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Welcome to Our Hen House and Merry Christmas.

This is Jasmine Singer.

And this is Marianne Sullivan.

And on this week's show, we have something extraordinary for you.

Father Massimo is an Italian monk whose religious practice involves both veganism and providing sanctuary for animals.

This is such a wonderful way to celebrate Christmas.

I should let you know that although Father Massimo speaks English, there were some questions he preferred answering an Italian,

particularly in the beginning of the interview.

So we have provided a translation in place of his answer. Yes, and I'm going to say that that

translation was provided by my beloved great niece, who speaks Italian, Julia Klaus, and that was an

exciting moment for me that she got to be on the

podcast. Yeah, I think that's super cool. And thank you, Julia, and thank you, Father Massimo.

Marian, this is such a good interview. And I know that you continue to talk with Father Massimo

for bonus. This is a really interesting interview. You know, religiously, I was a little at sea

and I didn't really know quite what was going on, but it was so beautiful. Like,

like, why aren't all, this is a challenge to every religion on earth, I think, that there's this

recognition. I mean, I want to quote things from the interview,

...