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Explore the entire collection of essays and podcasts.

Podcasts 171 Video Interviews 116 Crisis in the Church 101 Communio Theology 74 Defense of Vatican II 45 Synodality 34 Miscellaneous 30 Catholic Worker 24 Conclave 11 Liturgy 10 Best of Larry Chapp 9 Apologetics 5 Letters From Andrew 4 In Memoriam 4 Fundraiser 4 The Communio Interviews 2 March 2026 Meeting in Scranton 1
Universalism, Balthasar, the Massa Damnata, and the Question of Evangelization
Best of Larry Chapp

Universalism, Balthasar, the Massa Damnata, and the Question of Evangelization

If you want a dog whistle guaranteed to summon a pack of barking traditionalists just mention the names of either Hans Urs von Balthasar or Bishop Robert Barron. The former

Larry Chapp Larry Chapp
Podcast Interview with Larry Chapp and Kris McGregor on “Love Alone” by Hans Urs von Balthasar. Parts Three, Four, and Five
Communio Theology

Podcast Interview with Larry Chapp and Kris McGregor on “Love Alone” by Hans Urs von Balthasar. Parts Three, Four, and Five

Many thanks to Kris McGregor for inviting me to discuss this wonderful text.  I will be posting a new blog post soon on Balthasar and the question of “universalism.”  So

Larry Chapp Larry Chapp
The Universal Call to Holiness: Part Three. The non-heroic Church and the False Accusation that Holiness is a Sectarian Perfectionism
Communio Theology

The Universal Call to Holiness: Part Three. The non-heroic Church and the False Accusation that Holiness is a Sectarian Perfectionism

“To live together as brother and sister? Of course, I have high respect for those who are doing this. But it is a heroic act, and heroism is not for

Larry Chapp Larry Chapp
Interview with Dr. Larry Chapp and Kris McGregor on Balthasar’s Love Alone: part two
Communio Theology

Interview with Dr. Larry Chapp and Kris McGregor on Balthasar’s Love Alone: part two

Here is the next installment of my interview with Kris McGregor.  It looks like there is also going to be a part three.   And there will be a new blog

Larry Chapp Larry Chapp
A podcast interview between Larry Chapp and Kris McGregor on the theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar. Part One: “Only Love is Credible.”
Communio Theology

A podcast interview between Larry Chapp and Kris McGregor on the theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar. Part One: “Only Love is Credible.”

Love Alone is Credible with Dr. Larry Chapp pt. 1 - "Balthasar: Beauty, Goodness, Truth" Podcast Linked above is a podcast I did with Kris McGregor which is part

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A Call Within A Call for Renewal: Father John Gribowich Reflects on His Own Vocation and the Current State of the Church
Crisis in the Church

A Call Within A Call for Renewal: Father John Gribowich Reflects on His Own Vocation and the Current State of the Church

This is a guest blog by Father John Gribowich who is the co owner of our Catholic Worker Farm and a priest in the diocese of Brooklyn who is on

Larry Chapp Larry Chapp
The Universal Call to Holiness: Part Two. The Jordan Peterson and Bishop Robert Barron interview
Miscellaneous

The Universal Call to Holiness: Part Two. The Jordan Peterson and Bishop Robert Barron interview

Linked below is what I consider to be an extraordinary conversation between Jordan Peterson and Bishop Robert Barron.  I think the entire conversation is wonderful but if you go to

Larry Chapp Larry Chapp
Interview with Zac Crippen and Larry Chapp on the Creedal podcast. Topic: The Numbing Down of the Church: Lukewarm, bored Catholicism
Crisis in the Church

Interview with Zac Crippen and Larry Chapp on the Creedal podcast. Topic: The Numbing Down of the Church: Lukewarm, bored Catholicism

Larry Chapp Larry Chapp
Interview with Kale Zelden and Larry Chapp on “Side Show Kale”: Part Three of the Numbing Down of the Church
Crisis in the Church

Interview with Kale Zelden and Larry Chapp on “Side Show Kale”: Part Three of the Numbing Down of the Church

Larry Chapp Larry Chapp
The Universal Call to Holiness: Part One. Political Liberalism, the Public Unreality of God, and the Bored Catholic
Crisis in the Church

The Universal Call to Holiness: Part One. Political Liberalism, the Public Unreality of God, and the Bored Catholic

“I pray with St. Augustine, ‘Lord, that I may know myself, in order to know Thee.” Dorothy Day, (“The Long Loneliness”) After my last series of posts on the “numbing

Larry Chapp Larry Chapp
Interview with Kale Zelden and Larry Chapp on the Numbing Down of the Church
Crisis in the Church

Interview with Kale Zelden and Larry Chapp on the Numbing Down of the Church

Linked below is my latest interview on the “Side Show Kale” videocast. We continue our discussion of the Numbing Down of the Church.

