Podcasts. Substacks. Social media. Magazines. These are just four of the ways people are barraged with information on a daily basis. Never before, in the history of human civilization, has it been so easy to find the answer to anything and to be up to date on everything. It has also never been easier to be filled with nothing.
Pope St. John Paul II saw these rapidly developing new means of communication during his time as Supreme Pontiff and recognized their danger, but also their value. By using these new, emerging technologies properly, the same people who waste their time on Facebook can begin wasting their time well, being filled not with nothing, but instead with the fullness of Truth.
This story comes from the latest issue of Instaurare Magazine, the official magazine of Christendom College. Read more from Instaurare here!
Pope St. John Paul II looked to these new forms of communication as the means to promote his New Evangelization, first called for in 1983 and then proclaimed further throughout his pontificate. In 2005, in his pastoral letter The Rapid Development, Pope St. John Paul II wrote:
“The Church is not only called upon to use the mass media to spread the Gospel but, today more than ever, to integrate the message of salvation into the ‘new culture’ that these powerful means of communication create and amplify. It tells us that the use of the techniques and the technologies of contemporary communications is an integral part of its mission in the third millennium.”
These words have only grown more important as even more new technologies have gripped modern society — technologies that Christendom alumni are now using to spread the Gospel far and wide.
Blogs: Engaging the Online Culture
Even though 2025 has only just begun, people are set to spend the most time ever streaming videos daily — giving upwards of four hours of their day just to watching videos, whether on their phone or on their television. People are taking in ever-increasing amounts of content, but how much of it is Good, True, and Beautiful? Alumni Samuel Morales ’20 and Joe Wilson ’18 asked that same question and decided to offer a solution to Catholics everywhere, creating the 100 Movies Every Catholic Should See Substack blog and accompanying podcast.
A glimpse of the @100moviescatholic Instagram feed.
The blog is, in many ways, an expansion of the Vatican’s own Important Films list, which was released during Pope St. John Paul II’s pontificate. Wilson sees the blog as a way to answer Pope St. John Paul II’s call for a New Evangelization, aiming to educate and inspire Catholics everywhere through the power of the moving image.
“Pope St. John Paul II released Novo Millennio Ineunte, his major encyclical on the New Evangelization, at the end of the Jubilee Year of 2000 on January 6, 2001. I was standing there in St. Peter’s Square that day, and so I have always considered that to be a direct call from God to work on this great project of his,” says Wilson. “The New Evangelization is two-fold: first, to re-evangelize Christians and renew in them the life of the Holy Spirit, and then second for those same Christians to spread the Gospel to every corner of the globe. As a lay endeavor, we are doing our best to accomplish both missions, by inspiring Catholics through great movies and drawing others to Catholicism by drawing out the Good, True, and Beautiful in these movies.”
Alumni Sam Morales ’20 and Joe Wilson ’18.
Morales and Wilson started the blog in April of 2023, dropping weekly reviews of their curated list of 100 movies every Catholic should see, starting with A Man for All Seasons and finishing with Ben-Hur 100 weeks later in February of 2025. Along the way, they have published other movie reviews, deep dives, and hosted a number of podcast episodes featuring Catholic filmmakers, with over 1000 subscribers consuming their edifying content each week.
With their first two years under the belt, the two have big plans for the blog, podcast, and accompanying YouTube channel as well, as they hope to continue evangelizing and bringing positive Catholic content to the masses.
“We hope to convey to Catholics especially that cinema is an art form that merits as much study as painting and literature, and that there are a lot of great films out there that they should watch that might not necessarily fit the mold of what one would expect a Catholic to watch,” says Morales. “We have films like Ben-Hur and The Passion of the Christ on our list, but also The Godfather, Spider-Man 2, and No Country for Old Men. All of these are great films because of the craft that went into them, the themes present in the story, and their lasting place within cinema history.”
Podcasting: Changing the Culture Through Longform Conversations
In 2023 alone, over 450 million people listened to podcasts, with this number expected to reach nearly 620 million by 2026. It is essential to reach people via this new form of media, and alumni — like Anna (née Forst) McMahon ’17 — are working hard to bring edifying content to the masses.
Alumna Anna (née Forst) McMahon ’17.
