Catholic Answers Live

By Catholic Answers

Catholic Answers LIVE is a daily, call-in radio program of Catholic apologetics and evangelization airing live from 6-8 pm ET.... more

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FAQs about Catholic Answers Live:

How many episodes does Catholic Answers Live have?

The podcast currently has 5,063 episodes available.

Catholic Answers Live episodes:

April 11, 2025#12148 What Happens If the Words of Consecration Are Incorrect? - Tim Staples
Does changing the words during the consecration make the Eucharist invalid? We dive into what the Church teaches about the essential form of the sacrament and also address confession practices, Orthodox weddings in Catholic churches, and bridging the gap with Protestants on faith and works.
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Questions Covered:
08:00 – Adams providential testimony.
28:47 – I go to confession every month and I was told that I shouldn’t give a number of times I commit a sin. Is this ok to omit?
32:48 – Can an Orthodox wedding ceremony happen inside of a Catholic Church? Can My husband attend the wedding?
35:32 – If using the wrong words during baptism, it makes it invalid. Would the same logic apply to the Eucharist and the words of consecration?
40:18 – How do I bridge the gap with my Protestant friends? Why are Protestants so hung up on salvation by faith alone? What is the downside of works?
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56min
April 10, 2025#12147 Why Do We Need Infallible Authority for the New Testament Canon? - Trent Horn
If the Old Testament was accepted without an infallible Church, why is that needed for the New Testament? We explore this key apologetics question, along with topics like apostolic succession, Catholic-Orthodox unity, and defending the faith online.
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Questions Covered:
05:25 – If the Old Testament can be known without an infallible authority, then how come we can’t have that for the New Testament?
16:23 – How do you defend the faith against Protestants on social media? Is it better to find common ground or go on striking on what they oppose?
21:29 – If God is immaterial and he created the material world how do you explain the interaction between the material and immaterial substances?
29:00 – What efforts are being done by the Catholic Church to facilitate the union between them and the Orthodox?
35:54 – Regarding the crusades, how do we rationalize and defend the idea that the pope offered forgiveness of sins for those going on a military expedition?
48:32 – How do you defend protestant questions on apostolic succession?
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56min
April 10, 2025#12146 What’s the Catholic Understanding of Free Will, and How Can We Defend It? - Jimmy Akin
Does free will really exist, and how does Catholicism explain it? We explore the Church’s teaching on human freedom, how to defend it in conversations, and also tackle questions about burial and cremation, suffering, Jesus’ childhood, and even pseudoarchaeology.
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Questions Covered:
01:21 – Supposing a cannibal eats a Christian, and then the cannibal gets converted, who gets which bits in the resurrection?
12:37 – Is the requirement to receive communion to not be conscious of mortal sin or grave sin? I ask because the official canon law says grave sin, but grave sins can be venial in the case of addiction
14:13 – Could you clarify the Catholic teachings on burial, specifically concerning what is/isn’t permitted, and what is preferred. I’ve been told that cremation isn’t forbidden, but scattering ashes is, due to our desire to respect the body.
20:49 – Can you explain the problem with Islam: Is the word of Allah separate from Allah?
22:41 – What was Jesus’ life like in childhood and adolescence?
24:41 – What is the catholic understanding of free will, and how can we argue for it?
37:00 – What are cardinals and how did that position become established?
41:45 – I know that God brings a greater good from evil He allows and that He helps save our brothers and sisters through OUR efforts but are those the only answers to why God would allow tens of millions of people to starve under Mao and Stalin? Or why so many people, including children, are trafficked, and satanically ritually abused? I mean the scale of human pain is mind-blowing. Is the realization of our impotence in the face of evil and our need to surrender to God for help the point?
48:13 – Recently a real Archaeologist Flint Dibble debated Graham Hancock a pseudo archaeologist. Are you still planning on doing an episode on pseudo archaeology? Would you consider interviewing someone like him for it? There seems to be a war brewing between mainstream archaeology and a few camps of pseudo archaeology online. I have to admit, I was in one of these camps until I watched a good volume of your material.
