The Gaudium et Spes Podcast

Bishop Wack joins Chez Filippini and Derek Diamond to look back on the Diocese of Pensacola–Tallahassee’s 50th anniversary year, sharing highlights from its deanery celebrations, stories of faithful parishioners, and what they learned about the diocese’s history. They reflect on the people and faith that built the local church and look ahead to its future, including growth, evangelization, and new ways to serve.

Hosts Susanne McNinch and Chez Filippini talk with Theresa Prejean of St. Dominic Parish in Panama City about her faith journey and how her ministry grew from youth ministry into parish-wide formation and missionary discipleship. She also discusses Saint Dominic’s discipleship pathway, the call to share faith beyond the parish, and the everyday hospitality that helps people feel welcome.

Bishop Wack and Derek Diamond reflect on their pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi, sharing highlights from the Papal Audience, meeting the mother of St. Carlo Acutis, and sites connected to Saints Francis and Clare. They discuss how the journey deepened their faith and brought the group together through prayer, history, and encounters with holy places.

Chez Filippini and Dr. Luke Arredondo continue their Catholic Social Teaching series by diving into Pope John Paul II’s encyclical "Evangelium Vitae" (The Gospel of Life), exploring how it addresses the dignity and inviolability of human life amid the culture of the 1990s. Drawing on Scripture, natural law, and magisterial teaching, they unpack themes like Cain and Abel, abortion, euthanasia, human rights, and the call to transform culture through teaching, prayer, service, and strong family life.

Bishop Wack continues his discussion of St. Francis of Assisi by unpacking his enduring legacy and how Francis' simplicity, love of the poor and commitment to peace continues to live on in the Church. He also reflects on Francis' impact — from universities to Pope Francis himself — and how his example still calls Christians back to the basics of the gospel today.

Chez Filippini continues the series on Saint Francis by talking with J. Frank Pate, OFS from Tallahassee about his journey from Catholicism through evangelical and Anglican ministry back to the Catholic Church, and into life as a Secular Franciscan. Frank shares how the Franciscan rule, love for the Eucharist, and a vocation to simplicity, fraternity, and chastity shape his daily life and service to the poor.

St. Francis of Assisi—one of the most influential saints of the last millennium—is introduced in this first of a two-part series, as Bishop Wack explores the historical context of his life, his conversion from wealthy merchant’s son to penniless disciple, and the early growth of the Franciscan movement. He also highlights Francis’s love for the Church and the Eucharist, his call to reform through poverty and humility, and the enduring impact that led to his rapid canonization and an 800-year legacy of inspiration.

Chez Filippini and Dr. Luke Arredondo resume their Catholic Social Teaching series by discussing Pope St. John Paul II’s encyclical, "Centesimus Annus", in the context of the fall of communism, the rise of consumerist capitalism, and the Church’s insistence on a true Christian anthropology of the human person.

Fr. Tim Holeda, rector of the Co-Cathedral of St. Thomas More and Vocations Director for the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, shares his vocation story, key priestly influences, and the unique pastoral challenges of serving a parish situated among Florida State University, state government, and a diverse local community. He reflects on the growth of vocations, the parish’s shift toward more reverent and transcendent liturgy, and his vision of the Co-Cathedral as “Tallahassee’s church” and a spiritual home for students, public servants, and families alike.

Host Chez Filippini talks with Dr. Christopher Gawel, Director of Liturgy and Sacramental Practice, about his first year in the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee and the rich diversity and Eucharistic devotion he has witnessed across the diocese. They also discuss the newly released diocesan guidelines for extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, exploring how this ministry flows from baptismal grace and the importance of precise Eucharistic language and prioritizing the sacrifice of the Mass over simply receiving Communion.