On September 9th, 2023, I had a wonderful opportunity to discuss the life, work, and long friendship between the Catholic theologian, Gregory Baum, and the critical theorist, Rudolf J. Siebert. Gregory was born in Berlin but emigrated to Canada during World War II. While coming from a Jewish family, he eventually converted to Catholicism and became a Catholic priest, after reading St. Augustine’s Confessions. Along with Johannes Baptist Metz and Hans Küng, Baum was a a “peritus,” or theological advisor during the Second Vatican Council, where he was instrumental in rewriting the church’s relationship with the Jews – no longer calling for their conversions. He was also very interested in the Critical Theory of Religion, as developed by the Frankfurt School.

Baum passed away in October of 2017 in Canada. He was a prolific writer, scholar, and speaker, and a long-time friend of my doktorvater, Rudolf J. Siebert. I hope you all enjoy the discussion.

On June 28th, 2023, I had the opportunity to discuss the topic of Liberation Theology with the Critical Theorist and theologian, Dr. Rudolf J. Siebert. We covered many elements of Liberation Theology, including its history, the influence of Marxism and the Frankfurt School on it, as well as the opposition it withstood by the institutional Catholic Church. The discourse was sponsored by Ekpyrosis Press and the Institute for Critical Social Theory.