Plague: Untold Stories of AIDS and the Catholic Church

Nov 14 2021 654
Plague: Untold Stories of AIDS and the Catholic Church Podcast artwork

In "Plague" journalist Michael O'Loughlin investigates stories of the AIDS epidemic and the Catholic Church. Mike is America’s national correspondent and he’s covered Catholicism for more than a decade. Mike is also gay and Catholic—and he’s curious how others manage this sometimes complex identity. No time in modern history has been more volatile for gay Catholics than the height of the AIDS epidemic. So he spent the last few years interviewing people who were right in the middle of it. People who fought, worked and grieved through it.

RSS feed Share
Copy RSS


Subscribe on Podcast Addict


How Dorothy Day inspired gay Catholic Workers to respond to AIDS

Nov 14 2021 40 mins  
The production of Plague is made possible by our digital subscribers. To support Plague and access all of America's content, subscribe today! In this bonus episode of Plague, Michael O’Loughlin visits a Catholic Worker House in Syracuse, N.Y. to explore how Dorothy Day’s movement responded to the H.I.V. and AIDS crisis. Journey into a part of the Catholic Worker that is rarely

Lessons from Plague for LGBT Catholics today

Jul 21 2020 36 mins  
Please support "Plague" by getting a digital subscription to America: tap or click here! In this bonus episode, host Michael O'loughlin has a conversation with Michael Vazquez, religion and faith director for Human Rights Campaign, about issues affecting LBGT Catholics today . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AIDS, the Catholic Church and LGBT issues today

Jan 11 2020 35 mins  
Please support "Plague" by getting a digital subscription to America: tap or click here! In the series finale of ‘Plague,’ Mike looks at what’s happening in the church in HIV and AIDS care today and then reflects on comments and questions from listeners about the ongoing debates over LGBT issues in the Catholic Church. In Rustenburg, South Africa, where today AIDS is dispropo

A Catholic Sister learns to serve people with AIDS

Dec 28 2019 35 mins  
Please support "Plague" by getting a digital subscription to America: tap or click here! In the fifth episode of "Plague," Mike visits the small Midwestern city of Belleville, Illinois, where a Catholic Sister broke ground in the 1980s by opening an organization to provide services for people living with HIV and AIDS. Though she was a trained ICU and ER nurse, Sister Carol Baltosie

A gay Catholic Church in the Castro

Dec 21 2019 39 mins  
Please support "Plague" by getting a digital subscription to America: tap or click here! In the fourth episode of “Plague,” Mike visits a Catholic Church in the Castro–San Francisco’s LGBT neighborhood–that transformed itself during the 80s and 90s into what parishioners called a “gay church.” It took the delicate balance of an innovative pastor, committed gay parishi

The cost of AIDS ministry to a gay priest

Dec 14 2019 37 mins  
Please support "Plague" by getting a digital subscription to America: tap or click here! Early in the AIDS epidemic, there was little in the way of medical treatment available. But spiritual guidance and accompaniment was in high demand. Patients had questions similar to those anyone else with a terminal illness might have: Are my affairs in order? Am I reconciled with my loved one

The Catholic hospital that pioneered AIDS care

Dec 07 2019 34 mins  
Please support "Plague" by getting a digital subscription to America: tap or click here! In the second episode of “Plague,” Mike asks: how did a Catholic hospital become a safe haven for the gay community? It turns out, the path wasn’t straightforward. This episode tells the story of St. Vincent's Hospital, run by the Sisters of Charity of New York. Featured voices include Dr

Surviving the AIDS crisis as a gay Catholic

Nov 30 2019 40 mins  
Please support "Plague" by getting a digital subscription to America: tap or click here! In this episode of "Plague," Michael O'Loughlin tells the story of David Pais, whose journey exemplifies the experience of many gay Catholics who were personally affected by the AIDS epidemic in the early days. He describes the role his faith played helping him cope with his own diagnosis—and

PLAGUE: Coming Dec. 1

Nov 14 2019 2 mins  
Please support "Plague" by getting a digital subscription to America: tap or click here! In "Plague" journalist Michael O'Loughlin investigates stories of the AIDS epidemic and the Catholic Church. Mike is America’s national correspondent and he’s covered Catholicism for more than a decade. Mike is also gay and Catholic—and he’s curious how others manage this sometimes comp