Today on "Kresta in the Afternoon" - January 3, 2012

Talking about the "things that matter most" on Jan. 3

4:00 - Top Catholic Stories of 2011 / Predictions for 2012
Frequent guest and watcher of all things Catholic, Matthew Bunson, is here with us today to review some of the most significant events, trends and stories about the Catholic Church in 2011. He also makes some predictions about what may happen of significance in 2012.

4:30 – Top 10 under-covered Vatican stories (plus a bonus feature)
Vatican reporter John Allen continues his tradition of running down the top under-covered Vatican stories of the year. The idea is not to flag the year's most celebrated events or personalities, because plenty of other news agencies do that. Rather, he tries to lift up storylines that otherwise flew below radar but that were actually fairly important. We look at the 10 stories during 2011 that didn't have much echo, especially in the States, but which tell us something significant. In other words, this is the kind of stuff that armchair vaticanisti everywhere need to know. By the way, we also get a bonus feature on the year's top "non-story."

5:00 – Middle East Violence Against Christians Continues
Dozens of worshippers were killed in Nigeria as bomb attacks targeted churches in three cities on Christmas Day. The Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram is suspected of carrying out the attacks. The deadliest of the incidents, which claimed at least 35 lives, took place at St. Theresa Catholic Church near Abuja, the nation’s capital, as worshippers were leaving Mass. At a midday public audience on December 26, Pope Benedict XVI decried the "senseless act" and offered his prayers for the countries that are "drenched with innocent blood" because of religious persecutions. Noting that the day was the feast of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, the Pontiff spoke of all martyrs as being both "living witnesses" and "silent messengers" of the faith. We talk to religious freedom expert Paul Marshall.

5:40 – A Review of the Year in Finance
With all of the “Top 10” lists being complied this time of year, one significant area is often overlooked, yet is one of the most discussed topics in the last year: The economy and finances. George Schwartz is here to review the last year and speculate on trends in the next 12 months.