Kresta in the Afternoon

The time of the Protestant Reformations was a tumultuous time, filled with heroes, heretics and a few people who were both. Some are well-known, and some have been largely forgotten. Who were these people - and just how many Reformations were there? Phillip Campbell joins us.

Kresta Comments: Was the Reformation a Success?

On October 27, 312, Emperor Constantine prepared to take his troops into battle at Milvian Bridge. According to tradition, he saw in the sky an image of the cross and the words “through this sign, you shall conquer.” The next day he won a massive victory. What do we know about this story, and about them an himself? Bill Cook joins us.

It’s almost Trick or Treating time again. What should Catholics do about Halloween? Is it a pagan ritual saturated in demonic influences? Is it a secular corruption of a Catholic holiday to honor the saints? Or is it something else? Fr. Steve Grunow joins us to explain how and why Catholics should embrace Halloween.

Whether you love or hate the 1960s, most people would agree they were a landmark period in American history and culture. Reforms intended to make the nation more just and humane left Americans feeling more alienated and misled. Chris Caldwell looks at the roller coaster of the last half-century and how Americans came to have two different ideas of what it means to play by the rules.

Yesterday Al examined the difficult doctrine of a loving God allowing the existence of Hell. How is it possible that we could “choose” Hell at all? Al discusses.

The Church’s teaching on Hell is a hard doctrine to get our minds around – why would God allow us to suffer eternally? But the doctrine of God’s love can also be difficult. And we can’t fully understand one without the other. Al explains.

In 1994, Pope John Paull II established the Pontifical Academy for Life to promote the Church’s teachings on the value and sacredness of human life. But four recent appointees to the Academy have publicly broken with Church teaching on abortion and contraception. What is going on? Matthew Bunson joins us.

On Sunday we will hear the story of Zacchaeus, the “wee little man” who climbed a tree to get a better view of Jesus. What compelled such a sinful man to seek Christ in the first place? What lessons does he have for us today? Peggy Stanton joins us.

At least 15 people were killed and another 40 injured in an attack on a Shiite mosque in Iran yesterday. ISIS has claimed responsibility and now Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi is trying to link the attack to the ongoing Mahsa Amini protests. We get analysis from Jason Brodsky.

A few weeks ago, German Cardinal Kurt Koch lamented how the German Synodal Way is claiming there are “new sources of revelation” which require the development of Church teaching. This same line of thinking was also found in Germany during Hitler’s rise to power, when the “German Christian” movement tried to reconcile Christian and Nazi beliefs. We begin with Robert Ericksen, who tells us how Prote...

In his new memoir, Star Trek’s William Shatner recounts a recent trip he took into outer space: “when I looked into space, there was no mystery, not majestic awe to behold…all I saw was death.” For ages, scientists have asked why Earth has the very specific conditions necessary to support life. We talk more about this idea of the “goldilocks universe” with Karl Giberson.

We’ve been talking a lot this fall about Michigan’s Proposal 3 and why it is relevant to the abortion debate nationwide. Abortion is on the ballot in three other sates – in California and Vermont, proposed amendments would secure a Constitutional right to abortion, whereas in Kentucky the measure would clarify there is no Constitutional right to abortion. Michael Kenney joins us with a review.

When we talk about the collapse of Soviet-style Communism, we often emphasize the lives of figures such as John Paul II and Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko. But there are many other stories of faithful Christians living behind the Iron Curtain, resisting the influences of the atheistic regimes. To counter this, the Communists developed special programs to infiltrate the Churches and weaken them from the ins...

Canvassing on Prop 3 is going well – 70% of voters who have talked with canvassers say they will vote no. More volunteers are needed. Melinda Movius joins us to tell how you can join.

On October 21 we celebrate the Feast of Blessed Charles I of Austria, also known by other names due to his succession. He's remembered for putting his Christian faith first in making political decisions and trying to be a peacemaker in the First World War. We look at his life with Charles Coulombe.

What are the specific legal elements of Proposal 3 that make it so problematic? Maura Corrigan, a former justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, and her daughter-in-law Marianne Grano, a lawyer, weigh in.

David Sanborn grew up in a family of missionaries, and from an early age was taught to have a personal relationship with Jesus. As he pursued a career in theater he found a passion for Biblical roles but felt God was calling him to something more. He eventually became a minister, where his studies of John 6 showed him where the Spirit was guiding him. He joins us.

We are living at a time when we can barely agree what words like “race” and “justice mean,” much less deal with the issues surrounding these concepts. When you combine that with journalists, pundits, and diversity trainers all desperate to advance their own causes, it’s easy to see why we’ve become so polarized on this issue. How do we work, and talk, our way out of this mess? Ismael Hernandez wei...

As a veteran advisor and legal counsel to America’s most successful families, Richard Watts has seen the extremes of entitlement up close and wants to help you avoid creating it in your own children. Well-intentioned parents across the country are enabling a “me” generation of children who lack the wisdom and satisfaction of accomplishment that only struggle and adversity can bring. He joins us to...

Tomorrow, we celebrate the Feast of St John Paul the Great. He was arguably the most influential man of the 20th century and he changed the world forever in many ways. Patrick Novecosky shares a few of them.

Poland faced many challenges during the 20thcentury. But from these challenges emerged some of the great Catholic heroes of our day. When John Paul II returned to Poland on a papal visit in 1979, he gave them for a vision of a new world free of Communist oppression. Al has more.

Catholics have heard the call to embrace the New Evangelization – but why is it necessary in the first place? Where did we go wrong, and why did we fail to properly preach the Gospel and make disciples? Brian Pedraza presents a Catechesis for the New Evangelization.

A few minutes after shaking the hand of the Pope, nine-year-old David DePerro heard firecrackers—an odd sound. But they weren’t firecrackers—they were gunshots, and the white open car carrying John Paul II rushed past the shocked and confused young boy. We hear his story today.

Abortion harms everyone. It hollows out marriage and the family. It undermines the rule of law and corrupts our political system. It turns healers into executioners and “women’s health” into a euphemism for extermination. Now that the issue is back in the hands of the states, how can we go about communicating these truths to others? Ryan Anderson joins us.