Catholic Answers LIVE
Catholic Answers Live, hosted by Cy Kellett, is a daily, two-hour radio program dedicated to Catholic apologetics and evangelization. According to listener surveys, it is a runaway favorite on Catholic stations across America.
As a call-in program, Catholic Answers Live connects listeners to prominent leaders in the Church today—including scholars, nuns, priests, bishops, and cardinals—and touches on every aspect of our lives as Christians. You'll hear discussions on just about everything relating to the Church: doctrinal controversies, family concerns, social issues, evangelization, ethics…you name it!
Catholic Answers Live airs every Monday through Friday from 6-8 PM Eastern (3-4 PM Pacific) on over 360 AM and FM stations in the United States, Sirius Satellite Radio channel 130, and through the Internet at catholic.com. If you can't listen live, you can subscribe to our podcast or download individual shows from our MP3 archive.
Call in with your question at 1-888-31-TRUTH!
Most Recent Episodes
Questions Covered:
04:55 – How does the annulment process work? If the process is approved, what does that imply?
14:30 – If I stand in line for confession but it ends, am I still able to receive communion even though I didn’t get to go to confession?
17:59 – Since Jesus is the only path to salvation, how is it possible to pray to Mary? Is it somewhere in the bible?
28:34 – Is there still purgatory after the final judgment?
33:09 – What is a lukewarm soul?
39:50 – Are you allowed to get married after your ex-wife dies? And if you remarry, can you receive communion?
43:33 – 1 Jn 3:6 My friends use this passage as evidence for once saved always saved. How do I respond?
48:50 – Is it likely that Joseph moved up the “engagement phase” with Mary? If Mary and Joseph had had marital relations during the betrothal, would it have been a stonable offense?
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Questions Covered:
02:45 – Where’s the line for fraternal correction for a pope?
11:48 – Is increase in merit necessary to enter into heaven?
22:56 – One of my favorite saints is Padre Pio but I struggle with his severity in the confessional. How do we square his approach with our current approach of mercy?
35:19 – 1. Corinth 6:1-11 Why did the Church change the wording of Paul from condemning homosexuality to condemning boy prostitutes?
46:30 – Acts 2:41 Does it conflict with Peter’s promise that baptism will be for our children?
52:10 – Is it ok to attend a re-baptism of a friend or family member in a protestant church?
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Questions Covered:
02:32 – If demons can possess people, could Raphael have possessed a willing host such that when he introduced himself as Azarias son of the great Ananias he wasn’t actually lying? I heard an answer recently where you addressed this falsehood and my husband came up with this potential alternate solution.
12:11 – What blessings can a layperson give? What effect does it have? How does it differ from blessings given by priests bishops and deacons?
17:17 – If God is omniscient, why does he create souls he knows he is going to throw into hell at the end of their life?
23:33 – Jimmy, I love your Mysterious World! Can you explain what the Apostolic Pardon is? I think many people would be interested to learn about this since none of us are getting out of this world alive. Thank you and God bless.
29:44 – The Enchiridion of Indulgences seems to grant a plenary indulgence at the moment of death to every Catholic who makes a regular practice of praying throughout their life. Can you confirm this, and whether this is something automatically applied to every Catholic who regularly prays, such that purgatory for praying Catholics is not an option?
36:59 – Does the penance given in the confessional in response to a good full confession equate to a plenary indulgence?
40:28 – What is the canonical status of the Greek introduction to the Book of Sirach? Is it considered to be an inspired part of the book or is it more like the Greek Ezra, 3 Maccabees, or Psalm 151–a work associated with the Bible, and sometimes even printed in the Bible, but not considered to be Scripture (“semi-scriptural stuff”)?
47:46 – What is the difference between sinful usury of biblical times and non-sinful usury of modern times?
50:10 – Is somebody who is unable to access their preferred form of the Mass (e.g., someone who would usually go to a Latin Mass and only a Novus Ordo Mass is accessible, or vice versa as well) required to attend another form to meet their Sunday/Holy Day obligation?
And if so, what can someone say to somebody who is convinced they are excused from their obligation if their preferred form of the Mass is not accessible on a given obligatory day?
Resources Mentioned:
https://jimmyakin.com/2020/12/why-would-god-create-people-he-knows-will-...
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Questions Covered:
03:14 – If a Catholic was not a practicing Catholic at the time they eloped & married a non-Catholic who says they were Baptized as a teenager in a Catholic Church after attending service once, but has no proof of Baptism and no one in their life including them remembers where or how Baptism might have happened… is their marriage a natural valid marriage or invalid?
