Catholic Answers Focus

With the Supreme Court weighing in on abortion, all the old pro-choice arguments are being dragged out again, and they haven’t gotten any stronger. Trent Horn breaks down some of them with us. Cy Kellett: Are clever pro-choice arguments really that clever? Trent Horn is next. Cy Kellett: Hello and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding and defending your Catholic faith. I’m Cy Kellett, your host, and we’re joined by Trent Horn this time. And Trent is the perfect person to talk to. He’s been doing pro-life advocacy, pro-life apologetics…

BONUS EPISODE God Is Present to You For the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (June 24), Sister Regina Marie Gorman reflects with us on the ways God remains ever present to us. The joy of that presence is the key to every life. Cy Kellett: Is it really possible to live in intimacy with God? Sister Regina Marie Gorman is next. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding, and defending your Catholic faith. I’m Cy Kellett, your host. I had the great privilege recently of talking with Sister Regina Marie Gorman, a well-known sister, a wom…

PETA has an ongoing campaign against “speciesism” the idea that humans have no right to use animals. But is speciesism — even though it sounds like “racism” or “sexism” — really such a bad thing? Cy Kellett: Is being a speciesist as bad as being a racist? Dr. Logan Gage is next. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding, and defending your Catholic faith. I’m Cy Kellett, your host. And one of the things that we’ve been saying for years is, “In order to defend the Catholic fa…

Apologist Pat Flynn, from the Philosophy for the People podcast, gets down to basics with us to defend the idea that we can, indeed, know things with certainty. This defense of knowledge helps when we are confronted with the argument that no one really knows anything for sure. Cy Kellett: How can we even know anything? Pat Flynn is next. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic answers podcast for living, understanding, and defending your Catholic faith. I’m Cy Kellett, your host, and Pat Flynn is here with us today to help us settle something that is very unsettled and it …

It is common to hear the feast of Pentecost referred to as the birthday of the Church because it marks the day when the Apostolic Church received the Holy Spirit in a definitive and powerful way. But is this the same as birth, or is something else happening at Pentecost? Father Hezekias Carnazzo, founder of the Institute for Catholic Culture is our guest. Cy Kellett: When exactly was the church born? Father Hezekias Carnazzo is next. Hello, and welcome to Focus the Catholic Answers Podcast for living, understanding and defending your Catholic faith. I’m Cy Kellett, your host, at least u…

One strategy used by those who want to denigrate the Bible is to say it doesn’t meet Christian standards of what is acceptable in the media. It’s a clever move, but is it true that the Bible is too sexy and violent for respectable reading?  Cy Kellett : Should the Bible be reserved for mature audiences only? Trent Horn is next.  Cy Kellett : Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding and defending your Catholic faith. I’m Cy Kellett, your host, and if you’re going to defend your Catholic faith you’re going to have to defend the Bible.…

Some Christians claim that Peter, the man, is not the rock on which Jesus builds his Church, but Peter’s profession of faith is. Actually, no. Apologist Suan Sonna explains why. Cy Kellett: Did Jesus really found the Catholic church with a pun? Suan Sonna is next. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers Podcast for living, understanding, and defending your Catholic faith. I’m Cy Kellett, your host. And if you engage at all in defending the Catholic faith, one of the things that you will have to defend is the papacy. And in order to do that, you’re goi…

An argument has been spreading that Francis is not the pope because Benedict retained some of the papal powers. We ask apologist Michael Lofton to explain the munus/ministerium debate. Cy Kellett: What about the theory that Pope Benedict resigned only part of the papacy? Apologist Michael Lofton is next. Cy Kellett: Hello and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers Podcast for living, understanding, and defending your Catholic faith. I’m Cy Kellett, your host, and our guest this time is Apologist Michael Lofton. Michael Lofton has actually been quite critical of Pope Francis, and so we t…

Ever wished for a killer proof to convince all of Twitter that God exists? Logan Gage, head of the philosophy department at Franciscan University, says there is actually a better strategy. Maybe just point to the variety of evidence, and help others to see it. Cy Kellett: I know you want it, but you don’t need that one killer argument to prove God’s existence. Dr. Logan Gage is next. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers Podcast for living, understanding and defending your Catholic faith. I’m Cy Kellett, your host, and especially in this, it used to b…

Chris Check, president of Catholic Answers, joins us for a Cinco de Mayo bonus episode to discuss some of the struggles faced by the Catholic Church in 20th Century Mexico. It’s a dramatic story with astonishing heroes and heroines, and nasty villains, one of whom called himself, “The personal enemy of God.” …