Larry Chapp Larry Chapp
The Numbing Down of the Church: Part Four: The Universal Call to Holiness and the Semi-Donatist Option (sort of)
Crisis in the Church

The Numbing Down of the Church: Part Four: The Universal Call to Holiness and the Semi-Donatist Option (sort of)

“In the early days of the Church, it appeared at first as self-evident that Christians must also be holy in the fullest sense of the word.  Accordingly, the struggle

Larry Chapp Larry Chapp
The Numbing Down of the Church: Part Three: The Tridentine Traditionalists and their Vendetta against Vatican II
Crisis in the Church

The Numbing Down of the Church: Part Three: The Tridentine Traditionalists and their Vendetta against Vatican II

“You are the way the truth and the life. You are the beginning of the new creation. Give me the courage to venture this new beginning, not merely in the

Larry Chapp Larry Chapp
Video Interview with Kale Zelden. Topic: The Numbing Down of the Church
Crisis in the Church

Video Interview with Kale Zelden. Topic: The Numbing Down of the Church

Last week I had the wonderful experience of being interviewed by podcaster Kale Zelden. Our conversation was focused on my latest blog series on the numbing down of the Church,

Larry Chapp Larry Chapp
Interview with Zac Crippen of the Creedal Catholic podcast. Topic: The Constantinian arrangement and its failures
Miscellaneous

Interview with Zac Crippen of the Creedal Catholic podcast. Topic: The Constantinian arrangement and its failures

Zac Rippen runs the Creedal Catholic podcast and I have now done three interviews on his show. This is the first video interview. The topics were all related to my

Larry Chapp Larry Chapp
The Numbing Down of the Church: Part Two. The Pod People Catholicism of the Left and the Right
Crisis in the Church

The Numbing Down of the Church: Part Two. The Pod People Catholicism of the Left and the Right

Blog Master’s Note: My original plan was to follow my first post in this series, which focused on Catholic liberals, with a post on the surging numbers of the

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A note to my subscribers
Miscellaneous

A note to my subscribers

Recently a “test” message was sent to my subscribers.  This was a result of upgrades and changes that are being made to the blog site.  My apologies for any confusion

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The Numbing Down of the Church: Part One. The Dung Beetles
Crisis in the Church

The Numbing Down of the Church: Part One. The Dung Beetles

Blog Masters Note: What follows is not a guest blog but the beginning of a new series of blogs by me entitled “The Numbing Down of the Church” which will

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Stranded Under the Southern Cross: News from a Shrinking Church
Crisis in the Church

Stranded Under the Southern Cross: News from a Shrinking Church

This is a story about a Church that got smaller, apparently overnight. In some places, it got so small that the people in it really started to feel lonely. I’

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In Defense of Vatican II
Defense of Vatican II

In Defense of Vatican II

Blog Master’s note: what follows is a guest blog from Apolonio Latar III.  His biographical information can be found at the end of the post.  This is a long

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The Valor of the Unshielded Heart: A Lenten Meditation
Best of Larry Chapp

The Valor of the Unshielded Heart: A Lenten Meditation

“But … the situation in which this truth emerges is now that of suffering … which lays man bare in his vulnerability, forcibly exposing and humiliating him.  Only a great and majestic

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Let’s Try Again: Anger and Church Reform
Crisis in the Church

Let’s Try Again: Anger and Church Reform

Blog Master’s Note: The following is the first in what I hope will be a series of guest blogs. Today’s post is by Teresa Messineo. Her biographical information

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The Constantinian Heathenism of the Church: Joseph Ratzinger and the Crisis of our Time
Best of Larry Chapp

The Constantinian Heathenism of the Church: Joseph Ratzinger and the Crisis of our Time

“The appearance of the church in the modern era shows that in a completely new way it has become a church of heathens, and increasingly so: no longer, as it

Larry Chapp Larry Chapp
Evangelization from Within Guardini’s “Threshold”
Communio Theology

Evangelization from Within Guardini’s “Threshold”

“There are those who experience profoundly the mystery of life at the threshold. They live decisively neither here nor there. They live in a no-man’s-land.  They experience

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