With his popular podcast boasting one billion downloads, Father Mike Schmitz discusses his conversion back to the faith and how he always remembers ‘who the real Star is.’
When EWTN News’ Colm Flynn sat down with Father Mike Schmitz in Dublin, the setting carried a quiet irony. The popular host of The Bible in a Year podcast had brought his sold-out “Parables Tour” out of the United States for the very first time, filling the Irish capital’s National Stadium on a warm July summer evening.
Yet as the two discussed his journey, Father Schmitz made a point to keep the event’s success in perspective:
“I don’t feel famous. Just remember who the real Star is.”
Catholic Roots of the Emerald Isle
For Father Schmitz, returning to Ireland was a long-awaited homecoming. With family roots in Cork through his paternal grandmother, he reflected on the profound spiritual debt he owed to the Emerald Isle.
“Virtually all of my priests growing up were from Ireland,” he explained.
“Almost every priest who was significant in my life came from here, and then I know that the faith here has been struggling … so it was: Wow, maybe there’s a chance where I