It looks like Roe v. Wade is finally about to be overruled. What does it mean that the news has been leaked? What does the draft decision say? Joe Heschmeyer joins us to discuss what appears to be very happy news. Cy Kellett: Apparently, Roe v. Wade will be overturned. Joe Heschmeyer is next. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding, and defending your Catholic faith. I’m Cy Kellett, your host. Thank you so much for being with us. Cy Kellett: We’re going to respond to a recent news story in this episode, because it’s a b…

Good apologetics is not just a quest to have the right answer. It is, instead, one tool in a larger struggle to win souls. This means that it involves spiritual battle. Our guest, Dan Burke, explains spiritual battle for apologists. Cy Kellett: You want to defend the church? Don’t neglect your own spiritual life. Dan Burke is next. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding and defending your Catholic faith. I’m Cy Kellett your host. I remember being a young California Catholic heading off to Boston College to study theology and…

Catholics can use to Scripture to defend the fact that Jesus empowered the Church with a permanent magisterium, but our guest, Suan Sonna, says we should also just use some common sense when we explain the magisterium to Protestant Christians. Cy Kellett: Does the church actually have the authority to speak for Jesus? Suan Sonna is next. Cy Kellett: Hello and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers Podcast for living, understanding, and defending your Catholic faith. And one of the things that we Catholics have to defend is the idea that Jesus left a teaching church, a church with the authorit…

Rod Bennett’s new book, These Twelve, helps us see Jesus’ mission through the eyes of the Apostles. For Holy Week, Bennett reflects on what the Apostle’s experienced as Jesus continued to teach them even as he suffered his passion. Cy Kellett: Holy Week through the eyes of the apostles. Rod Bennett is next. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding, and defending your Catholic faith. I’m Cy Kellett, your host, and for Holy Week, a special conversation with Rod Bennett. Many people know Rod Bennett as the author of t…

Mark Wahlberg and Mel Gibson share a few thoughts on what makes a good “faith” movie as we discuss their excellent new film Father Stu. After that we get the lowdown on the real Father Stu from his friend and fellow priest Father Bart Tolleson. Cy Kellett: Finally a great movie about the priesthood. Mark Wahlberg, Mel Gibson and Father Bart Tolleson, next. Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding and defending your Catholic faith. I’m Cy Kellett, your host. Maybe you heard about the new movie opening this week, Father Stu. It’s a movie ab…

Agnostics say they just don’t know the answer to life’s biggest question. Pat Flynn, Host of Philosophy for the People, says that, while agnostics make some good points, their decision not to decide is ultimately a mistake. Cy Kellett: Hey, let’s face it. Agnostics make some strong points. Pat Flynn is next. Hello, and welcome to Focus, The Catholic Answers Podcast for living, understanding and defending your Catholic faith. I’m Cy Kellett, your host. Thanks so much for being here with us. Among those who we might contend intellectually here at Catholic Answers, what d…

A debate is raging within Catholicism over the legitimacy of modern liberalism. R.R. Reno, editor of First Things magazine, stops by to help us understand the stakes in the debate. Cy Kellet: Modern ideas about freedom are not setting people free. Catholics are debating what to do about it. R.R. Reno is next. Cy Kellet: Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers Podcast for living, understanding and defending your Catholic faith. I’m psych Kelly, your host. First Things is a big deal. It has had a huge effect on culture in recent decades, and it is one of the places that religiou…

Is it really true that if you’re not angry you’re not paying attention? Joe Heschmeyer, author of The Early Church Was the Catholic Church, explains why anger at modern problems is not always a virtue. Cy Kellett: Ever hear phrases like, “If you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention?” Joe Heschmeyer challenges those ideas next. Cy Kellett: Hello and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding, and defending your Catholic faith. Joe Heschmeyer with us this time. I’m Cy Kellett, your host. We talk with Joe about anger, specifically …

Is there a wrong way to have a baby? Stephanie Gray Connors, author of Conceived by Science explains the human rights issues with in vitro fertilization. Cy Kellet: Everybody loves a baby, but is IVF a moral way to get one? Stephanie Gray Connors is next. Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding, and defending your Catholic faith. The better we get at reproductive technology, biological technology, the finer the distinctions become that we need to make. And this can really drive people crazy. They can say things like, “You’re just splitti…

Atheists get the big thing wrong, but that doesn’t mean they get everything wrong. Karlo Broussard, author of Prepare the Way, explains why Catholics and atheists can agree on some important insights about God. Cy Kellett: Actually, atheists get a lot of stuff right. Karlo Broussard is next. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding, and defending your Catholic faith. I’m Cy Kellett, your host. We’re going to understand our faith by understanding what those who don’t have faith have to say about God. This time, Karl…