Was it a comet? Was it a shooting star? Do we have any clues as to the nature of the Star of Bethlehem? Jimmy Akin brings some fascinating speculations about what the star might have been. Cy Kellett: Is there any way to know what the Star of Bethlehem was? Jimmy Akin gives it a try next. Cy Kellett: Hello and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding, and defending your Catholic faith. This time, a little bit of understanding. What exactly is the Star of Bethlehem? There’s been all kinds of interesting speculation, and you know what? You know who loves a …

The most wonderful time of year — the tree, the lights, the cider — oh, and don’t forget the stories about how Christmas is a pagan holiday basically stolen by Christians. Jimmy Akin joins us to get to the root of some of the claims made about the hidden paganism of Christmas. Catholic Answers is proud to present a very Pagan Christmas, with Jimmy Akin. 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 that’s how I feel every Christmas. We’ve got t…

Deacon Charlie Echeverry from the Living the Call podcast joins us for a discussion of the opportunities available to better serve the Latino Catholic community. He explains how an apostolate such as ours — and maybe yours — can help bring the Church together in the US and make things less difficult for Catholic families in the future. Cy Kellett: You know what’s weird in the American church? It’s getting more Latino while Latinos are getting less Catholic. Deacon Charlie Echeverry from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is next. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome to Focus, th…

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 investiture controversy? Steve Weidenkopf is next. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding and defending your Catholic faith. The long history of…

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, understanding and defending your Catholic faith. I’m Cy Kellett your host. And please raise your hand if the following applies to you. You didn’t really do much to observe t…

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, understanding and defending your Catholic faith. And we’re not exactly going to be defending the Catholic faith at this time. We wanted to talk with one of our … well, you can p…

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 tell us about monogamy? Dr. Dan Kuebler is next. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding, and defending your Catholic faith. I’…

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 Transgenderism Cy Kellett: What the Second Vatican Council almost said about sex changes. Father Hugh Barber next. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers Podcast for Living, Understanding and Defending Your Cat…

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 Catholic faith. So much talk about transgenderism these days, and it finally occurred to us, I wonder what Thomas Aquinas would have to say about that? And so we decided, we’ll ask a Th…

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 teach that we could not or should not pray for the dead. Jesus never said any such thing, nor did the apostles or the gospel writers, which raises a question. Cy Kellett: If the Jews pra…