The goal of the Forte Catholic Podcast is to inspire, uplift, and share the Good News in a way that will help you take the next step in your faith, no matter where you are on your journey with God.

Taylor Schroll 10/30/24 Taylor Schroll 10/30/24

Burying St. Joseph, Angry Parishioners & Sinning in Church w/ Fr. Anthony Sciarappa | Forte Catholic Podcast 404

Fr. Anthony gets off an all-time rant, Taylor ponders changing his stance on burying St. Joseph to sell his house & asks the good priest some confession themed theological questions.

Working in the Church can be difficult. Fr. Anthony is proving that with the week he is currently having! He goes off about how crazy parishioners can be and Taylor just sits there with a stupid big grin on his face.

Then, Taylor gives an update on his house not selling and how it may be time for his to reconsider his previous stance on a popular superstition and/or Catholic practice in order to sell the house more quickly.

Finally, Taylor asks some questions about commiting sins in a Church which leads to some fun thought experiments.

Donate
Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Produced by Taylor Schroll
Editing & Episode art by Sarah Allen

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 8/21/24 Taylor Schroll 8/21/24

Kathryn Whitaker: Parenting Guru | Forte Catholic Podcast 397

Taylor is in a new stage of parenting with a JUNIOR HIGH STUDENT and kids at two different campuses for the first time. We know a few of you have been through this and...HOW DO YOU DO IT!?!?! Kathryn shares some tips, tricks, encouragement and tough love with Taylor on the things that have worked best for her, especially in new seasons of parenting. To close out the show, Taylor shares one of the biggest things that Catholics LOVE that is actually currently annoying him.

Taylor is in a new stage of parenting with a JUNIOR HIGH STUDENT and kids at two different campuses for the first time. We know a few of you have been through this and...HOW DO YOU DO IT!?!?!

Kathryn shares some tips, tricks, encouragement and tough love with Taylor on the things that have worked best for her, especially in new seasons of parenting.

To close out the show, Taylor shares one of the biggest things that Catholics LOVE that is actually currently annoying him.

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 6/26/24 Taylor Schroll 6/26/24

Storms & Duplication of Mission | Forte Catholic Podcast Ep 391

Taylor shares some funny insights he had into the storm themed readings from this past Sunday. GOD DOESN'T CARE ABOUT YOUR STORM!!! ...but he does care about you! He also shares about a breakthrough he's had in how he's thinking about his career in regards to duplication of mission. This came after a meeting with a Vatican official(FANCY!)

Taylor shares some funny insights he had into the storm themed readings from this past Sunday. GOD DOESN'T CARE ABOUT YOUR STORM!!! ...but he does care about you!

He also shares about a breakthrough he's had in how he's thinking about his career in regards to duplication of mission. This came after a meeting with a Vatican official(FANCY!)

We hope you enjoy this shorter summer episode :)

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 6/19/24 Taylor Schroll 6/19/24

50th Birthday, The King & Redemption w/ Kathryn Whitaker | Forte Catholic Podcast Ep 390

Kathryn celebrates a monumental birthday, is part of a record breaking concert & Taylor has his deepest spiritual insight of the year! Quite the episode!

Kathryn celebrates her 50th birthday this week & has a cool announcement about a new project and shares what it was like being a part of the largest concert in US History, seeing George Strait perform at Texas A&M to 110k people.

Taylor shares the deepest spiritual insight he's received in a year that came from a surprising source. We hope it impacts you as much as it has him.

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 5/22/24 Taylor Schroll 5/22/24

Liturgical Music & Catholic Superstitions w/ Fr. Anthony Sciarappa | Forte Catholic Podcast Ep 387

Taylor shares about a cool "crossover Mass" that the local Catholic school does and then yells about the music at Mass. He has a new rant for Fr. Anthony who tries to help him out with this issue and a strange superstition Taylor has about prayer. Is anyone else as crazy as this?!?!

