Kresta in the Afternoon

President Biden was elected on the promise to “heal and unify” America, and just over a year into his presidency it’s pretty obvious that hasn’t worked out. As long as Christians are divided,  America will never be healed of its divisions. How can we come together to confront the issues facing the Church? That’s the focus of the next edition of the Familiaris Consortio conference. Joe Jordano...

Late last year Sister Dede Byrne received an unexpected phone call telling her she had worked with the caller’s mother years ago in Afghanistan, and the mother now was in danger. She tells us what happened next and also shares her experience applying for a religious exemption to the Covid vaccine mandates.

Madeleine Albright, the first female Secretary of State, died today at age 84. Unlike many diplomats and politicians, she understood the importance of religion in public life and foreign policy. Al discusses.

A popular figure in literature is the “strong, silent man,” – a man of few words but great deeds. This certainly describes St. Joseph, whose feast we celebrated on Saturday. He’s one of our most popular saints today, but for centuries artists virtually ignored him. The artwork we do have of St Joseph show him in a wide variety of styles, but always as a man we can turn to. We look at some examples...

We look to the Gospels to learn of the events of Jesus’ life, the most important of which we will be celebrating in a few weeks. But how do we know these accounts are reliable? Jimmy Akin will be debating this question tomorrow with New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman – he joins us.

If there are only a few figures in history worthy of the title “Great,” one would be the 4th-century emperor Constantine. What made him so great? Al discusses.

On March 22, 1606, St. Nicholas Owen, the Jesuit lay brother and carpenter extraordinaire, died under torture in the Tower of London. Stephanie Mann tells us his story.

Saudi Arabia is in active talks with Beijing to price its oil sales to China in yuan rather than in US dollars. Robert Whaples gives us a look at what this could mean for the US Dollar on a global scale.

On the ninth anniversary of the formal inauguration of his pontificate, the feast of St. Joseph, Pope Francis published Praedicate Evangelium (Preach the Gospel), his new constitution for the structure of the Roman Curia. What does it hope to accomplish? Matthew Bunson joins us.

Last week, Catholic activist Benedict Rogers received a formal warning from the Hong Kong Police Force’s National Security Department, threatening him with fines and even arrest for his work with Hong Kong Watch. They also demanded he shut down his website. But he isn’t letting that stop him.

Today, the Catholic Church is dealing with many complex problems that often leave the faithful confused about the authentic interpretation of Catholic teaching. We look at the root causes of and potential solutions to the many challenges the Church faces today with Fr. Gerald Murray.

In yesterday’s Gospel, Jesus taught us that without metanoia, or repentance, we will perish and be cut down like barren fig trees. This is more than a command to reject sin – it is an invitation to an entirely new way of life. Fr. Timothy Vaverek joins us.

The “Nature Rights Movement” continues to advance, with a new bill in New York that would create a “Great Lakes Bill of Rights.” We look at this and other bioethics news with Wes Smith.

For years, many family films – especially those produced by Disney – featured a main character with an overbearing and strict father. At the end of the film, the father would recognize something special about their child and apologize, a trope Steven Greydanus has dubbed “Junior Knows Best.” A more recent trend has developed, one he calls Mother Knows Best – he lets us know what that means.

Pope Francis has promulgated a new apostolic constitution, Praedicate evangelium , which reforms the structure of the Roman Curia, the administration at the Vatican that assists the pope in governing the Church. Robert Royal gives us an overview.

All of humanity descended from one set of parents? A seven-day creation? A worldwide flood? Many people today mock the events of early Genesis as patently absurd. How are we to view them through the eyes of Scripture? Luke Lancaster joins us.

The Dobbs vs Jackson Supreme Court case makes the dream of a post-Roe America seem more real than ever. What would such a world look like? EWTN News In-Depth has begun a series of reports to investigate what it will look like in different states. Montse Alvarado gives us a look at the series, including tonight’s special with Teresa Tomeo.

Easter is officially less than a month away. Do you feel that, once again, the Lenten season is slipping by without you taking full advantage of it? Have you already come up short in your Lenten resolutions? Well, in our weakness and dependence reside the hope of Lent. We talk with David Bonagura.

Last Saturday was the 400th anniversary of the canonization of four saints – Teresa of Avila, Ignatius Loyola, Francis Xavier, and Philip Neri. We could easily spend two full hours talking about their lives and the roles they played in the counter-reformation. We get a quick recap from Meg Hunter-Kilmer.

Tomorrow we celebrate the feat of one of our great saints: St. Joseph. We look at how he is a role model for husbands and fathers with Fr. Ed Broom.

The bishop of Essen, Germany has appointed 18 lay pastoral workers to serve as extraordinary baptismal ministers. It's in response to a "pastorally difficult situation" caused by a local shortage of priests - but is it allowed? Matthew Bunson joins us with a look and also discusses the Pope’s recent comments on Just War.

St. Patrick is among the best-known saints and has one of the most iconic feast days. What do we know about his life, especially his early years? How did he come to be a missionary and why did he choose to go to Ireland? We'll look at his life with Philip Freeman.

John Quinn’s son, Tyler Jacob, has been teaching in Ukraine and has a family there. Last week, he was on a bus leaving the country with other foreigners when the bus was stopped at a Russian checkpoint. Tyler, the only American on the bus, was the only one to be detained. John lets us know what he’s been hearing.

Man of God , written and directed by Yelena Popovic, focuses on the unjust persecutions and humiliations that follow Bishop Nektarios, venerated as Saint Nektarios of Aegina in the Eastern Orthodox Church. The film will be in select theaters for two nights only - Yelena joins us.

Leaders in the Democratic party and in the mainstream press have been up in arms recently over a Florida law they have dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill. The legislation never mentions the word gay, and is actually meant to limit teachers from discussing issues of sexual orientation or gender identity with very young children. Fr. Paul Sullins has more.