04:50 – And if the Catholic wanted to become an active Catholic & baptize their toddler, what would need to happen first, if anything, besides Confession?
07:17 – Also, this family is a military family and doesn’t stay put very long to figure these kinds of things out, which is partly why they ended up married civilly in the first place since neither was even in the same country in the months leading up to their marriage. It’s complicated.
13:10 – Did the characterization of God in Hebrew tradition differ from the Christian characterization of God? According to the Old Testament, Moses saw God face to face and God appeared as a column of smoke. However, St. John states in John 1:18 and 1 John 4:12 that no one has ever seen God. If so, who did Moses see? Old Testament is pretty adamant that Moses actually spoke intimately with God, not as a prophet does.
23:20 – Since we lost Sanctifying Grace because of Adam and Eve, how is it that some people, after the downfall, were able to continue to “do good”?
31:06 – I wonder how we are supposed to view satan. In the Old Testament, it seems like satan is just filling a role, I’m thinking specifically in Job. While any other mention of satan it is as a title. Job specifically tells us that satan is roaming between heaven and earth. God speaks to him as he does to anyone else. Then there’s a shift in the New Testament where satan is a specific being and has become malicious. Is satan just an angel doing what he is supposed to do, or is he an evil entity that is out to get us?
37:04 – We pray for the souls in purgatory. Can souls in purgatory pray for each other?
38:07 – Was Joseph of Arimathea eventually buried in his own tomb?
45:05 – Why don’t Catholics believe in the rapture? I have had to explain this so much to people, I think it would be helpful.
52:33 – Did Mary have labor pains due to original sin? Was Jesus born in a natural and ordinary way or was it something extraordinary (i.e ‘like a ray of light that passes through a glass without breaking it’). Has the Church officially ruled on the matter? If not, what position should a catholic adopt in this regard? What about those folks (even Catholics) who believe Mary did have labor pains due to original sin?
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Questions Covered:
01:38 – A family member with dementia has me thinking a lot about this: Say you’re Catholic and maybe haven’t been the most charitable or loving, but you do your basic duty of Mass and Confession. Dementia creeps up–either slowly or quickly–and you get to the point where you don’t know what day it is, much less is able to make an examination of conscience for confession. I just wonder about the state of the soul that can’t improve or offer things up. I know you’re not responsible for your actions if you’re not in your right mind, but do you think they can gain any merit just for the trial of what they’re going through?
05:37 – Any thoughts/ideas about when the Great Pyramid was built? Some say 4000 BC, but others claim 10,000 BC is more like it, even pre-flood, where its air shaft would then point to a different Star.
16:36 – What’s the best way to talk to people who just don’t see anything good about what the church teaches?
18:17 – I have been in a few debates about “limbo.” Does it exist? And do un-baptized children go there?
So many different thoughts on this from many different theologians
21:44 – Is the Latin Mass evil, good, or wonderful, and why does Francis hate it so much?
24:00 – How would you answer Atheist regard the problem of “unresistant unbelief”? If a fellow says he wants to believe in God and be a Christian (as one famous Atheist YouTuber said recently), but just needs some confirming sign to push him over the hump, what explanation can we give for why God refrains from doing so? Or is there some other reply?
28:26 – How is it possible that when a semi-trailer is carrying a bunch of honeybee hives, a honeybee can fly outside of the hive and just hover right there while the truck is moving 75 miles an hour and the honeybee doesn’t get left behind? This blows my mind lol I need Jimmy’s help
33:18 – I know it is illicit for someone like a grandparent to baptize a child in secret, against both parents’ wishes, and against their priest’s decision even though my understanding is valid. My question is, did the child ultimately benefit from this? If yes, why is it considered illicit? If not, how come?
Was it just neutral?
36:23 – Do vampires have souls? Is it murder to slay a vampire (assuming the classical undead form)?
41:55 – What do you think of AI-created “art” (MidJourney, etc)? I used to think there could be a Turing test equivalent, i.e., that we’d always be able to tell the difference between computer-generated images and human-created art, but as I see what is being created by MidJourney and the like I’m having doubts
45:23 – Is there a distinction between Hell / Hades / Gehenna / Sheol (Shuh ull)/ Lake of Fire, or are they all the same thing?
50:08 – Why is sex outside of marriage sinful? This seems to be an overwhelming reality.
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