Today on Kresta - June 14, 2011

Talking about the "things that matter most" on June 14

4:00 – Prop 8 Still Tied Up in Courts
Sponsors of California's Proposition 8, the defense of traditional marriage which passed 52%-48% in 2008, tried to convince an apparently skeptical federal judge yesterday that the jurist who overturned their ballot measure should have been disqualified because he failed to disclose his longtime relationship with a male partner. Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling last year throwing out the ballot measure should itself be overturned because the judge didn't reveal his relationship. Bill May of Catholics for the Common good was there and joins us today.

4:20 – Republican Presidential Hopefuls Square Off in New Hampshire
GOP presidential candidates assailed President Obama last night for his handling of the economy and his national health care overhaul, sparing early front-runner Mitt Romney from pointed criticism in the first significant debate of the 2012 nomination process. We talk with political analyst Michael Barone about the performances of Romney, Pawlenty, Gingrich, Bachmann, Santorum, Paul, and Cain.

4:40 – Memorial Mass for Fr. John Hardon on his Birthday / Anniversary of Ordination
Servant of God, Fr. John Hardon, was a Jesuit priest, writer, and theologian. Father Hardon wrote dozens of books on religion and theology including: The Catholic Catechism, a defining volume of Catholic orthodoxy; and the Modern Catholic Dictionary, the first major Catholic reference dictionary published after the Second Vatican Council. The talk to Fr. Robert McDermott, Postulator of the Cause of Fr. Hardon.

5:00 – YOUCAT
YOUCAT, the new Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church, will impact more than 40,000 Catholic teens in the United States and Canada this summer -- even before the book is widely distributed during 2011 World Youth Day in Madrid. Ignatius Press, publisher of the English-language edition of the book, and Franciscan University of Steubenville have formed a partnership that will bring YOUCAT to 17 Steubenville Conferences in the U.S. and one in Canada. In his foreword to the book, Pope Benedict XVI clearly states his desire that young people become 'more deeply rooted in the faith than the generation of your parents....' Given the theme of the 2011 Steubenville Conferences -- 'Rooted' – it’s a natural partnership. We talk to John Beaulieu, Franciscan's Director of Youth and Young Adult Outreach.

5:20 – Liturgy and the American Catholic Council
We continue our look at the American Catholic Council, an umbrella organization for around 30 dissident groups who met this week in Detroit. Today we focus on the liturgy and the ACC’s view of what liturgy should be. Fr. John Zuhlsdorf joins us.

5:40 – Newt Gingrich, His Negatives and the GOP Field
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has long been seen as a person more suited to punditry than the presidency. Successful columnists go wild with big ideas—as Gingrich has—but a president has to be extraordinarily careful in what he says and what he does. He does not have to be the idea creator himself but must be a good judge of the ideas of others. Gingrich says he has changed and become more self-disciplined, but since he has been out of public office for 13 years he hasn't had the opportunity to show the New Newt. Marvin Olasky joins us to look at Gingrich’s past, his ideas, his conversion and more.