#12375 Who Were the Desert Fathers? How Did They Change Catholicism? - William Albrecht

Sep 17, 2025

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“Who were the Desert Fathers and their impact on Catholicism?” This episode explores the lives and teachings of these early Christian ascetics, while also addressing questions like why Mother Angelica has not been beatified and how to interpret the recent LGBT pilgrimage to Rome. Tune in for a rich discussion on the early church and its relevance today.

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Questions Covered:

12:35 – why has Mother Angelica not been beatified?
14:45 – How should we interpret the recent LGBT pilgrimage to Rome?
18:15 – If the early church had martyrs, are those martyrs saints. Also, if Charlie Kirk is considered a martyr, could one day he be considered a saint?
22:40 – Did the early church interpret Genesis literally, and then after we realized it doesn’t really correspond to our scientific knowledge, we just started saying it’s not literal? (this is what her son is claiming)
31:12 – I was raised in an independent fundamentalist Baptist church. I’m looking at Catholicism. I want to read writers of the early church. Where do I find that and how do I know if it’s a good translation?
34:30 – How do we know if the early church fathers were Catholic? Because Protestants quote them too. How do we know St. Augustine wasn’t Protestant?
41:15 – I understand for a sin to be mortal we need have knowledge that the act is sinful. But do we have to know the act is specifically a grave offence, or do we just need to know that it is sinful. For example, if one commits a grave offense, but things that act is only venially sinful, would it still be a mortal sin?
46:28 – The Bible says that Mary visited Elizabeth in her sixth month. I saw a video that says that means the sixth month of the year, not Elizabeth’s sixth month of pregnancy. Which way does the Church teach?
50:40 – Were some of the early church fathers Eastern Orthodox? I know the Eastern Orthodox have their church fathers, so whose are right?