Heart and Soul is a weekly half-hour programme that has the scope and understanding to explore different experiences of spirituality from around the world. Whether examining religious faith or any other belief-system, the programme talks to believers and non-believers, and tries to get beyond superficial notions of spirituality and religion.
Heart and Soul is a weekly half-hour programme that has the scope and understanding to explore different experiences of spirituality from around the world. Whether examining religious faith or any other belief-system, the programme talks to believers and non-believers, and tries to get beyond superficial notions of spirituality and religion.

Fr Leo Patalinghug is not your typical priest. In one hand he holds a cross, in the other a cooking spatula. With his own international TV show, YouTube channel and cookbooks, this apron-wearing minister is on a mission – to share his faith through food. Growing up on an island in the Philippines, where money was tight, Leo and his family sometimes struggled to put food on the table. It was after moving to the United States that they got a start in life and, from a young age, Leo was always passionate about cooking. But his other great passion in life was his Catholic faith. And when he finally made the decision to enter religious life and become a priest, he was determined to use cooking to tell people about Christ. As he puts it: “I want to change hearts and minds by going through your stomach.” Presenter Colm Flynn travels to Baltimore in the US to meet Fr Leo in his kitchen and at the food van where he and a team of volunteers feed the homeless of their hometown. He explains how he believes Jesus was a foodie, and how a good meal, made with love, can nourish our souls as well as our bodies.