Kresta in the Afternoon

Throughout American history, tragedies have brought the nation together. When President Kennedy was assassinated, Americans didn’t see it as the death of a Democrat – they mourned the death of their president. After the 9/11 attacks, Americans came together to pray. But in the face of the Coronavirus tragedy, many Americans resorted to blame-casting and name-calling. What changed? Al discusses.

For Pope Benedict, the first message the world needed to hear in his pontificate was that God is Love. He wrote, “I wish in my first Encyclical to speak of the love which God lavishes upon us and which we in turn must share with others.” We talk more about it with Tyler Graham.

The Associated Press added an entry to its style guide directing journalists to put the term “crisis pregnancy center” in scare-quotes, and to use “anti-abortion center” instead, to convey that “the centers’ general aim is to prevent abortions.” Clare Kosmalski joins us with a pro-life update.

Over the last few years we all experienced a lot of confusion and worry about the future. How can we maintain – and even cultivate – virtue during troubled times? We talk with JonMarc Grodi.

The word "Covenant" denotes a promissory agreement establishing a kinship bond between two parties. Covenants can be found throughout the Scriptures, and marriage is a special kind of covenant. We talk more with Jeff Kassab.

Pope Francis is the first pope to visit the world’s newest country – South Sudan. He is visiting the war-torn nation on a “pilgrimage of peace” with Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Joseph Welby and Iain Greenshields, moderator of the Church of Scotland. Matthew Bunson joins us with the latest on the trip and other Church news.

We learned late last night that the Pentagon has been tracking a Chinese balloon for several days as it floats over the US. Intelligence experts suspected it was a reconnaissance craft, but decided not to shoot it down because it likely was not providing any information already gathered by Chinese satellites. Today, China confirmed the balloon is theirs, but claim it is a civilian research craft that was blown off course. We get more on this strange story from Victoria Coates.

This week, Mark Houck was acquitted of his charges of violating the FACE Act. But the FACE Act doesn’t just protect abortion clinics – it applies to all types of pregnancy centers. And on January 24 two Florida residents were charged with violating the FACE Act after they vandalized a local pregnancy resource center. Further research suggests they are liked with Antifa. We learn more with Kyle Shideler.

Recently, the mainstream press butchered its coverage of an extensive interview between AP reporter Nichole Winfield and Pope Francis. Why do so many mainstream outlets do a lousy job of reporting on religious issues? Al discusses.

The late 18th century saw revolutions in France and in what would become the United States. These revolutions produced societies with very different understandings of liberty and democracy. John Pinheiro joins us as we look to Leo XIII’s writings for insights on democracy, freedom and virtue.