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 3/13/24 Taylor Schroll 3/13/24

Comedy of Errors & Eucharistic Questions w/ Fr Anthony Sciarappa | Forte Catholic Podcast Ep 379

LENT IS HAPPENING! The suffering continues in a true comedy of errors for today's two hosts. They commiserate about the last couple weeks & then play a brand new game to try and stave off despair. They close the show with a deep discussion about what transubstantiation actually does.

Taylor & Fr. Anthony Sciarappa jump right in to discuss their frustrating and difficult past couple of weeks. Taylor can only laugh as he shares the comedy of errors occuring in his life.

Next, they play a brand new game to try and lighten the mood. The game was stolen from social media and we're not exactly sure how it went. You'll either love it or hate it! lol

Then to close the show, they get into a theological discussion of the accidents and substance of the Eucharist. Taylor thought he knew what all this meant until he thought about it for a while. The more he thought, the more confused he became(typical smh). Fr. Anthony answers his questions and shares his expertise in an attempt to help Taylor (and hopefully you) understand one of the central mysteries of our faith.

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 2/21/24 Taylor Schroll 2/21/24

GOF Wedding, Internet Friends & Long Homilies w/ Allison Sullivan | Forte Catholic Podcast Ep 377

Taylor shares about traveling to North Carolina for the GOF wedding, having a great time with dozens of internet friends he met in person for the first time & some new fancy food that made him realize he's an idiot. This leads to Allison sharing about her own wedding & some hilarious stories of her kids in Mass.

Taylor shares about he and his wife's recent trip to North Carolina for the Game of Favorites wedding between our friends Peter and Yenza. They met dozens of internet friends in person for the first time, had a tremendous time celebrating the newlyweds & some fancy food(that made Taylor realize he's an idiot!) This leads to Allison sharing about her own wedding, some hilarious stories of her kids in Mass & Schitt's Creek(of course!).

Taylor also shares about one of the longest homilies he's ever heard and some of the strangest things he saw at a recent Mass. It's like they did EVERYTHING POSSIBLE to make the Mass a hostage situation.

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 8/16/23 Taylor Schroll 8/16/23

Candlelight Mass & the Morality of the Zombie Apocalypse w/ Fr. Anthony Sciarappa (Live from Pittsburgh!) | Forte Catholic Podcast Ep 350

Our 350th Episode Live from Fr. Anthony's Rectory! They discuss a fancy candlelit Mass that Taylor attended & Fr. Anthony's parish. They have a conversation about fancy Churches, prayer entrapment & the grace of ordination. They also have a long awaited conversation about the morality of the zombie apocalypse! What would you do!?!?

Our 350th Episode Live from Fr. Anthony's Rectory!

They discuss a fancy candlelit Mass that Taylor attended & Fr. Anthony's parish. They have a conversation about fancy Churches, prayer entrapment & the grace of ordination. They also have a long awaited conversation about the morality of the zombie apocalypse! What would you do!?!?

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 7/19/23 Taylor Schroll 7/19/23

Heavy Burdens, Rejuvenation & In Persona Christi w/Fr. Anthony Sciarappa | Forte Catholic Podcast Ep 347

Father is back from vacation feeling great! He shares how Jesus' burden is light(even when it feels heavy) & answers questions about when priests are In Persona Christi, especially during Mass.

Fr. Anthony is back from a well-deserved family vacation and joins Taylor to share about the important of rejuvenation, especially for priests. He talks about how changing up the normal routine, spending time with family and simplifying life is good.

Taylor shares about a recent Sunday gospel that he struggled with. Jesus says his yoke is easy and his burden light, but it often feels heavy. He shares a hilarious experience he had with the homily that day and Fr. Anthony shares his insight into how Jesus can lighten our burdens.

