Berkley Center

Emma Coley and Matthew Igoe both majored in religion at Princeton University, where they were active in Catholic life on campus. In this conversation, the friends discuss how they approach questions of theology, justice, and reform as the next generation of laypeople in the Church. 

This story was produced by David Dault at Sandburg Media, LLC.

This story is a part of the American Pilgrimage Project, a conversation series that invites Americans of diverse backgrounds to sit together and talk to each other one-to-one about the role their religious beliefs play at crucial moments in their lives. The interview was recorded by StoryCorps, a national nonprofit whose mission is to preserve and share humanity’s stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world.

Andrew Brown and Rebecca Ngu were active in church life and moved frequently during childhood because their fathers were Methodist and Pentecostal clergy, respectively. In this conversation, the friends discuss how being raised as the children of clergy has shaped how they approach their Christian faith as adults.

This story was produced by David Dault at Sandburg Media, LLC.

This story is a part of the American Pilgrimage Project, a conversation series that invites Americans of diverse backgrounds to sit together and talk to each other one-to-one about the role their religious beliefs play at crucial moments in their lives. The interview was recorded by StoryCorps, a national nonprofit whose mission is to preserve and share humanity’s stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world.

Titus Adenote and Isiaka Ambali are Nigerian immigrants to the United States, where they have found a sense of personal belonging and spiritual fulfilment in the Celestial Church. In this conversation, the friends reflect on how divine intervention has shaped their journeys in pursuit of the American dream. 

This story was produced by David Dault at Sandburg Media, LLC.

This story is a part of the American Pilgrimage Project, a conversation series that invites Americans of diverse backgrounds to sit together and talk to each other one-to-one about the role their religious beliefs play at crucial moments in their lives. The interview was recorded by StoryCorps, a national nonprofit whose mission is to preserve and share humanity’s stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world.

Olakunle Babalola and Oluwadamilare Alade both emigrated from Nigeria to the United States and have found a spiritual home in the Celestial Church of Christ, a global evangelical denomination. In this conversation, the friends reflect on their journey to the Celestial Church and consider the power of praying to God in the Yoruba language.

This story was produced by David Dault at Sandburg Media, LLC.

This story is a part of the American Pilgrimage Project, a conversation series that invites Americans of diverse backgrounds to sit together and talk to each other one-to-one about the role their religious beliefs play at crucial moments in their lives. The interview was recorded by StoryCorps, a national nonprofit whose mission is to preserve and share humanity’s stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world.

Julius Michael and Nguyet Pham—refugees from Sudan and Vietnam, respectively—have settled in the United States after being driven from their homelands by war. In this conversation, the co-workers discuss how they have kept their faith during their personal journeys and consider how religion shapes their outlooks on life.

This story was produced by David Dault at Sandburg Media, LLC.

This story is a part of the American Pilgrimage Project, a conversation series that invites Americans of diverse backgrounds to sit together and talk to each other one-to-one about the role their religious beliefs play at crucial moments in their lives. The interview was recorded by StoryCorps, a national nonprofit whose mission is to preserve and share humanity’s stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world.

Teresa Irwin and Meg Spesia are both members of the Catholic Worker Movement, a network of faith-inspired communities dedicated to social justice that was founded by Dorothy Day in the 1930s. In this conversation, the friends reflect on how personal experiences including religious pilgrimage and missionary work have shaped their faith in the unseen. 

This story was produced by David Dault at Sandburg Media, LLC.

This story is a part of the American Pilgrimage Project, a conversation series that invites Americans of diverse backgrounds to sit together and talk to each other one-to-one about the role their religious beliefs play at crucial moments in their lives. The interview was recorded by StoryCorps, a national nonprofit whose mission is to preserve and share humanity’s stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world.

The practice of female genital cutting (FGC, also termed female genital mutilation) troubles human rights activists because it persists, despite compelling evidence that it has no health benefits and involves serious dangers and harm. In this podcast Sean Callaghan, operations manager for 28 Too Many, a U.K.-based research institute looking at FGC across Africa, discusses the practice and approaches to speeding its eradication. He focuses on both the 28 African countries where the practice is widespread and on diaspora communities, especially in the United States.

Callaghan argues forcefully that a solid understanding of the diverse practices—for example, the age when cutting occurs and the rationales for it by those involved—is critical to the work to end it. Motivations, type, and cutters differ widely, so interventions, prevention, prosecution, and even social services structures must be adapted for different contexts. The discussion focuses on the at-risk population in the United States, which he estimates at about 500,000 people. The challenge is that communities that continue the practice simply go to supportive health professionals. 

Current efforts focus on strengthening the legislative framework around female genital cutting, as only about half the states have legislation banning FGC. The state of Washington, for example, has an at-risk population of about 25,000, with no legislation at all covering FGC. While laws do not prevent FGC, they signal an intention that this is not acceptable in our society and that helps activists and community workers who are working to shift cultural norms. 

He also reflects on different approaches to activism and advocacy, arguing that a combination of embedded grassroots and policy advocacy is needed to bring about real change. He argues for work to translate data into actionable intelligence. The practice, he emphasizes, is not about the faith: it's about the culture, and how faiths around the world have embraced certain cultural aspects in order to further religious aims. In the patriarchal structures of both Christianity and Islam, patriarchal theology is used to subjugate women. FGC must be seen as part of the bigger gender justice narrative, often linked to marriage and often to child marriage. It's linked to virginity and chastity, promiscuity, and purity narratives within both Islam and Christianity.

This interview was originally broadcast by On Being with Krista Tippett.

This conversation is between writers Flannery O’Connor and Walker Percy, social activist Dorothy Day, and the Trappist monk Thomas Merton. All four share a complex Catholic faith. Paul Elie drives the conversation through a Catholic imagination that still resonates in our time.