Kresta in the Afternoon

When John Paul II was on his deathbed in 2005, the Church spent many days on “death watch” and bells tolled in St Peter’s upon his passing from this life. The death and funeral of a Pope Emeritus is another matter. Matthew Bunson joins us from Rome with the latest, and also gives his own tribute to Benedict.

What is American political conservatism? Is it the movement defined by William F Buckley and Ronald Reagan? The Tea Party movement that arose in the mid-2000s? That which is identified by allegiance to Donald Trump? All of the above? Something else? We’ll talk it over with Matthew Continetti.

For a large part of American history, it was widely believed that one could not be a good Catholic and a good American, as you would have to choose between loyalty to country and loyalty to the pope. Catholics play an important role in the American story - but we often make the mistake of seeing them as one, cohesive unit. In fact, Catholic immigrants from Ireland, Germany, Italy and other nations all had vastly different experiences that came to define what it means to be an American Catholic. Dr. Christopher Shannon explains how.

Vatican II is one of the most significant events in modern Church history and has been studied endlessly over the last 60 years. Is there anything left to say about it? George Weigel thinks so – by reexamining the event through the prism of Pope John XXIII’s original intentions for the council. He joins us.

When Msgr. Hilary Franco was a young priest, he served as an assistant to Bishop Fulton J Sheen and was with him during the Second Vatican Council. 60 years later, he may be the only priest alive who witnessed those events firsthand. He joins us to share his memories.

On October 16, 1962, President Kennedy learned of Soviet missile sites under construction in Cuba. For the next thirteen days, he met with his advisers to determine the best course of action. The popular understanding of what happened during those meetings is quite different from what the historical record shows. We take a close look with Sheldon Stern.

In His deepest nature, God is Love. This can make it hard to understand the concept of Hell – eternal separation from God. Al continues his thoughts.

The monastic lifestyle began spreading throughout the West a few centuries after Christ’s death, but it was not uniform. Each monk lived his own lifestyle and tradition. That began to changed when Benedict of Nursia became a hermit and authored his Rule, which would become the universal guide for Western monks. Bill Cook tells the story.

A popular figure in literature is the “strong, silent man,” – a man of few words but great deeds. This certainly describes St. Joseph. 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 with Liz Lev.

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.