Kresta in the Afternoon

Tomorrow, August 6, will be the 800th anniversary of the death of St Dominic. Unlike many of our great saints, Dominic did not leave a deposit of writings to be examined and built upon. Yet this medieval Spaniard still has much to teach us today, and we see this in the way of life he left to the Church. Fr. Patrick Briscoe joins us. Fr. Patrick Mary Briscoe, OP, is the cohost of the lively Dominic...

As a canon lawyer, Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois gave an especially careful reading to Pope Francis’ motu proprio. He promptly issued dispensations for two churches in his diocese to continue celebrating the Traditional Latin Mass, but he also has pushed back against the idea that the motu is a full suppression of the extraordinary form. Matthew Bunson joins us looking at this an...

National Public Radio has revised its ethics policies in a way that, in its own words, “eliminates the blanket prohibition from participating in ‘marches, rallies and public events,’ as well as vague language that directed NPR journalists to avoid personally advocating for ‘controversial’ or ‘polarizing’ issues.” Bill Donohue argues that this has removed the last pretense of the outlet’s objectivi...

Zubair Simonson’s mother was a Muslim from Pakistan, and his father an American who converted to Islam. Growing up, he got a variety of impressions about what it meant to be truly Muslim, but really began to question things when he witnessed the September 11, 2001 attacks as a freshman at the University of Michigan. Later, a personal crisis led him to explore Christianity, starting with C.S. Lewis...

On this feast of St. John Vianney, Al shares his thoughts on the Catholic priesthood.

On August 6 and 9, 1945, the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, annihilating both cities and finally brining and end to the war. Truman’s decision to use such a devastating weapon is one of the most controversial wartime actions of modern history. Was it justified? Can we compare the loss of life from the bombs to a potential loss of life from a land invasion of Japan? W...

One year ago today, a massive explosion ripped through the port of Beirut, Lebanon. The blast caused at least 218 deaths, injured thousands, and left an estimated 300,000 people homeless. Fr. Joseph Khalil of the Maronite Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary joins us with a look at how the city is doing now. Fr Joseph Khalil is a priest of the Maronite Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary serving here in...

After a year of hiatus, Steve Ray has finally returned to the pilgrimage circuit. He and Al invite you to join them this November to St Augustine, Florida, where the Catholic Church in America was born. Steve joins us with the story and we discuss the spirituality of pilgrimages. Steve Ray leads pilgrimages to the Holy Land, Rome and other sites. He converted to Catholicism in 1994 and is the auth...

A study by the Nigerian-based International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law has released a report that finds more than 3400 Christians have been killed this year alone in that country. In addition to that, 3000 Christians have been abducted and 300 churches have been attacked. Ed Clancy fills us in. Edward Clancy is Director of Outreach for Aid to the Church in Need. Visit churchin...

When we consider Catholic spirituality, there are two words with deep meanings that tend to get tossed around: “Liturgy” and “Mysticism.” We tend to think of Liturgy as formalities such as the sacraments, practiced in public, and mysticism as the uncontrollable, private experiences. In other words, they are separate categories. So how could there be a “Liturgical Mysticism?” David Fagerberg joins...

Al shares his thoughts on the upcoming Supreme Court case, Dobbs v Jackson.  The State of Mississippi has filed an amicus brief (as well as other organizations) calling for the overturning of Roe v Wade.  Will it happen?  Al discusses this.

Several professional sports teams are rethinking their mascots, which are said to be racially offensive. Some say it’s time for Notre Dame to do the same – the Fighting Irish represent a harmful stereotype of violent, drunken immigrants. The origins of the name are up for debate, but one theory is especially compelling. It’s an incredible story of Catholic students rising up to combat the KKK. Tod...

Have you ever thought of your family life as a liturgy? The word “liturgy” describes the specific “work” the Church does to heal the damage sin creates in our relationships with God and others. The Liturgy of the Eucharist conquers sin’s power to separate us from God and gives us the grace we need to go forth and build a civilization of love and the complementary liturgy of domestic church life en...

In the Sunday summer Mass readings of Liturgical Cycle Year B, we see prefigurements of the Eucharist in the First Readings, and their fulfillment in the proclamation of the Gospel.  In last Sunday’s First Reading, the prophet Elisha fed a hundred men with only 20 barley loaves and a sack of grain.  In upcoming Sundays, God provides the Israelites with manna in the desert, and then Elija...

The past two weeks in the Church have been busy news weeks.  Last week, news broke that the top, non-episcopal cleric in the United States was frequently using the gay hookup app, Grindr.  And now how officials at the Holy See in Vatican City are on edge re: the same.  Ed Condon from the Pillar joins us to discuss of these matters. Ed Condon is the co-founder of the Pillar, an inves...

In 2018, The Atlantic reported: “Priests are fielding more requests than ever for help with demonic possession.” Indeed, exorcists – even the Pope himself – are reporting an unprecedented spike in demonic activities.  And yet, aside from what we see in Hollywood films, how many Americans really understand what an exorcism is?  Monsignor Stephen Rossetti joins us to share his experiences...

Solanus Casey was a Franciscan simplex priest in Detroit who was loved and admired by many for his love of the poor and his spiritual direction.  He died in 1957.  In 1995, Pope Saint John Paul II declared him venerable.  After a miraculous healing was attributed to him in 2015, Pope Francis declared him “Blessed” and he was beatified at Ford Field in Detroit in 2017.  His feas...

Blessed Stanley Rother was a priest in the Diocese of Oklahoma City who became a missionary to rural Guatamala.  Around the feast of St. James, Stanley was martyred.  Maria Scaperlanda, someone who has worked on his cause for canonization and written a biography of Blessed Rother,  joins guest host Matthew Bunson to discuss his life and his cause for canonization.

Recently, President Biden announced he was going to make sure the COVID-19 vaccine was required for all active duty military members.  Other organizations, including some Catholic colleges and universities, have chosen to do the same for their members.  Is this considered ethical?  Will it even help curb the spread of COVID-19?  Dr. Steve Doran, a neurologist, a bioethics in th...

This week is National Natural Family Planning Awareness Week.  Catherine Hadro from EWTN Pro-Life Weekly joins guest host Matthew Bunson to discuss abortion, natural family planning, and where we are fifty-eight years after Humanae Vitae.

Former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has been criminally charged in Massachusetts for sexually abusing a teenage boy in the 1970s.  EWTN News Washington correspondent Matt Hadro joins guest host Matthew Bunson to discuss this breaking news.

Maryam Rostampour and Marziyeh Amirizadeh knew they were putting their lives on the line. Islamic laws in Iran forbade them from sharing their Christian beliefs, but in three years, they’d covertly put New Testaments into the hands of twenty thousand of their countrymen and started two secret house churches. In 2009 they were caught, arrested and sentenced to death. They share their story.

The Epistle of James has long been a reminder that the Tree of Life—Christ’s Cross and Gospel—was planted in rich, Jewish soil.  Shane Kapler gives us a look at the epistle through the eyes of its first-century Jewish-Christian readers, unpacking its lavish content and showing how this inspired text has yielded, century after century, abundant fruit for the Church. Shane Kapler is the author...

Al shares his thoughts on what it means to discern the will of God.

Next term, the Supreme Court will hear Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the case concerning Mississippi’s statutory 15-week gestational ban on most abortions. The case could be the best chance in decades for a legal breakthrough in the fight against abortion. Michael New is our guest. Michael New is a research associate at the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of Ame...