Finally, Taylor has two questions about when a priest is In Persona Christi & when he isn't particularly during the Mass. What if a priest says something crazy during a homily? Is the priest as Jesus eating Jesus' body in the Eucharist. New and strange questions that we enjoyed exploring the answers to. We hope you enjoy this episode :)

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 3/29/23 Taylor Schroll 3/29/23

The Mass, Pastoral Care & Slippery Slopes w/Fr. Will Rooney | Forte Catholic Podcast Ep 333

Taylor's associate pastor, Fr. Will Rooney, joins the show to chat about pastorally making changes to a parish and the Mass & the strangeness of slippery slope arguments.

Taylor has known Fr. Will since his early seminary days and he is now the associate pastor at his parish. Fr. Will comes in studio to chat about the Mass & Pastoral Care. Particularly how to make changes to the Mass over time in a way where the people in the pews won't revolt. Taylor has some compliments and some challenges for the young priest on that front. Some lively conversation and hilarity ensues.

They close out the show with Taylor sharing about how tired he is of "slippery slope" arguments. He sees them all the time and thinks they're one of the dumbest ways to argue. He gets Fr. Will's thoughts on some common Catholic slippery slope arguments.

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 12/14/22 Taylor Schroll 12/14/22

Broken Podcaster, Soccer, Spelling Bees & Anxiety w/Allison Sullivan | Forte Catholic Podcast Ep 318

Allison Sullivan joins Taylor as he shares how podcasting has broken him in two ways: one during Mass and the other in normal conversations. They also discuss their thoughts on soccer during the World Cup, a difficult story from a spelling bee(didn't see that one coming) and some overall thoughts on dealing with anxiety and seasonal depression.

We're not therapists but we hope you and enjoy our honest conversation with the signature Forte Catholic laughter through the pain ;)

Subscribe/Rate

Never miss out on the craziness of each episode by hitting the subscribe button RIGHT NOW! Help other people find the show and #MakeCatholicismFunAgain by taking a few moments to leave a review in your podcasting app. Thanks!

Donate
Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 11/2/22 Taylor Schroll 11/2/22

Lions, Lambs & Mass Class w/Fr. Dave Dwyer & Jon Blevins | Forte Catholic Podcast Ep 312

Jon Blevins cohosts as Taylor shares his mixed feelings on music by a former Catholic, now atheist being played at Mass. They also discuss how Jesus can simultaneously be the seemingly contradictory Lion and the Lamb and what that means for us. We're also joined by special guest Fr. Dave Dwyer to discuss his impressive media career and the launch of his new book on the Mass.

Jon Blevins cohosts as Taylor shares his mixed feelings on music by a former Catholic, now atheist being played at Mass. It was initially frustrating but then ended in hope. They also discuss how Jesus can simultaneously be the seemingly contradictory Lion and the Lamb and what that means for us.

We're also joined today by very special guest Fr. Dave Dwyer of the "Busted Halo Show" on Sirius XM's "The Catholic Channel." Taylor has looked up to Fr. Dave for years and Fr. Dave's show has been a huge influence on Taylor's approach to Catholic media. After years of working in media, including stints at MTV & Comedy Central, Fr. Dave has written his first book "Mass Class." He answers some of our most pressing questions about the Mass as well as some of the strangest he's received through the years. Listen to Fr. Dave's show on "The Catholic Channel", check out the podcast wherever you enjoy pods and get his new book today. (https://www.paulistpress.com/Products/0666-0/mass-class.aspx ).

Subscribe/Rate

Donate
Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 8/11/22 Taylor Schroll 8/11/22

Morbius, Steve Rogers & "Is This a Sin"? w/Fr. Anthony Sciarappa | Forte Catholic Podcast Ep 301

Fr. Anthony Sciarappa & Taylor Schroll discuss the best hate mail the show has ever received, a very odd Mass experience Taylor had and they play their "Is That a Sin" game!

Fr. Anthony Sciarappa & Taylor Schroll share their thoughts on last week's episode 300 celebration. They also discuss the love they received from the episode & the best piece of hate mail the show has ever gotten!

