Respect Life Radio

Bill Donohue - Cultural Meltdown: The Secular Roots of our Moral Crisis

"The Catholic Church talks about the complementarity of men and women, the extent to which men and women compliment each other. Neither one is better than the other but they're different," says Bill Donohue, president and CEO of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, the nation’s largest Catholic civil rights organization. "But we live in a society that's radically egalitarian - everyone has to be exactly equal all the time. That is against human nature. We have different abilities, different talents, different strengths that we bring to the fore and we should praise people and develop them rather than trying to obliterate them."

Bill is the author of eleven books and thousands of articles. His latest book, Cultural Meltdown: The Secular Roots of our Moral Crisis, was published in 2024. Bill also serves on the advisory boards of many organizations, including the Society of Catholic Social Scientists and the Christian Film & Television Commission. Winner of several teaching awards, and many awards from the Catholic community, Bill has appeared on thousands of television and radio shows speaking on civil liberties, social issues, and religion. The publisher of the Catholic League journal, Catalyst, Bill served for two decades on the board of directors of the National Association of Scholars. He writes regular columns for Newsmax.com.

Learn more about the Catholic League and Bill Donohue by visiting https://www.catholicleague.org/.

Sarah Stula: Evangelical America and IVF

"Every child is a gift from God, no matter how they're here," said Sarah Stula, an attorney in Kansas City. "The point is where do we go from here to protect unborn life?" Stula recently authored an article in First Things called "Evangelical America and IVF" in response to the February decision by the Alabama Supreme Court that ruled that human embryos stored in an IVF clinic are unborn children for the purposes of the state's wrongful death statute. Stula writes the article from the perspective of a woman who, together with her husband, suffered from infertility for almost seven years before they were able to adopt their baby girl in early 2024. As she writes, "To those experiencing infertility, my plea is this: Don’t turn a blind eye to what’s happening in the fertility industry. Don’t sacrifice one life for another. Consider the cost. Stay rooted in truth and don’t turn from it, even for your heart’s greatest desire."

Read the full article at https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2024/04/evangelical-america-and-ivf

Karen Hall - The Sound of Silence: The Life and Cancelling of a Heroic Jesuit Priest

"When you ask people who knew him to describe him, the first word out of their mouth is 'brilliant.' We throw that word around a lot but he was literally brilliant. The thing that made him so incredible was that scholars could talk to him about ancient languages but someone like me could talk to him about bass fishing and Nascar," said Karen Hall a television writer and producer of hit shows like M*A*S*H, Hillstreet Blues, Moonlighting and The Good Wife about conservative Jesuit biblical scholar Fr. Paul Mankowski, SJ, who died in September 2020. Hall's new book, The Sound of Silence: The Life and Cancelling of a Heroic Jesuit Priest, exposes the silencing of Fr. Mankowski by his religious order for airing its dirty laundry and for upholding the two-thousand-year magisterium of the Catholic Church. With the same page-turning prose that brought her singular Hollywood success, Hall reveals how Fr. Mankowski was “canceled” long before the dawn of today’s pervasive Cancel Culture took root.

Click here to order the book and learn more about this remarkable priest.

Kristen Van Uden Theriault - The Mother Cabrini Companion, A Spiritual Journey with a Courageous Woman of God

"Mother Cabrini was incredibly politically savvy, more so than you would typically expect from a nun," said Kristen Van Uden Theriault, the author of The Mother Cabrini Companion, A Spiritual Journey with a Courageous Woman of God. "Her life of service is a testament that she wasn't doing this for herself, but for the glory of God." Theriault has degrees in history and Russian area studies and studies religious persecution in the 20th century. She is the media spokesperson for Sophia Institute Press and recently edited the new book on Mother Cabrini. The book helps readers immerse themselves in her inspired writings. Drawn from her letters from her international travels and her extensive spiritual retreat notes, these entries speak directly to souls seeking conviction and courage. Experience the beauty of Mother Cabrini’s inner world as she shares practical advice for spiritual development interspersed with poetic descriptions of creation, the sacraments, the virtues, and the joys of Heaven. A perfect enhancement to the blockbuster film, this devotional allows you to delve into the heart of Mother Cabrini’s spirituality and connect deeply with her teachings and insights.

To learn more about Theriault's newest book, visit: https://sophiainstitute.com/product/the-mother-cabrini-companion/

John Michael Talbot - Late Have I Loved You

One night, I was out on the road with a band and I had an encounter with Jesus and it changed me," said John Michael Talbot, GRAMMY / DOVE Award winning Christian Music pioneer who has just released his first autobiography titled Late Have I Loved You. "I started reading the early Church Fathers and I saw the primitive expressions of what we now call the Catholic faith. Deacon Geoff, I wasn't looking to become a Catholic, I didn't even like Catholics that much. So the Lord gave me the word... 'She's my first Church. I love Her most dearly and I want you to be a part of Her. And so In 1978, I became a Catholic." After responding to the Lord’s call, God used John Michael to bless millions of lives through his unique and multi-faceted ministry. Today he is recognized as Catholic music's most popular artist with over $4M sales and compositions published in hymnals throughout the world. His newest album, “Worship and Bow Down” is the 53rd album in his 37 years in Christian music ministry. A respected (and prolific) author of over 30 books, John Michael’s newest book Late Have I Loved You was released in February of this year.

