Today on Kresta - April 8, 2009

Talking about the "things that matter most" on Apr. 8

3:00 – Kresta Comments – Notre Dame University talking points leaked
Pro-life students at the University of Notre Dame have obtained a copy of the talking points distributed by the University of Notre Dame to its Board of Trustees to respond to the rash of criticism the school faces from Catholic bishops, leaders, laypeople, and Notre Dame alumni concerning its invitation of President Obama to be this year's commencement speaker. Al comments on these talking points.

3:20 – Original “Schindler’s List” Found in Sydney Library
A list of Jews saved by Oskar Schindler that inspired the novel and Oscar-winning film "Schindler's List" has been found in a Sydney library, its co-curator said this week. Workers at the New South Wales State Library found the list, containing the names of 801 Jews saved from the Holocaust by the businessman, as they sifted through boxes of Australian author Thomas Keneally's manuscript material. The 13-page document, a yellowed and fragile carbon typescript copy of the original, was found between research notes and German newspaper clippings in one of the boxes. We talk with the man who wrote the book on Oskar Schindler, David Crowe.

4:00 – Analysis of President Obama’s First Foreign Trip
President Obama made his most direct outreach to Muslims around the world Monday, telling Turkey's Grand National Assembly that the United States "is not and never will be at war with Islam." This stop concluded his first foreign trip. We talk with Mustfa Akyol, a moderate Muslim writer and columnist based in Istanbul, Turkey

4:20 – Why Matter Matters
Does it really all that important that the wine we consecrate during Mass be made from grapes - and nothing else? Is it truly essential that olive oil and not mineral oil be part of the Anointing of the Sick? Why does Baptism have to be administered with plain, ordinary water? In short, why does the matter we use in the sacraments matter? David Lang clearly explains why each of the seven sacraments must have specific elements - like bread, wine, oil, water, male priests, and a man and woman for matrimony - and why those elements are absolutely crucial to our Faith.

5:00 – Al’s Analysis of the Christopher Hitchens Interview
On Monday, Al sat down for an interview with famed atheist bomb-thrower Christopher Hitchens – author of God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. In typical Hitchens fashion, he made outrageous and odd claims. We aired the interview on Monday afternoon, and today we analyze certain elements of it to expand on Al’s responses to Hitchens and further expose this man as a fraud and outright liar.