Outcast Catholic drops final episode

After 243 episodes over 4.5 years and 173,000 downloads, the last Outcast Catholic episode was released April 2.

Co-hosts Father Shane Deman and Father Travis Crotty announced the end of their podcast project in their March 19 episode, “The Hardest Part – An Important Announcement.”

Father Deman is diocesan director of seminarians and vice-rector for Kenrick-Glennon Seminary and Father Crotty is diocesan director of vocations.

The Outcast Catholic show was described on their podcast home page as, “A Midwest podcast for all who feel like an outcast in the Catholic Church and for those who think the church is an outcast.”

The show kicked off in the midst of the COVID-19 lockdown in August 2020 when Father Deman was director of vocations and chaplain at Bishop Heelan High School in Sioux City and Father Crotty had just been ordained in June 2020 and was assigned to All Saints Parish and Gehlen Catholic High School in Le Mars.
Father Travis Crotty, left, and Father Shane Deman, right, in a 2020 promotional photo“Where is the Holy Spirit inviting us to use our time and our energy?” Father Deman reflected during the March 19 podcast episode. “Is he inviting us to go elsewhere to spend our energies in other ministries?”

As the podcast era came to a close, both priests pointed out that they are grateful for the support they received throughout the diocese for Outcast Catholic.

 “It was always our hope to reach out to those who feel disconnected from the church, either because of personal experiences or due to living in remote areas.  We also wanted to address the concerns of those who think that the church is an outcast to contemporary culture. Hopefully in our weekly topics we were able to speak into the realities that Midwest Catholics face,” Father Deman said.

Outcast Catholic episodes remain available on various podcast apps and on the Buzzsprout website: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1209812/episodes