Taylor shares the story about the Sunday Mass he went to on vacation about how it made him feel like he was in the Matrix! Everything about the experience was just a bit odd or strange. He shares the strange story with Fr. Anthony to get his thoughts on the matter.

Finally, they play the "Is This a Sin?" game where Taylor presents hypothetical scenarios that may or may not be from his personal life and asks if the decisions made were sinful or not. This may be Fr. Anthony's favorite segment we ever do on the show. We hope you enjoy it! :)

Subscribe/Rate

Donate
Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 6/8/22 Taylor Schroll 6/8/22

Jon Unleashed, Unanswered Prayer & Weird Traditions w/Jon Blevins | Forte Catholic Podcast Ep 292

Taylor has a backhanded compliment for Jon & shares a few food takes & reactions to some odd news stories with Jon that leads to a conversation about a Scripture verse Taylor has struggled with. Finally, they rant about a weird Catholic tradition. Enjoy!

Taylor has a backhanded compliment for Jon. This unleashes Jon's full potential!!! They discuss an odd article about Jon that Taylor found in the deepest parts of the web.

Taylor shares a few food takes & reactions to some odd news stories with Jon that leads to a conversation about a Scripture verse Taylor has struggled with: Ask, Seek, Knock. They try to figure out how that verse works for seemingly unanswered prayers.

Finally, they rant about a weird Catholic tradition. Enjoy!

Subscribe/Rate

Donate
Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 6/1/22 Taylor Schroll 6/1/22

Stepping on Toes, Bad Decisions & The Saints w/Fr. Anthony Sciarappa | Forte Catholic Podcast Ep 291

A recent fiasco at one of Fr. Anthony's Masses drove Taylor crazy and he's no longer worried about stepping on people's toes. Fr. Anthony wants a tattoo and Taylor yells at him. We close out the show with a Fr. Anthony Q&A session. Enjoy!

Fr. Anthony recently gave communion for 45 minutes straight at a Mass because he didn't have help. This drove Taylor crazy and makes him share a recent change to how he goes about life. He's tired of worrying about stepping on people's toes and he's just going to step up instead. (Not like in the movie Step Up though. He can't dance)

Then Fr. Anthony shares about two life changes he wants to make and Taylor isn't really on board with either: a consecration to Mary(which he has questions about) and a tattoo(which Taylor thinks is dumb for Fr. Anthony). It's quite a wild conversation.

Finally, Taylor asks Father Anthony small group questions from a recent retreat he led for High School students. Tune in to see how Fr. Anthony does!

Subscribe/Rate

Donate
Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 3/30/22 Taylor Schroll 3/30/22

Live from Chicago w/Jon Blevins | Forte Catholic Podcast Ep 285

Taylor went to Jon's house for his annual March Madness party and they recorded a podcast together. This is their first ever recording in person and it was a blast!

They chatted about the weekend: hanging out with 50 dudes & having Mass in Jon's house. They kept the sports theme going with comparing an elusive baseball stat with our spiritual life. And they played an intense round of our saints game of Imitate, Intercess or Ignore!

Subscribe/Rate

Donate
Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 2/9/22 Taylor Schroll 2/9/22

Bored at Mass, Auxiliary Bishops & Worst Dates w/Jon Blevins | Forte Catholic Podcast Ep 278

Usually it's Jon bringing the hot takes but this week Taylor is unhinged and Jon is incredibly pastoral. They discuss a common trope about boring Masses that Taylor no longer agrees with & how auxiliary bishops are pretty much made up. This leads to questioning if some of the Church's rules are pharisaical or not. They also discuss their best and worst dates ever in preparation for Valentine's Day.

Usually it's Jon bringing the hot takes but Taylor has some things to get off his chest this week. Spicy!

They kick it off with a conversation about the phrase "If you're bored at Mass, you'll be bored in Heaven." It's a common phrase from people in ministry and online personalities but Taylor doesn't agree with it anymore and he explains why.

