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I first heard of Liz Hansen a couple of years ago when I read her article in Crisis Magazine titled, “Franciscan University and Its Friars Face a Reckoning.

While I didn’t attend Franciscan University as a student, I did attend five Steubenville Youth Conferences when I was in high school and then at least four more as a chaperone. As I’ve written about before, it was at one of these conferences that I first encountered God in a tangible way. Franciscan University holds an important place in my heart.

I really appreciated what Liz had to say in her article about the clerical abuse and cover up that was happening at Franciscan University, so I looked her up and realized that she lived just a half hour from my house. I think I reached out to her on Twitter and we’ve become friends since. One of her children attended my wife’s painting classes this past summer, Liz and her husband have had us over to their house for dinner, and she even dropped off delicious pork tacos for us after our baby was born a few months ago.

I think Liz offers a real and healthy perspective on how to live in a Church where there is so much evil mixed in with the very real good.

This episode is available on Youtube and in your favorite podcast app!

*A heads up that this episode will include discussion about sexual assault and spiritual abuse.

This week, Paul and Dominic talk with Liz Hansen. A couple of years ago she wrote an article titled, “Franciscan University and Its Friars Face a Reckoning” about Fr. Dave Morrier, a former campus minister at Franciscan University of Steubenville who pled guilty to rape and sexual battery. Liz was a student at Franciscan while Morrier was director of household life. This story felt like a microcosm of the abuse and cover up that plagues the Catholic Church as a whole, so we talked about what it’s like being Catholic without denying the real good or the terrible evil in our Church.

Elizabeth Hansen graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville in 2008 with majors in English and Theology. She and her husband Luke met in the university’s Honors Great Books program; they raise their four children in Michigan. Elizabeth’s writing has appeared in Magnificat, Columbia Magazine, Plough, CruxNow.com, and FemCatholic.com.

Links:

Franciscan University and Its Friars Face a Reckoning https://www.crisismagazine.com/opinion/franciscan-university-and-its-friars-face-a-reckoning

New allegations charge Franciscan University abuse cover up
https://www.pillarcatholic.com/new-allegations-charge-franciscan-university-abuse-cover-up/

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Paul Fahey lives in Michigan with his wife and four kids. For the past eight years, he has worked as a professional catechist. He has an undergraduate degree in Theology and is currently working toward a Masters Degree in Pastoral Counseling. He is a retreat leader, catechist formator, writer, and a co-founder of Where Peter Is. He is also the founder and co-host of the Pope Francis Generation podcast. His long-term goal is to provide pastoral counseling for Catholics who have been spiritually abused, counseling for Catholic ministers, and counseling education so that ministers are more equipped to help others in their ministry.

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