50:21 – I would like to know if it is true that Our Lady of Fatima told Lucia, that Francesco would pass and his soul would be in purgatory until the end of time. It is hard to believe that a child would have such horrible sins that would keep him there for so long.
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55min
April 09, 2025 #12145 Can a Sacrament Like Baptism Be Valid If Given Under False Identity? - Jimmy Akin
What happens if someone receives a sacrament while pretending to be someone else? We explore a wild baptism scenario involving identical twins and what it means for the validity and liceity of the sacrament. Plus, we tackle guardian angels, Mass in space, miracles, and the mystery of God’s plan.
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Questions Covered:
02:52 – Considering most of your show is about theology I was wondering if you experience anything more on the personal side.
13:25 – Would it be permissible for a Catholic to believe that God knows all possible multiverses and chose to create the one we are in where we have freewill and God reveals himself and incarnates as Jesus to help us know God, but that the universe basically runs on its own and our choices are our own. Would that be a way to reconcile that God has a plan, but that we also have free will?
18:20 – Why does God allow miracles in some cases but not others, especially in reference to Matthew 18:19 which states, “Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven”? For example, why does this not apply when groups of people are praying for someone to be healed and they are not.
23:25 – Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me.” Did he mean that he, Jesus Christ is the door, or did he mean “the way, the truth, and the life” is the door? Or both?
28:42 – Does Mary have the same kind of guardian angel as we do? Could it possibly be Gabriel? Is there any value in contemplating the guardian angels of others?
34:49 – You mentioned something about shared death experiences (where someone else will be in the room when someone is dying and someone will be in the room who is not dying and they both experience the visions) in one of your videos. Have you come across any contemporary accounts of these that are credible? Asking for my friend who is a grad student in philosophy.
37:46 – I was wondering about Holy Mass and space travel. if you were traveling near lightspeed, let’s say 99% , You start to experience some heavy time dilation. Specifically at 99% light speed you’re you are experiencing 14% of the time that passes on Earth relative to an observer on Earth. Would your Sunday obligation depend on Earth time or ship time assuming there’s a priest on the ship? I figured it out that there will be about one day for a week so you could do mass everyday, but I was also wondering about calculating the date of Easter while you’re on a relativistic speed journey. Would the priest need to start Mass at the short time that it’s still Easter on Earth?
43:30 – Is it a correct understanding of the teaching of the Catechism of the Council of Trent to say that the expression “God died” is not to be understood literally but rather figuratively (i.e., anthropomorphism and/or synecdoche)?
46:25 – Let’s say there are two identical twin sisters, Kait and Leia. Neither are baptized, but Kait wishes to become baptized. For reasons, Leia does not want her sister to be baptized, and so has her sister kidnapped. Leia pretends to be her sister Kait and receives the sacrament. Question: When the priest says, “I baptize you *Kait in the name….”, how does this affect the validity and liceity of the sacrament? Is Leia actually baptized? What about Kait?
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55min
April 09, 2025#12144 How Do Catholics Understand the Once-for-All Sacrifice of Jesus? - Karlo Broussard
Protestants often ask how Catholics can believe in sacraments, purgatory, and the Mass while affirming that Jesus’ sacrifice was once and for all. We explain how Catholic theology upholds this truth, along with insights into purgatory, salvation, and the unity of the Church.
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Questions Covered:
00:45 – The Bottom Line on The Natural Law
10:02 – What passages can I use as evidence for purgatory that a protestant will accept, especially 1 Corinthians?
14:32 – Why do Catholics believe there could only be one Church?
30:11 – I’m Protestant moving closer to Catholicism. How does Catholicism view the once and for all Sacrifice of Jesus considering all the things Catholics believe in like sacraments and purgatory?
36:50 – How do I refute the Protestant view that we are all one church?
45:59 – How do Catholics respond to the question: Are you saved?
49:40 – Regarding Baptist baptism. Would their intent to baptize confer grace even if they don’t believe it is salvific?
