Today on "Kresta in the Afternoon" - April 30, 2012

Talking about the "things that matter most" on April 30

4:00 – Notre Dame Faculty Attack a Bishop: An Iconic ND Professor Responds
On April 14, Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, of Peoria, Illinois, delivered a courageous homily at Men’s Conference Mass strongly criticizing the HHS mandates. In response, over 100 Notre Dame faculty signed a letter asking the Bishop to resign from the ND Board of Fellows. Now, iconic ND professor Charles Rice is responding to his colleagues. He joins us.

4:20 – Chinese Dissident Escapes House Arrest and is Reportedly at US Embassy
Chen Guangcheng, the blind lawyer known for his outspoken opposition to China’s forced abortion and sterilization policies, has escaped from house arrest and has reportedly sought U.S. diplomatic protection, potentially casting the United States in an awkward position on the eve of high-level talks between the nations. ChinaAid, a Texas-based activist group, said Chen was under the protection of U.S. officials and talks were underway between U.S. and Chinese officials about his fate. The U.S. Embassy, however, maintained its silence, declining to either confirm or deny that Chen was there, with a diplomat citing the sensitivity of the situation. We talk with David Aikman, who spent many years as TIME bureau chief in China.

4:40 – House Leadership Says it is Prepared to Hold AG Eric Holder in Contempt over Fast and Furious Documents
House GOP leaders said Friday they are pursuing a plan to hold Attorney General Eric H. Holder and the Justice Department in contempt for “stonewalling” them over information regarding the administration’s failed Fast and Furious gun-tracking program. GOP Rep. Darrell Issa confirmed to Fox News that House Speaker John Boehner gave him and others on his House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform the authority to drafted a contempt of Congress resolution. We talk with Katie Pavlich, author of Fast and Furious: Barack Obama's Bloodiest Scandal and the Shameless Cover-Up.

5:00 – Vatican Investigation of LCWR Decades in the Making
The Vatican has called for a thorough reform of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), the umbrella group that represents most of the women’s religious orders in the US. After a thorough investigation of the LCWR, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) concluded that “the current doctrinal and pastoral situation of LCWR is grave and a matter of serious concern.” The CDF concluded that a Vatican intervention was necessary to reform the group. Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle has been appointed as the Vatican’s delegate to supervise the reform of the LCWR. The archbishop has been charged with helping LCWR leaders to revise the group’s statues, plan its programs, review liturgical texts, and reconsider the group’s affiliations with other organizations. We talk with Ann Carey, author of Sisters in Crisis: The Tragic Unveiling of Women’s Religious Communities.

5:20 – Kresta Comments: Mainstream Media and Their Perversion of the Vatican Investigation of the LCWR

5:40 – China Expert Steven Mosher: “Chen Guangcheng Key to China's Future”
Chinese human rights activist and longtime political prisoner Chen Guangcheng has escaped from house arrest to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. The blind, self-taught attorney has been a vocal advocate of the rights of women and a strong critic of the oppression of the Chinese government. As the Secretary of State is scheduled to travel to China later this week, this turn of events poses a difficult situation for Chinese-American relations. Steven Mosher, one of America's leading China experts, says, "Chen Guangcheng and I have been fighting the same battle for years. I am an eyewitness to forced abortions, coercive sterilizations and infanticide in China. Chen is the blind attorney who documented 7,000 cases of forced abortions in one small part of Shantung province, and sought justice for the women and children thus victimized.” Steven joins us.