About You:
LF: Describe your vocation in life.
GE: Glad to see you start with the easy ones! My vocation first is as husband and father. It is also as a Catholic communicator, seeking to make accessible and relevant the truths of the faith and to enable others to see our world through the eyes of faith.
LF: Give a brief bio.
GE: I have served in Catholic journalism and Catholic publishing in a wide variety of positions. I’ve been a reporter, a Rome-based foreign correspondent covering the Vatican, worked as an editor, editor in chief and then president and publisher of Our Sunday Visitor Publishing, and served as director and editor in chief of Catholic News Service. I have been a columnist for a variety of publications and served as president of the now Catholic Media Association. Most importantly, I am husband of Corine Erlandson and father of four children.
LF: Do you reach out to readers online via a website or social media?
GE: I do have a Facebook account I rarely look at. An Instagram account that, as of now, I look at less. And a Twitter (X) account that I find depressing and am considering abandoning if I can find a suitable alternative. Also LinkedIn. X account: @GregErlandson.
LF: Share a little about your ministry or daily work. (A day in the life looks like…?)
GE: I am officially retired, though I have not really adjusted to this status. I am serving on two boards, writing two monthly columns, writing for Living Faith, trying my hand at speechwriting and tackling various other projects as they are offered.
As was the case during Covid, I am working at the dining room table, a location that my wife has been surprisingly tolerant of. My New Year’s resolution is to have an office of my own.
I also have become a committed bicyclist. Retirement means I can set out for a ride in the middle of the day if I feel like it (and weather allows). I recently completed a trip from Pittsburgh to D.C. Hope to do more of this in 2024.
LF: How long have you been writing or when did you start?
GE: Been writing since I was a child, but my first column that I sold was when I wrote about my experience as a fish cutter in Boston for the Los Angeles Times. (And that is a sentence that leaves a whole lot unsaid!)
LF: What is the most difficult part of your writing process?
GE: Getting started is always an ordeal that does not get easier with age, unfortunately. Getting something tolerable down on paper is the hard part. Rewriting is actually more enjoyable once I’ve got that tolerable draft.
LF: How many books have you written, and which is your favorite? If you haven’t written a book, name a favorite that you’ve enjoyed.
GE: I’ve co-written only one book on Pope Benedict and the sexual abuse crisis. Matthew Bunson and I wrote it in 2010 in two weeks as a response to what was happening in the press at that time. It was called Pope Benedict XVI and the Sexual Abuse Crisis: Working for Reform and Renewal.
LF: Where do you live today, and is that different from where you grew up?
GE: I grew up in Los Angeles, where I went to Loyola High and Loyola Marymount University. Then UC Berkeley for journalism.
I’ve lived in Washington, D.C., Rome, Fort Wayne, Ind., and now Hyattsville, MD. Geography may not be the biggest difference between Maryland and California, though it is significant.
In many ways I’m most grateful for my Indiana experience. Living in “flyover country” made me appreciate how ignored much of the country is. There is a casual prejudice in the coastal states that has done great harm to the country.
LF: Three words your best friend would use to describe you.
GE: I hope they would be “funny, loyal and thoughtful.” Otherwise, I’d have to get some new friends!
LF: One additional thing you would want a Living Faith reader to know about you that we haven’t covered above. (A hobby, something silly or fun, an accomplishment, or an interesting fact?)
GE: I have gardened for many years, and a constant has been an herb garden, which is most useful for cooking, which I also love.
About Faith:
LF: When did you first know that God loved you?
GE: From my grammar school days, I remember praying to God, talking with God, really, and loving Him. What is interesting is that it has taken me a very long time to grow in the realization that God loves me more.
GE: Right now, I really like the Mass readings each day, including the collects.
GE: I am forever grateful for Pope Francis’ Year of Mercy. It made me realize how much mercy suffuses not just Scripture but also the liturgy itself. This realization has been transformative.
GE: I like the universality of it in both time and space. We pray the prayers of our ancestors, and we pray them worldwide.
About the Bible:
LF: What’s your favorite Bible story, psalm, proverb or parable and why?
GE: I particularly like Psalm 139, which I call the “Runaway Bunny psalm.” (This reference will make sense to anyone who has read The Runaway Bunny to their kids: “Where can I go from your spirit?”)
LF: Do you have a favorite Gospel? If so, which one? Elaborate if you wish.
GE: Luke, aka, the Gospel of Mercy.
LF: If you could spend a day with a person mentioned in the Bible (besides Jesus), whom would you choose?
GE: Mary Magdalene. She may have the best untold story to tell.
About Living Faith:
LF: How long have you been writing for Living Faith?
GE: You would know this better than me. Three years?
LF: Do you ever get to meet your Living Faith readers? What do you talk about?
GE: I hear from folks every now and then, often friends or acquaintances who find out I’m in their copy of Living Faith.
LF: What is one thing you love about Living Faith?
GE: It helps people more appreciate Scripture. Catholics always get a bad rap on their Scripture knowledge, but there has been a flowering of daily devotionals in recent years, and Living Faith is proof positive that Catholics are improving in this area.
*The interview was edited for clarity and conformity to style. No meaning was altered in the process.
