Kresta in the Afternoon

Next month the Supreme Court is expected to hear the case of Joseph Kennedy, a high-school football coach who lost his job after he refused to stop praying on the field after games. We look at the case with Andrea Picciotti-Bayer.

In this Sunday’s Gospel we heard the story of Jesus’ temptation in the desert. We dive into the story with Carl Olson.

St. John Paul II’s historic diocese in Poland is at the forefront of humanitarian aid for the countless women and children in search of a safe place to stay. We look at this story and the latest in Ukraine with Iwo Bender.

The chairman of the German Catholic bishops’ conference has called for changes to Church teaching on sex outside of marriage and homosexuality. We continue our look at this story with Martin Rothweiler.

We’ve looked before at the “world’s debt to the Catholic Church,” the ways in which Catholicism changed culture for the better and helped advance human flourishing. Jim Papandrea gives us a look at different “revolutions,” started by Christians, that helped save civilization

The former Bishop of Oran, Argentina, has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison for the sexual abuse of two former seminarians and a leading bishop in Germany has called for changes to Church teaching on sexuality. But not all is lost. Matthew Bunson explains why, looking at a variety of Church news

Nonie Darwish was raised a devout Muslim in Egypt, but it wasn’t until she immigrated to the US that she realized how completely the Koran had formed her life. Simple things we take for granted - polite apologies, respect for women, encouragement for children - were completely new to her. She flourished in Western society and discovered peace, freedom and human dignity in an entirely new way. Nonie joins us.

When we think of Japan's history, the image of the samurai warriors typically comes to mind. But did you know some of the samurai were Catholic? And one of them, Paulo Uchibori, was tortured and martyred because he refused to renounce his faith. Both he and his sons were killed during the Lenten season. Luke O'Hara tells their story.

Many of us fail to recognize that obtaining the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential to getting to heaven. We often block their reception through our own faults. We fail to see how they are passed on or strengthened in the sacraments. And, sadly, we forget to petition God in prayer to bestow these gifts upon us. Dr. Kevin Vost joins us with an introduction to the seven gifts and how we can humbly submit our wills to the stirrings of the Holy Spirit.

If you've watched mainstream news over the last week, you've seen coverage of the Russia invasion and very little else - which makes sense. But yet again the press is overlooking a major part of the story - the role religion plays. Dan Philpott joins us with a look at several religious angles to this story and why they matter.