BRAINTREE -- Vicar General Bishop Mark O'Connell was attending a conference in New York when he heard a disturbing report from a theologian.

Young men, the theologian said, were increasingly coming back to church. Young women, however, were not.

"That stuck in my head, and I thought about it for weeks, about that as something that's alarming to me," Bishop O'Connell said. "I'm happy for young men, but I wanted to find out if there was a problem about young women."

He prayed over it and decided to interview women to get their thoughts. Some women said that the theologian's views were exaggerated, while others agreed that young women are leaving the church and not coming back. Bishop O'Connell was fascinated by the stories he was hearing and decided to start recording the interviews.

Those interviews became the basis for his new podcast series "Listening to Catholic Women," currently available on YouTube at youtube.com/@listeningtocatholicwomen. Each week, Bishop O'Connell interviews a Catholic woman in the Archdiocese of Boston about her faith and how it has influenced her life. As of Sept. 25, he has uploaded interviews with Violet Hurst, an archivist for the archdiocese; Ann Carter, a public relations specialist who has worked with the archdiocese and is a consultant to the Vatican Dicastery for Communication; Wendy Mejia, the archdiocese's director of multicultural ministries; and Eileen McLaughlin, the archdiocese's superintendent of Catholic schools.

"This is an exercise in synodality," Bishop O'Connell said in the opening of the first episode, in which he interviewed Hurst. "That's the word Pope Francis gave to us about teaching us to listen to each other, and Pope Leo has continued that legacy, and doing my best to be synodal, and I've chosen to listen to Catholic women."

He added that he has filmed 13 interviews and plans to upload them over the next three months.

"They've inspired me more than I could've hoped for," he said. "These women have shared their faith, they've been vulnerable, they've been inspiring, and they shared them not just with me, but with you."

Bishop O'Connell told The Pilot that in doing the podcast, he has found that women "have a different kind of relationship with Jesus."

"In general, men worship differently from them," he said.

He admitted that it's an "incredible generality," but said that when evangelizing women, he's more likely to talk to them about "relationship" than if he were evangelizing men. He wants to use his podcast to explore the differences between how Catholic men and women approach their faith.

"I think it's interesting stuff, so I'm delighted to be the one to bring those interesting journeys to other people," he said.

He has also interviewed Cambridge Police Superintendent Pauline Carter-Wells, who sang the podcast's theme song "Take Lord, Receive;" Archdiocese of Boston Evangelization Consultant Lorna DesRoses, who described how her blindness has impacted her faith; and Philomene Pean, a chaplain at Boston-area hospitals and developer of piayiti.org, a spiritual resource for the Haitian community.

"Her account of her time as an evangelist in Haiti is absolutely fascinating," he said.

His interview with Molly Wade, senior director of communications and marketing for the Archdiocese of Boston Philanthropy Office, was "very powerful," he said.

Wade herself told The Pilot that she was "humbled and grateful" to be interviewed about her life.

"On the recording, Bishop Mark gave me a platform to share broadly about my faith journey in the hopes that maybe someone, somewhere could benefit from hearing it," she said.

McLaughlin said that recording the podcast "felt less like an interview and more like a genuine conversation."

"Women have always been vital to the life of the church," she said. "I think it's important for the institutional church to look for ways to engage with all of its members, and I am grateful to Bishop Mark for responding in this way."

Bishop O'Connell said that interviewing laywomen in positions of authority has taught him about the non-clerical side of leadership in the church.

"I think it's important for the bishops -- and I'm a bishop -- to have forums where we're just listening," he said. "I don't think these are conversations; I think that I'm listening as a bishop. I did not see this kind of thing happening elsewhere."

Rosemary Powers, principal of Cristo Rey Boston High School in Dorchester, listens to "Listening to Catholic Women" on her morning walks.

"It has quickly become a source of encouragement," she said. "Hearing women share their faith and experiences reminds me that I'm not alone in the challenges and joys of living out our Catholic mission."

Woburn Catholic Collaborative Pastoral Associate Michelle Parks was excited to see a new series focusing exclusively on Catholic women.

"All of it has been very powerful," she said, adding, "It's very interesting to see the differences, the range. I feel I can relate to a lot of it, so that makes me feel better about being a woman working in the church."

Bishop O'Connell said receiving such feedback about his podcast is proof that it's resonating with Catholic women. He believes that each episode's story will connect with listeners.

"I think that each journey is very different, inspiring in its own individual way," he said.