Learn more about John Michael Talbot and access all of his activities here: https://johnmichaeltalbot.com

Dale Ahlquist - Localism: Coming Home to the Catholic Social Teaching

"G.K. Chesterton wrote about everything. He defended God against a godless society, defended Christianity specifically against other religions and then ended up defending the Catholic faith against, well, everything else," said Dale Ahlquist, author of six books, editor of 16 more, public speaker, Evangelical convert to Catholicism and Catholic apologist. He is considered one of the world's foremost authorities on English writer, G.K. Chesterton. President and co-founder of the American Chesterton Society and the publisher of its magazine, Gilbert, Ahlquist is the creator and host of the television series, The Apostle of Common Sense, on EWTN. He is also the co-founder of Chesterton Academy, a Minneapolis-based high school rated one of the top 50 Catholic schools in the United States. In 2012, he was named a Senior Fellow of the Chesterton Library at Oxford University. Dale and his wife Laura have six children and live in Minneapolis.

Learn more about the new book he has edited called Localism: Coming Home to the Catholic Social Teaching, here.

Fr. Robert Spitzer - The Four Levels of Happiness: Your Path to Personal Flourishing

"There is so much good scientific evidence for God, the soul and transcendence that I wanted to include in this book. There's so much to include that wasn't available to previous generations," said Fr. Robert Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D., the founder and president of the Spitzer Center. A scholar, teacher, author and seasoned leader, Fr. Spitzer is a pre-eminently a theologian and philosopher. His new book, The Four Levels of Happiness: Your Path to Personal Flourishing, is available for pre-order in mid-May. Father Spitzer's other fields of expertise include management science, finance, ethics and physics. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1952, Fr. Spitzer entered the Society of Jesus in 1974, was ordained a priest in 1983, and took final vows in 1992.

To learn more about Father Spitzer and his wealth of information and books, please visit https://www.magiscenter.com/father-spitzer

Dom David Watters: Just for Today

“I discovered the Catholic Church and found a certain stability there that was just unlike anything I'd ever known,” says Dom David Watters, author of the new daily devotional Just for Today. “There's something really powerful in this institution and something truly, really real.”

The son of Protestant missionaries, Dom David grew up in Kathmandu, Nepal and moved to the U.S. at 12 years old. While attending Baylor University, he converted to Catholicism and began considering religious life shortly thereafter. In 2020, Dom entered the Benedictines of perpetual adoration with plans to make final vows this September.

In this episode, he delves deeper into his journey of faith and how it led him here today. His message of God’s love and truth is both personal and far-reaching to bring others closer to the Lord.

We invite you to join the amazing conversation with Dom David this week, and make sure you get Just for Today soon to start your day off strong with a powerful devotion.

Bryan Feger: The Grief of Dads

“Men seem to have a delayed grief relative to women,” says Bryan Feger, co-author of The Grief of Dads: Support and Hope for Catholic Fathers Navigating Child Loss from Ave Maria Press. “And usually that's because they're focused on providing care and support for their wife, and so they delay their grief.” 

A member of the Knights of Columbus, Bryan earned his doctorate in physiology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and serves as a high school catechist and a participant in Yoke Fellows prison ministry. After experiencing the loss of three children from miscarriage, he finds purpose in letting other dads know that they are not alone. 

In this episode, Bryan discusses the intricate differences in grief experienced by men when a child passes away. The book was written by Catholic dads who have lost a child from various circumstances, and they provide the spiritual support and community needed to help others journey through the grief. 

Listen in on this powerful conversation this week, and be sure to grab The Grief of Dads to learn more.

Rachel Hoover Canto: How to Find, Date, and Marry Someone who Shares Your Faith

“There are countless different obstacles, all layered on top of each other,” says Rachel Hoover Canto of the journey to finding one’s spouse in today’s world. “It’s a very complicated situation, and I tried to address all the different obstacles I was hearing about and then provide at least a starting point, some tips for starting to overcome each one.”

Rachel shares these tips and more in her new book Pretty Good Catholic: How to Find, Date, and Marry Someone who Shares Your Faith. First taking her own advice, she found and is happily married to the love of her life and now lives in Nashville with her husband.

A graduate of Christendom College and new author blossoming onto the scene, Rachel also works as a freelance journalist and tech writer for Catholic news outlets.

Whether you are single, dating, engaged or waiting, be sure to grab Pretty Good Catholic and give ear to this week’s episode, as Rachel delves deeper into the modern-day landscape of relationship and marriage in the Catholic faith.