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56min
April 08, 2025#12143 How Do Catholics Defend the Use of Relics Against Claims of Idolatry? - Karlo Broussard
Many Protestants see relics as idolatrous—but are they? We explore the biblical and historical support for relics in Catholicism, and also answer questions on praying to saints, Marian apparitions, and what makes Good Friday “good.”
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Questions Covered:
04:54 – How do we support the use of relics when Protestants see it as idolatry?
14:01 – I’m in OCIA. How are Catholics different from Gnostics and Protestants?
21:29 – The bible tells us not to seek mediums or speak to the deceased. How is it then you can speak to the saints?
34:53 – My protestant sister asked me, why do they call it Good Friday if that was the day Jesus suffered and died? Who gave it that name?
42:03 – Why do Catholics take John 6 literally but John 6:58 sounds more metaphorical?
48:39 – How do we know that Marian apparitions are not taking away attention from Jesus? How do we get the title of Queen of Heaven for her?
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56min
April 08, 2025#12142 Why Choose Catholicism Over Any Other Religion? - David Anders
What sets the Catholic Church apart from other faiths? We explore the historical, theological, and spiritual reasons to choose Catholicism, along with questions about evolution and the conditions for a valid Eucharistic consecration.
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Questions Covered:
17:00 – I’m a convert. If a priest walked into a bakery and said the words of consecration, would the bread become Jesus?
21:54 – Why Catholicism over any other religion?
46:01 – How do Catholics approach evolution?
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56min
April 07, 2025#12141 Can I Receive Communion If My Annulment Process Is Incomplete? - Rose Sweet
What does the Church say about receiving the Eucharist if your annulment hasn’t been finalized? We explore this important question and also discuss healing after divorce, reuniting with a former spouse, and how to approach annulments with non-Catholic partners.
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Questions Covered:
18:42 – I’m in a civil marriage that needs an annulment on behalf of my wife. How do you get a non-Catholic to support the annulment process?
22:42 – I went through an annulment. I found it easiest to focus on writing out a draft and presenting it
32:10 – My annulment was the best thing that has happened to me. It allowed me to fully recognize my now Catholic Marriage.
37:34 – What do you think about the idea that more attention needs to be placed on the person who is not seeking out the annulment?
40:42 – I’m a good practicing Catholic and I don’t want a divorce, but I can’t handle the abuse, he’s a narcissist. What should I do?
44:21 – I’m 59 and my ex-husband remarried civilly. Should I seek out an annulment to help him out?
50:28 – Is it ok for me to receive communion even though I left the annulment process incomplete?
53:29 – I married my husband, we got a divorce and then got back together. Do I need an annulment?
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56min
April 05, 2025#12140 How Should We Theologically Understand Neanderthals? - Jimmy Akin
With evidence of burial rituals and culture, were Neanderthals spiritual beings like us? We explore their place in theology, along with topics like praying in dreams, moral behavior in animals, the nature of heaven, and whether we could ever learn like computers.
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Questions Covered:
01:13 – What physical explanation can parapsychology offer? Because one thing is describing phenomena, another one is explaining it in a physical framework.
11:15 – How are we to consider our Neanderthal cousins? They were hominids, close enough to us that we interbred (I have more than the average Neanderthal DNA), they had a culture, and there is evidence that they not only buried their dead, but buried flowers and grave goods with them, hinting at a belief in the afterlife. Yet, they were different from us, and they went extinct millennia before the Incarnation. Theologically, how are they considered? semi-Neanderthal minds want to know!
16:31 – Can animals act in ways that are morally good or evil? i.e. the dog that saves the child vs the dog that bites the child. What implications, if any, would that have on the prospect of an animal afterlife?
22:44 – If I am asleep and I dream that I am praying, is it possible that God and the saints I ask for intercession hear those prayers? And if I receive a blessing in the context of my dream, is it possible that some minor intercession has occurred?
