Continuing the Countdown...

Here's what we have done the last few days on the countdown of the best interviews of 2012. Stay tuned today for more and join us Friday, January 4 for the top three!!!

Wednesday, December 26 

#26 - The Church and a Bishops Obligation to Teach Clearly and Unambiguously on Catholic Political Responsibility
In light of the recent election results, Bishop Daniel Jenky joins us to discuss the witness of the Church in forming Catholic consciences, challenging the culture, and working through the implications of our refusal to comply with the HHS Mandate.

#25 - The Church and Money
Of all of the organizations that serve America’s poor, few do more good work than the Catholic Church: its schools and hospitals provide a lifeline for millions. Yet even taking these virtues into account, the finances of the Catholic Church in America are an unholy mess. The sins involved in its book-keeping are not as vivid or grotesque as those on display in the various sexual-abuse cases that have cost the American church more than $3 billion so far; but the financial mismanagement and questionable business practices would have seen widespread resignations at the top of any other public institution. So says a recent article in The Economist which is generating a lot of attention. Pat O’Mera joins us to discuss it.

#24 - Remembering Chuck Colson
The death of Chuck Colson is so remarkable because of the life of Chuck Colson. His life is summed up in the scripture that the Manhattan Declaration posted: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV)! Chuck Colson was truly a new man. His life forever will be remembered, not in a legacy of political intrigue, but with a legacy of new life in Jesus Christ that overflowed to the world with a robust intellect and dynamic message lived out in a heart of deep, demonstrable compassion. Few knew Colson as well as Michael Timmis who succeeded Colson as Chairman of Prison Fellowship. Michael joins us to offer some words on the passing of Chuck Colson.

#23 - “Catholic” Melinda Gates on a Mission to Provide the “Pill” to Every Woman on Earth
Melinda Gates, the Catholic wife of software czar Bill Gates and co-chair of his charitable foundation, has taken a public stand against the Church’s teaching on contraception. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is spearheading a drive to distribute contraceptives in impoverished countries, and Melinda Gates—who is described in news stories as a “practicing Catholic”—insists that the initiative “makes sense” to most people. Brushing aside the Church’s condemnation of artificial contraceptives, Gates said that her Catholic-school education taught here to “question received teachings.” Claiming that birth control has not increased the level of promiscuity in society, Gates argues that there should be no longer be a debate about the value of contraceptives. “I think we made birth control and contraceptives way too political in the United States,” she said. Moral theologian Dr. Janet Smith is here to respond.

Thursday, December 27

#22 - Escape from North Korea: The Untold Story of Asia's Underground Railroad
From the world’s most repressive state comes rare good news: the escape to freedom of a small number of its people. It is a crime to leave North Korea. Yet increasing numbers of North Koreans dare to flee. They go first to neighboring China, which rejects them as criminals, then on to Southeast Asia or Mongolia, and finally to South Korea, the United States, and other free countries. They travel along a secret route known as the new underground railroad. Their conductors are brokers who are in it for the money as well as Christians who are in it to serve God. With a journalist’s grasp of events and a novelist’s ear for narrative, Melanie Kirkpatrick tells the story of the North Koreans’ quest for liberty. She joins us.

#21 - Michael Novak: A Life
We sit down with American Catholic philosopher, journalist, novelist, and diplomat Michael Novak. He gives us a retrospective of his friendship with Blessed John Paul II, his reporting on Vatican II, his time as US Ambassador to the Vatican, the worldwide impact of his book The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism, his most significant influences, and so much more.

Friday, December 28

#20 - Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust
Immaculee Ilibagiza grew up in a country she loved, surrounded by a family she cherished. But in 1994 her idyllic world was ripped apart as Rwanda descended into a bloody genocide. Immaculee’s family was brutally murdered during a killing spree that lasted three months and claimed the lives of nearly a million Rwandans. Incredibly, Immaculee survived the slaughter. For 91 days, she and seven other women huddled silently together in the cramped bathroom of a local pastor while hundreds of machete-wielding killers hunted for them. It was during those endless hours of unspeakable terror that Immaculee discovered the power of prayer, eventually shedding her fear of death and forging a profound and lasting relationship with God. She emerged from her bathroom hideout having discovered the meaning of truly unconditional love—a love so strong she was able seek out and forgive her family’s killers. Immaculee joins us.

#19 - President Obama Announces Support for Gay “Marriage”
President Obama today announced that he now supports same-sex marriage, reversing his longstanding opposition amid growing pressure from the Democratic base and even his own vice president. In an interview with ABC News’ Robin Roberts, the president described his thought process as an “evolution” that led him to this place, based on conversations with his own staff members, openly gay and lesbian service members, and conversations with his wife and own daughters. Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse joins us.

#18 – Religious Liberty in America
Archbishop Charles Chaput

#17 - Seeking the Kingdom: Challenging the Culture By Living Our Faith
In his new book, “Seek First the Kingdom,” Washington Cardinal Donald Wuerl calls on Catholics to seek God’s kingdom and then reflect it in their everyday lives. We talk to the Cardinal about the HHS Mandate, Catholic voting and confronting the culture.

#16 - The Modern Papacy
Sam Gregg joins us to look at The Modern Papacy. He focuses on the social and political thought of the previous and current Popes, John Paul II and Benedict XVI. It focuses on the development of Catholic thinking in the context of the emergence of modern capitalism, mass democracy and Communism in the twentieth century.