Welcome back to the Word on Fire Show. I'm Matthew Petrucic Senior Director of the Word on Fire Institute and host of the Word on Fire Show.

Thank you for joining us. Is safety culture good for us? The words stay safe became a popular way of saying goodbye

during the pandemic, understandably so. The pandemic however has long come to an end.

Yet the category of safety still seems to dominate the culture

and not only in medicine.

Terms like safe spaces, trigger warnings, harm reduction,

micro-aggression, emotional well-being,

and fragility, are dominating the governance

of many institutions, including K-12 schools, higher education, corporate human resource departments,

NGOs, and even governmental agencies.

At the same time, this hyper-focused on safety does not seem to have had any positive effect on most people's lives.

In fact, by some measurements, our society is more physically compromised and mentally delicate than ever.

The connection between promoting safety and seeing actual improvements in mental

and physical health, in other words, seems more complex than it may initially

appear. Today to discuss the contemporary embrace of safety in how it does and

does not overlap with a Catholic understanding of the individual and common good is Bishop Robert Barron. Well, welcome back to the studio Bishop. Today we're going to be talking about the contemporary embrace of safety culture.

I want you to let you know this is a safe space.

I'm glad to hear that.

Hope you feel affirmed.

I'm relieved here.

But before we jump into the topic, what have you been up to lately?

Oh, a lot of things, it's confirmation season. So for most, like most bishops around the country, I'm running around my diocese confirming kids which I enjoy very much in California

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