Next, they discuss how strange the idea of auxiliary bishops actually is and Taylor argues that Bishops making up rules for their comfort makes him wonder why he has to follow random Catholic rules. Are the rules Pharisaical? The convo includes thoughts on fasting requirements and...NFP!?!?

Finally, as this is the last episode before Valentine's Day, Jon & Taylor both share their best and worst ever date stories and how they met their wives.

Enjoy this episode with unhinged Taylor and incredibly pastoral Jon!

Subscribe/Rate

Donate
Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 7/28/21 Taylor Schroll 7/28/21

Kids at Mass, Martyrs & Satanists w/Fr. Anthony Sciarappa | Forte Catholic Podcast Ep 250

Taylor brings the heat this week with some hot takes on kids in Mass, Martyrs and Satanists. Fr. Anthony isn't just along for the ride but tries to guide him back to sanity.

Parents often feel unwelcome in Mass with their little kids. There are often glares and "shushes" from other parishioners. Because of this, there has been a public outcry for allowing and welcoming kids in Mass. BUT Taylor thinks the pendulum has squng too far! With such a focus on welcoming kids in Mass, there has been less of a push on parents parenting their kids during the Mass. He shares a horrendous story of this happening at a recent Mass and tries to bring the conversation back to the middle and some sanity.

Taylor's next take on martyrdom has Fr. Anthony very worried about him. Taylor wonders why Christians have to accept martydom in the case of someone making you deny your faith. Why not let them hear what they want to hear knowing you don't mean it? Why not just plan on going to Confession? How does culpability come in to play if you're forced to do something at gun point. He asks the questions and Fr. Anthony tries his best to answer.

Finally, after the two hot takes, Taylor plays it safe but saying how dumb he thinks satanism is. It is the belief system that makes the least amount of sense. Like seeing the losing side and picking them. Very odd.

We hope you enjoy this absolutely wild episode to celebrate 250 episodes and 150k downloads! Thanks y'all!

Subscribe/Rate

Donate
Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 6/16/21 Taylor Schroll 6/16/21

Forte Catholic Podcast Episode 244

Fr. Anthony & Taylor discuss the premise "real men only compliment each other behind their backs." They play an absolutely wild game of Forte/Mezzo/Piano with flaming hot takes from a rocket scientist. Finally, you've heard the Pange Lingua but have no idea what it means. We're gonna change that.

Taylor kicks off the show with an announcement of a fun update to the show. He & Fr. Anthony also discuss the premise from a recent Marvel post that "real men only compliment each other behind their backs" which leads to a fun conversation about friendship.

Next, JP Quinn rejoins the show to play the game he invented: Forte, Mezzo, Piano. He shares hot takes that Father Anthony and Taylor have to grade and share their views on. Man, let me tell you, JP wanted absolute chaos this week and he got it. Fr. Anthony and Taylor haven't been this united in months as they take aim at JP's ridiculous takes. Absolute blood bath lol

Finally, you've heard the Pange Lingua, but have zero clue what it means in English. We're going to fix that. Enjoy!

Subscribe/Rate

Donate
Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 5/19/21 Taylor Schroll 5/19/21

Forte Catholic Podcast Episode 240

Fr. Anthony cohosts what is probably our funniest show of the year! We find the show's Life Verse, Taylor has a hot take on virtue signaling and Fr. Anthony messed up in Mass and we have video proof lolol. Enjoy!

Fr. Anthony cohosts what is probably our funniest show of the year! We kick it off by bringing back the old Life Verse segment to decide what the Life Verse for the show is. This leads to a conversation on if Mary could have possibly influenced the Gospels...hmm...

Next, Taylor shares a hot take about virtue signaling he's been holding back for a while. Should Christians bash virtue signaling or champion it? Strap in...this one's a wild ride!!!

The final segment is really really special. We have two more videos of Fr. Anthony making mistakes in Mass AND BOY ARE THESE HILARIOUS! We watch the videos and then ask him to explain himself lol. All good fun :)

Subscribe/Rate

Donate
Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.