Today on "Kresta in the Afternoon" - December 20, 2011

Talking about the "things that matter most" on December 20

Countdown of the Best interviews of 2011

#38 - Was Chief Sitting Bull a Catholic?
Was Chief Sitting Bull a Catholic convert? Did he convert William “Buffalo Bill” Cody? For some reason this question has recently surfaced in Catholic circles. As a student of the Old West, having read numerous accounts of Sitting Bull and a resident of the once vast Dakota Territory, Mark Armstrong says he thought it unlikely. But was it possible that Sitting Bull was a full member of the Catholic Church? Mark answers that question.

#37 - Great American Catholic Eulogies
Eulogies have a long and important history in remembering and commemorating the dead. As Thomas Lynch notes, eulogies are meant "to speak for the ages, to bring homage and appreciation, the final appraisal, the last word and first draft of all future biography." In Great American Catholic Eulogies, Carol DeChant has compiled fifty of the most memorable and instructive eulogies, In Memoriam printed tributes, and elegiac poetry of Catholics in America.

#36 – The Church in Europe
Why do Europeans and Americans see the world so differently? Why do Europeans and Americans have such different understandings of democracy in the twenty-first century? Why is Europe dying, demographically? George Weigel offers a penetrating critique of "Europe's problem" and draws out its lessons for the rest of the democratic world.

#35 - Anders Breivik and his “Re-Founding” of the Knights Templar
In his 1,500-page "manifesto", Anders Behring Breivik described attending a meeting in which he helped “re-found” the Knights Templar in London in 2002 and wrote that his “assigned mentor” was “referred to as Richard (the Lionhearted).” He said he had a “relatively close relationship” with the Englishman, who first described the concept of the “perfect knight”. Sandra Miesel, medieval historian and expert on the Knights Templar, joins us.

#34 – The Passionate Intellect: Christian Faith and the Discipleship of the Mind
Alister McGrath, one of the most prominent theologians and public intellectuals of our day, explains how Christian thinking can and must have a positive role in shaping, nourishing and safeguarding the Christian vision of reality. With this in our grasp, we have the capacity for robust intellectual and cultural engagement, confidently entering the public sphere of ideas where atheism, postmodernism and science come into play. He explores how the great tradition of Christian theological reflection enriches faith. It deepens our appreciation of the gospel's ability to engage with the complexities of the natural world on the one hand and human experience on the other.