Podcast Episode 4
The Paulist Orders Issued
with Father Ron Franco & host Nick Walters
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This episode of This Week in Christian History is hosted by Nick Walters, founder and director of the Center for Christian History at Mississippi College. In this installment, Nick sits down with Fr. Ronald Franco of the Paulist Fathers for a deep exploration of the life, spiritual journey, and lasting influence of Isaac Hecker, the 19th-century Catholic convert who went on to establish the Paulist order. Hecker’s path was extraordinary: born into a German-American family in New York City, drawn for a time into the intellectual world of the Transcendentalists, and eventually led toward the Catholic Church by a profound longing to discover religious truth and to understand the work of the Holy Spirit in everyday life. After his ordination as a Redemptorist priest in 1849, Hecker became convinced that the Church in the United States needed a missionary society that was distinctly American in culture, language, and approach, one that could communicate the Catholic faith to a predominantly Protestant population through preaching, publishing, reasoned engagement, and public presence. This conviction set Hecker on a course that would change the landscape of American Catholicism.
The episode also explores how the Paulists established their mother church, the Church of St. Paul the Apostle, on Manhattan’s West Side. This massive Gothic-inspired structure served not only as a parish but also as a center for evangelization, education, and public outreach. From there, the Paulists developed innovative ministries in radio, film, ecumenical dialogue, campus chaplaincy, and publishing. Nick and Fr. Franco examine how Hecker’s belief that Catholicism could thrive within the American democratic experiment became one of the most influential concepts in the history of American Catholic thought. Even today, as the Paulists promote interreligious understanding, campus ministry, digital evangelization, and pastoral outreach across the United States, they continue to draw from Hecker’s conviction that the Holy Spirit is active in every age and that the Church must speak to the questions, hopes, and challenges of the people in front of it. The interview provides listeners an accessible window into the beginnings of the Paulists, the spiritual character of their founder, and the continuing energy of a community that has shaped American Catholic life for more than a century and a half.
March 4, 1849 – Prior to the passage of the 20th Amendment, presidential inaugurations were held on March 4. When that date arrived in 1849, it fell on a Sunday, and President-elect Zachary Taylor refused to take the oath on the Sabbath. The public ceremony was delayed until the following day, creating one of the more unusual moments in inauguration history. Although this did not legally leave the nation without a president, the awkward timing drew attention to the limitations of the March 4 schedule. Decades later, the 20th Amendment moved the start of the presidential term to January 20, providing a clearer and more practical transition from one administration to the next. Under the amendment, if January 20 falls on a Sunday, the public ceremony is held on January 21. Taylor’s presidency, brief and complicated by illness, lasted only about fifteen months before he became the second American president to die while in office.
March 7, 1274 – Thomas Aquinas, the Dominican theologian whose writings transformed Christian theology and Western philosophy, died on this date while traveling to the Second Council of Lyons. His most important work, the Summa Theologia, has shaped discussions of the nature of God, human virtue, reason, ethics, and salvation for centuries. Aquinas’s synthesis of Christian doctrine with Aristotelian philosophy provided the foundation for what later became known as Thomistic thought, which remains central to Catholic education, seminary formation, and scholarly study around the world. His approach to faith and reason helped Christians articulate their beliefs to both religious and secular audiences, and his influence continues to be felt in theology, political theory, and philosophy. Aquinas’s legacy is honored globally, including at Thomas Aquinas College in California, a Catholic institution inspired by his vision of integrating intellectual formation with spiritual life.