McMahon launched The Woman Aesthetic podcast in 2024 — a show dedicated to elevating, inspiring, and restoring the true meaning of femininity through a blend of faith, culture, and exploring the multi-dimensional life of every woman. McMahon never imagined herself doing any sort of public speaking, let alone starting a podcast. However, after witnessing society’s struggle to define womanhood, she felt compelled to explore its true essence and reveal its relevance and purpose in today’s world.
“Every Christian has a duty in spreading the Gospel wherever they are and with the means in their possession,” says McMahon. “The mission of my podcast is to evangelize women and help them understand their God-given identity, dignity and purpose. It’s heartbreaking to see women widely misinformed about their identity and exploited online, either by their own doing or by others. I want my podcast to spark deeper conversations about the wonderful potential and goodness in women.”
Dropping episodes every other Friday on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Rumble, McMahon interviews guests on a variety of topics revolving around the idea of how the feminine genius and the beauty of being a woman are a necessity in modern times. Since launching the podcast, McMahon has seen a beautiful community grow around it, with listeners finding the encouragement to examine aspects of their lives, such as their health journey or recognizing their inherent worth. Others have expressed that it has been a great tool in their discernment process.
“I pray that this podcast will reach those who need it most and that the community of women will continue to grow,” says McMahon.
Magazines & Print Media: A Lasting Legacy
The digital media landscape can be vast — and overwhelming. Over the past decade especially, the internet has exploded with content, with this endless stream of noise leaving many feeling overwhelmed and sometimes out of touch with the surrounding world. It was this noise and disconnect that convinced alumni Rachel Gerring ‘18, Mikaela Bailey ‘20, Emily (née Bailey) DeVos ‘18, and Maria Gerring ‘22 to return to the lasting value of printed magazines, creating their own this past year: Trivium.
“Though all four of us are classically educated, we also live in and work in the modern world,” says Rachel Gerring. “Our approach to creating a magazine with ‘old fashioned print media’ is to make something for readers of all ages and backgrounds that features timeless truths in a beautiful, ‘modern’ way. Growing up, my parents subscribed to many solid Catholic print publications, but none of them had the visual appeal of more artsy secular magazines. With Trivium, we hope to combine the solid written content with a look and feel that is relevant and appeals to readers who are used to viewing visually appealing content on digital platforms.”
Trivium magazine’s founding team (L to R): alumni Maria Gerring ’22, Rachel Gerring ’18, Mikaela Bailey ’20, and Emily (Bailey) DeVos ’18.
Trivium is a quarterly magazine, with new issues being released in July, October, January, and April. Each issue strives to feature a variety of content that “will edify, entertain, and educate,” just as Pope St. John Paul II called for, including long academic articles, poetry, artwork, photography, liturgical calendars, and more.
Since launching, the magazine has already garnered a dedicated subscriber base ranging from high-school students to great-grandmothers, with readers of all backgrounds being impacted by the beauty and timeless truths highlighted in each issue — just as the editors always hoped for.
“Our writers are constantly engaging with classical questions and ideals that have been a part of the Christian life,” says DeVos. “We’re always trying to make sense of the life we’ve been given and the heavenly destiny towards which we aim. The magazine is a sort of microcosm of the Church in this way, and thus an encouragement for all our readers to continue on that path. To use our creativity to glorify God in a way that is communal and wholesome.”
Put Out into the Deep
In so many ways, people are more connected than ever — and yet more disconnected than ever at the same time. With so many new forms of communication now available, people can get lost in the endless noise and distractions. It can be a daunting task to look at today’s vast media landscape and wonder: “How can I hope to make an impact?”
And yet, Pope St. John Paul II provides a simple answer and a call: “Do not be afraid. Do not be satisfied with mediocrity. Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch…. I plead with you — never, ever give up on hope, never doubt, never tire, and never become discouraged. Be not afraid.”
Each of these alumni has answered that call, using both new forms of media and old to bring the New Evangelization to a culture in desperate need of the True, the Good, and the Beautiful. They are not alone in this mission either, with numerous other alumni launching podcasts, writing books, writing for blogs, starting YouTube shows, and more.
The Church has been given a mandate to use today’s media to spread the Gospel to every corner of the earth. These alumni are answering that mandate, working hard to “restore all things in Christ,” one podcast, article, and social media post at a time.
Written by Zach Smith.
Read more from Instaurare Magazine here.