Catholic Answers Focus

Drawing on his book, Light From Darkness: Nine Times the Catholic Church Was in Turmoil and Came Out Stronger Than Before, historian Steve Weidenkopf answers our questions about the current Vatican deal with China. Is the agreement to let the Chinese government have a say about bishop appointments a return to the days of the Investiture Controversy?Cy Kellett:Is the China deal a repeat of the...

Joe Heschmeyer — author of A Man Called Joseph: Guardian for Our Times — joins us to wrap up the year of St. Joseph. We dig into the fascinating history of his veneration, and ask why he seems such a perfect father-figure for modern people.Cy Kellett:Turns out St. Joseph has a lot to teach modern people, Joe Heschmeyer is next. Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living,...

Monica Doumit, the Director of Public Affairs and Engagement for the Archdiocese of Sydney, is one of the clearest pro-life voices on Earth. Here’s what happens when we ask her to admit some of the things pro-choice people are right about.Cy Kellett:Pro-choice arguments actually get a lot right. Monica Doumit is next.Cy Kellett:Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic answers podcast for living,...

Vox Media’s series of explainer videos failed badly when it tried to use science to suggest that monogamy doesn’t really fit with human nature. We asked Dan Kuebler, Professor of Biology and Dean of the School of Natural and Applied Sciences at Franciscan University, to help us understand monogamy in a more adult way, using both scientific and moral arguments.Cy Kellett:What can science really...

In the second part of our discussion with Father Hugh Barbour about Catholic Faith and the transgender movement, he brings out a forgotten document from Pope John XXIII. The document was never promulgated by the Second Vatican Council, but it says a great deal about how the Church thinks about sex, and sex “reassignment.”Listen to the first part here: Aquinas on TransgenderismCy Kellett:What the...

Thomas Aquinas, the Church’s greatest theologian, had lots to say about the nature of the human person. So what would he say about the modern transgender movement? We asked Father Hugh Barbour.Cy Kellett:What would Thomas Aquinas say about transgenderism? Father Hugh Barbour is next.Cy Kellett:Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding and defending your...

The Jews of Jesus’ time, like Jews today, prayed for the dead. Apologist Joe Heschmeyer looks at how Jesus and the early Church responded to this widespread practice and finds strong evidence that the Lord intended his Church to continue it.Cy Kellett:God’s people have always prayed for the dead. Joe Heschmeyer is next. A shocking change occurred when in the 16th century some Christians began to...

Netflix goes heavy Catholic in its series Midnight Mass. But does it get the Catholic view of death right? Apologist Joe Heschmeyer joins us for a discussion of the various takes on death presented in Midnight Mass.Cy Kellett:Catholic take on Netflix’s Midnight Mass, Joe Heschmeyer is next. Hello and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding, and defending your...

Some Christians miss or explain away the amazing gift that Jesus gave his Church when he told the Apostles, “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven…” This unique moment is given to us in John 20:23. Karlo Broussard joins us to explain why the most obvious reading is the right one — Christ gave the Apostles the power to forgive sins.Cy Kellett:Did Jesus give the church a sacrament of confession or...

Catholics in politics are big in the news these days. But a truly Catholic politics might not be what you think. We talk about the meaning of politics form a Catholic perspective with theologian Andrew Willard Jones author of new book, The Two Cities: A History of Christian Politics.Cy Kellett:What is the place of the church in politics? Andrew Willard Jones is next. Hello, and welcome to Focus,...