Today on "Kresta in the Afternoon" for January 9, 2012

Talking about the "things that matter most" on Jan. 9

4:00 – Kresta Comments: Controversial Michigan Pastor with Bizarre Notions of Hell Leaves Megachurch
A western Michigan pastor who has drawn thousands to Sunday services and written a controversial book about hell has said good-bye to his congregation. He is leaving Mars Hills Bible Church in Grandville and heading to Los Angeles to work on a TV drama based loosely on his life. Bell is the author of "Love Wins," which questions traditional Christian beliefs about hell. Al comments on his view of hell.

4:20 – Blue Collar Intellectuals: When the Enlightened and the Everyman Elevated America
Popular culture has divorced itself from the life of the mind. Who has time for great books or deep thought when there is Jersey Shore to watch, a txt 2 respond 2, and World of Warcraft to play? At the same time, those who pursue the life of the mind have insulated themselves from popular culture. Speaking in insider jargon and writing unread books, intellectuals have locked themselves away in a ghetto of their own creation. Daniel Flynn is here to show us how much everyone intellectual and everyman alike has suffered from mass culture’s crowding out of higher things and the elite’s failure to engage the masses.

5:00 – Pope Names 22 new cardinals
Pope Benedict XVI has named 22 new cardinals, including two prelates from the US. At his Angelus audience on January 6, the Pope announced that a consistory will be held on February 18, and named the 22 prelates who will receive red hats. Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York will be among the new cardinals, as will Archbishop Edwin O’Brien, the former Archbishop of Baltimore who was named last year as grand master of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre. Archbishop Thomas Collins of Toronto was also on the Pope’s list. We look at the significance of this announcement with Matthew Bunson.

5:20 – Boston Globe Breaks Church Sex Abuse Story Wide Open: 10 Years Later
Ten years have passed since the Boston archdiocese was engulfed in scandal, as the result of investigative reporting by the Boston Globe. Today the faithful in Boston are still struggling to shake off the lingering effects of that scandal. But a full recovery is delayed because of two popular misconceptions, which should be corrected. Phil Lawler explains.

5:40 – Kresta Comments: Anti-Catholicism Gets Big Attention in Prime-Time GOP Debate
During Saturday night’s GOP primary debate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich blasted what he said was anti-Christian bigotry in the media, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry promised to end what he sees as the Obama administration’s “war on religion.” “The bigotry question goes both ways,” Gingrich said, inserting himself into the discussion after a series of questions related to contraception, gay marriage and gay adoption. He went on to say “Should the Catholic Church be forced to close its adoption services in Massachusetts because it won’t accept gay couples, which is exactly what the state has done? Should the Catholic Church be driven out of providing charitable services in the District of Columbia because it won’t give in to secular bigotry? Should the Catholic Church find itself discriminated against by the Obama administration on key delivery of services because of the bias and the bigotry of the administration?” We play the clips and Al has the commentary.