29:15 – If a sincere penitent in the confessional confesses that he has set a bear trap outside the priest’s confessional, set to go off the moment the priest exits the confessional, could the priest require the penitent to remove the bear trap as a part of his penance? Or can the priest not make requirements like that in order to give absolution? (One that I’ve actually gotten from my students!)
34:34 – Tell us about your Arkansas accent. It’s coming on pretty thick these days. I assume you lost it when you moved to CA and now that your back you just naturally fell back into it?
41:30 – I’ve never heard anyone address this: after the resurrection, we will be reunited with our physical bodies. So is heaven a physical place?
44:15 – Growing up I was told that our souls wander about while we sleep as an explanation for Deja vu. I know in the past you’ve attributed Deja vu to remote viewing, how similar are these 2 ideas?
52:45 – The mystery of learning and memory. Why can’t humans learn, store, and recall information in the same way a computer does (i.e. massive storage, data compressibility/extractability, can download and upload information, etc.)? It would seem extremely beneficial if humans could learn via download and share via upload like computers. Just to qualify I mean the speed of data transfer as well. For example, instead of spending years learning a new language, just download it and have perfect fluency (similar to the Matrix and how Neo could learn things).
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56min
April 04, 2025 #12139 Is It Suicide or Sacrifice? When Giving Your Life for Others Means Certain Death - Jimmy Akin
Can a kamikaze-style sacrifice ever be morally justified? We explore the ethics of self-sacrifice in sci-fi scenarios and real life, along with deep (and wild) questions about vampires, psychiatric visions, Jesus’ second coming, and even the Rick Astley paradox.
Join The CA Live Club Newsletter: Click Here
Questions Covered:
02:23 – If someone were to kill everyone on earth to force Jesus’s second coming, would Jesus come? If the person did it to save everyone so they can all go to heaven, would this make them a good or bad person?
05:00 – Are heaven and hell customized for you and how you lived?
06:55 – If you sacrifice your life for God, do you go to hell for committing suicide?
14:45 – Could a killer whale get a taste for human flesh?
17:55 – I worked as a firefighter/EMT for a while and people prided themselves about having a stiff upper lip and a tough cynical personality. I got to thinking, some people are more docile, and some seem to pride themselves in having a rough edge. When we are perfected in heaven, will we all have the same disposition/temperament and just different talents and interests, or will our different dispositions remain?
22:01 – How will a body not be destroyed when living on earth forever? For example—If you fall off a cliff or get crushed?
28:57 – Can you please comment on the moral implications of the following? In Return of the Jedi, an A wing pilot gets shot down and plows his ship into the bridge of the Executor. Can a space pilot do this if death is a near certainty become a kamikaze? Or, in 2009’s Star Trek movie, Captain Kirk’s father stays behind and navigates the Kelvin on a collision course with the Romulan vessel to protect escaping shuttles. He sacrifices himself and the ship to save his son. Can the captain of a ship stay behind to again be a kamikaze to inflict heavy damage on somebody else and/or save other people if it means certain death?
32:59 – My Mom and sister are both nurses in a psych ward. They have had hundreds of patients who claim to see Angel’s and Demons. Some patients who claim they have seen them also knew personal information they shouldn’t have about Mom and Sister. Do you think these people are actually connected to the spiritual realm in a way we aren’t or is it just a mental illness?
38:08 – If a priest were to become a vampire, would he have to retire?
41:30 – If Santa Claus (not St Nicholas) were to die would he go to heaven?
44:01 – Will we see Wooly Mammoths in our lifetime? Will they really be Wooly Mammoths or something else that looks like them?
48:46 – How does the Rick Astley paradox work? Here’s how it goes: If you ask Rick Astley for a copy of the movie Up he can’t give it to you because he can’t give you Up but if he doesn’t give you Up he lets you down. This has been my hardest question since I heard it. What do you think?
50:54 – Sorry this is kind of a gross one. A few years back, there was a news story about a man who had his leg amputated and then had his friends over for a party where they ate tacos made from his amputated leg. While this is definitely strange, is it necessarily immoral?
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56min

FAQs about Catholic Answers Live:

How many episodes does Catholic Answers Live have?

The podcast currently has 5,063 episodes available.

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