Podcasts have been around for several years now, but for Catholics wishing to listen to engaging, regular content from a faith perspective, there hasn’t been a whole lot of local options. While there’s an abundance of popular podcasts created in other countries, Australian Catholics are only just starting to build a presence in the medium.
Today, one can find a good range of podcasts created by Australian Catholics from regular homilies or prayer podcasts providing spiritual nourishment, to discussions and reflections for families, youth, women and culture.
Podcasts are free and highly accessible, with most podcasts available on a variety of different hosting platforms, such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and many others. Listeners can subscribe to a podcast and be notified of new episodes, or they can simply choose to listen to a podcast episode at a time and place that suits them. The topics covered in the podcasts mentioned in this article allow listeners to grow in their spiritual life through learning more about the Catholic faith, as well as broadening one’s understanding of what it means to be a follower of Christ in today’s world.
With the growing number of Australian podcasts, the three categories below stand out. You can find more on our comprehensive List of Catholic Podcasts in Australia.
Homilies, Prayer and Reflections
If you’re looking for regular homilies and reflections, generally based on the Sunday Gospel, there are a few different options.
Fr Andrew Doohan from the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle provides weekly homilies as part of his podcast, The Doohan Discourse. The Diocese of Armidale’s Fr Paul Chandler does likewise in his podcast, Behold I stand at the door and knock…. Fr Rob Galea, of the Sandhurst Diocese, reflects on the Sunday Gospel readings in his podcast, Catholic Influencers Fr Rob Galea Homilies.
In the Archdiocese of Adelaide, Fr Peter Zwaans started a podcast called Corona of Thorns in 2020 to minister to people housebound due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The podcast continues today with reflections each Sunday on the Gospel.
There’s also the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Australia Podcast, which provides weekly homilies in Ukrainian for the members of its communities around the country.
Short daily Gospel reflections can also be found at The Furnace podcast, produced by the Archdiocese of Sydney, and the self-titled Archdiocese of Brisbane podcast.
Another reflection upon Scripture passages is the new Australian Women Preach podcast, an initiative of Women and the Australian Church (WATAC) and the Grail in Australia. Finally, the Archdiocese of Perth’s audio offering named The Record features a mix of feature interviews and faith-building reflections and prayers.
Exploring Catholic Teaching
For those seeking more formational content that explores Catholic teaching, there are several podcasts that fit this criteria. The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s Office for Social Justice produces The Revolution of Tenderness – conversations about living the tradition of Catholic social thought and practice. Sydney Auxiliary Bishop Richard Umbers hosts The Episcopal Podcast, which seeks to bring the elements of the Christian intellectual tradition to bear on contemporary issues.
There are also several other organisations and individuals delving into the podcast world, such as Parousia Media (Parousia Podcast) and Parramatta’s George Manassa (The Catholic Toolbox).
Conversations of Faith
A growing number of podcasts addressing topics of faith and life are now appearing, such as the Diocese of Wollongong’s The Journey and the Diocese of Bathurst’s Faith and Life podcast. There’s also Fr Rob Galea’s Catholic Influencers podcast (separate from his previously mentioned homilies podcast), which provides weekly conversations about upcoming Sunday Mass readings, as well as current social topics from a Catholic perspective.
One of the longest-running Catholic podcasts in Australia is the Archdiocese of Sydney’s This Catholic Life. Hosted by Peter Holmes, the show features local Catholics in conversation on current and relevant topics. A similar podcast, produced by Star Quest Media, is Catholics of Oz, which is hosted by three Melbourne-based lay Catholics, who discuss faith, culture and news in an Australian context.
Finally, there are several podcasts aimed at specific audiences:
- Genius Podcast for Women – hosted by Karen Doyle.
- Universal Sisterhood – created and hosted by Blue Mountains (NSW) mother Jessica Doherty.
- The Catholic Teacher Podcast – hosted by Jonathan Doyle.
- At The Well – an offering of the Diocese of Parramatta for young Catholic women.
- Arch D Radio – a podcast for youth created by the Archdiocese of Adelaide.
- Living Fullness Podcast – also aimed at youth and young adults and produced by Virtue Ministry in the Diocese of Wagga Wagga.
- Figuring out Families – created by Majellan Media and tailored for parents.
Have you discovered other Australian Catholic podcasts not mentioned in this article or on our website? Please share with us by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Words: Matthew Biddle