Kresta in the Afternoon

Some healthcare workers today have a different approach to the Hippocratic Oath than doctors from the past. What is the purpose of healthcare when it comes to suffering? Al discusses.

Even non-Catholics are familiar with a few saints – Francis of Assisi, Patrick, Teresa of Calcutta and so on. But what about Damien of Molokai? Or John – not Teresa – of Avila? They may not be well-known, but they lived extraordinary lives and worked in their own way to build the Church. Matthew Bunson joins us on this All Saints Day with Forgotten Saints you should know.

Even non-Catholics are familiar with a few saints – Francis of Assisi, Patrick, Teresa of Calcutta and so on. But what about Damien of Molokai? Or John – not Teresa – of Avila? They may not be well-known, but they lived extraordinary lives and worked in their own way to build the Church. Matthew Bunson joins us on this All Saints Day with Forgotten Saints you should know.

What does an ancient thinker born centuries after Christ have to say that applies to our lives today? Well, if that thinker is St Augustine of Hippo, he has a whole lot to say. Dr James K A Smith has traveled long on the road with St Augustine, he joins us today on the saint's birthday with a look at how Augustine can be a pilgrim guide to the complicated world we live in.

Colonial Catholics were viewed with great suspicion. Many thinkers of the time doubted Catholics’ ability to separate country from pope, and thus declared them to be “dangerous until proven loyal.” Yet Catholics went on to sign the Declaration of Independence and helped draft the First Amendment. We talk with Michael Breidenbach about how those colonial Catholics transformed the idea of liberty.

Who holds the primary responsibility for a child’s education? You’d think it would be a simple question, but it’s become highly politicized – especially in this era of gender ideology and “Critical Race Theory.” And we’re seeing the effects in districts where school boards think that responsibility is primarily theirs. Should parents pull their kids from public schools? We’ll talk about it with Ma...

On Sunday Pope Francis called on the international community to stop deporting migrants to unsafe countries. What happens when migrants apply for asylum in the US? Do they ever misrepresent their situation in the hope of being accepted? We’ll talk about it with Danilo Zak.

Were humans vegetarians in the Garden of Eden? Strange as it may seem, we think they were. Understanding what changed begins with understanding just how devastating the impact of the Fall was. Al discusses.

A Pentagon official said this week that ISIS-K could have the capacity to attack the US within the next 12 months. It’s been two years since founder Abu Bakr Al Bagdadi was killed and the caliphate may be gone, but ISIS clearly isn’t going anywhere. What do they want now, and what will they do to get it? We’ll talk with Joby Warrick.

Pope Francis’ meeting with President Biden will not be televised. Today the Vatican canceled its scheduled live broadcast of tomorrow’s meeting, but did not offer an explanation as to why. Matthew Bunson takes a closer look.

The Dead Sea Scrolls were first discovered in 1947 and are some of the most well-preserved ancient documents, and a new study at MIT examined how they were written and why they have been preserved for so long. What is written on these ancient texts? What does it reveal about the Jewish roots of Christianity? We talk with John Bergsma.

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.

A recent Washington Post Op-Ed asserts that too much religion is bad for a country. Citing indicators such as GDP, poverty rates, education, and life expectancy, the author points to less religious countries such as the UK and Japan and asserts they are models to follow going forward. Is he right? What narratives is he missing? We talk with Casey Chalk.

In the first half of the segment it’s a continuation of the discussion on the Dead Sea Scrolls with Dr. Christopher Rollston. Then it is a widely accepted point of view that J.R.R Tolkien was dismissive of the modern fiction of his time, and that ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ were fundamentally medieval and nostalgic in their inspiration. But is that true? What contemporary books and au...

In October 1991, Israel announced it would give scholars free access to photos of the Dead Sea Scrolls. What have we learned in the 30 years since? Dr. Christopher Rollston joins us with the story behind the Scrolls - how they came to be discovered, and the controversy surrounding their release.

Dr. Anthony Fauci is facing a demand from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to divulge information regarding the alleged use of an experimental drug on puppies. Animal research has always been a contentious topic, since it has also resulted in several important medical breakthroughs. What is a Catholic understanding of “animal welfare?” Dr Charles Camosy joins us.

What does Scripture tell us about our duty to care for creation? The Old Testament is full of laws and references to how the Jews were to care for animals. What changed with the New Covenant? Al discusses.

In the Gospel yesterday we heard the story of Bartimaeus. You probably know the story well, having heard it many times over the years. But have you ever come to the end of one of these Gospel stories and asked yourself, “what happens next?” How do we weave together the four unique gospels and find a coherent narrative of Jesus’ life? We talk with Russell Shaw.

On Friday the National School Boards Association issued an apology for the letter that Attorney General Merrick Garland used to target parents as “domestic terrorists.” In the statement, the NSBA said that while the safety of school officials and students is a priority, “there was no justification for some of the language included in the letter.” Doug Keck joins us with a look at this as well as E...

The Church simply cannot reach its full apostolic effectiveness unless each of the baptized effectively discerns his or her personal vocation. And that vocation goes far beyond just discerning if we are called to single, married or ordained life. How do we go about doing this? We talk with Fr. Brent Bowen.

It’s been more than a week since the 17 Christian missionaries were kidnapped in Haiti. It’s the latest in several kidnappings to happen in the poverty-stricken country. Jim Cavnar joins us with a look at the challenges posed to ministering to the Haitian people.

Today we are celebrating the feast of John Paul II. There's no doubt that he is one of the most influential church figures of our time and he had an enormous effect on the church and world of the last 100 years. But what about the next 100 years - and beyond? Suppose the College of Cardinals asked John Paul II for advice on picking the next pope - what would he say? We'll talk about it with George...

George Orwell once observed that “At any given moment there is an orthodoxy, a body of ideas of which it is assumed that all right-thinking people will accept without question.” What does this “orthodoxy” look like today? What so-called truths are we all supposed to accept? Al discusses.

There was a time when Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali was thought to be a future Archbishop of Canterbury. But now he has come into full communion with the Catholic Church and is arguably the most prominent Anglican figure to cross the tiber since Fr. Ronald Nox in 1917. He joins us with his story.

Are you prepared for your death? It’s a question we all need to consider and it’s a popular question this time of year. The National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton is hosting the Back from the Dead Cemetery Walk , a prayer-provoking faith drama experience as an antidote to the excesses of Halloween. We’ll talk about it.