Today on Kresta - November 2, 2010

Talking about the "things that matter most" on Nov. 2

4:00 – Iraq Cathedral Raid Bloodiest Attack on Christians Since War Began
Iraq launched an investigation on Tuesday into a church raid in which 52 hostages and police were killed, trying to find out how al Qaeda-linked gunmen managed to storm the building despite checkpoints, an official said. Sunday's attack was the bloodiest against Iraq’s Christian minority since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, and drove fear deep into the hearts of many Iraqi Christians who had so far resisted the urge to flee their war-torn country. We talk with Joseph Kassab, Executive Director of the Chaldean Federation of America.

4:20 – TBA

4:40 – Catholics and the Election: It’s More Than “the economy, stupid”
Tom Pauken is a Catholic layman who headed a federal agency in the Reagan administration and served as Republican Texas State Chairman in the mid-90s during a time when the Republicans became the majority party in that state. Pauken makes the point that, no matter what we do to address economic and foreign policy issues, if we don't fix the culture, he argues, everything will be for naught. He highlights the insights of the great Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn who says that the West, which once was the bastion of Christianity, is running the risk of falling prey to the flawed philosophy of secular fundamentalism. The Russian author points out that "Men have forgotten God" and there are consequences of that. On this election day we look at where we are headed in America.

5:00 – Reformation Day: A Failure for All
Sunday, October 31, is Reformation Day. It marks 493 years since Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the famous church door in Wittenberg, Germany. Within the Lutheran church, Reformation Day is considered a lesser festival, and is officially referred to as The Festival of the Reformation. It is a civic holiday in Slovenia. But Al points out that it actually represents a failure for us all.

5:40 – Archdiocese Shelves Mass for Gays
The Archdiocese of San Antonio has discontinued a long-standing Mass that was offered for the dissident homosexual group “Dignity” for more than 15 years to at a near-downtown parish. The Mass at St. Ann Catholic Church was the subject of periodic complaints to the archdiocese. But until recently, the local hierarchy declined to shut it down. It had been conducted by a handful of local priests sympathetic to the group. The decision was made by Auxiliary Bishop Oscar Cantú, who's the interim head of the archdiocese until Chicago Bishop Gustavo García-Siller becomes the new archbishop of San Antonio on Nov. 23. We talk with canon lawyer Michael Dunnigan who was involved in this case.

5:45 – Beleaguered Haiti Fights Cholera / Braces for Hurricane
A hurricane may hit Haiti this week, adding to the woes of a nation where cholera is spreading in the countryside and more than 1 million earthquake survivors have only a plastic tarp or tent to protect them. A U.S. Navy vessel, the amphibious warfare ship Iwo Jima, was steaming toward Haiti today to provide disaster relief in case Tropical Storm Tomas strikes late in the week as forecast, possibly as a Category 2 hurricane. The storm has already caused 14 deaths in the eastern Caribbean. Haiti issued its highest storm warning to inform people they may need to evacuate — though most have nowhere to go. Jim Cavnar of Cross International Catholic Outreach joins us.