A Catholic Take

Episodes

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  Can a Cardinal Cancel What a Pope Granted? SSPX Confessions (Audio) 11.11.2026 1h 30m

  November 11th, 2026 -Did a Vatican cardinal just try to cancel what a pope personally granted? In July, a note from Cardinal Fernández's doctrine office said confessions heard and marriages witnessed by SSPX priests are invalid. Pope Francis granted those faculties himself. Now Die Tagespost reports that the Vatican's own legal office has tried several times to get the note corrected. Mark Lambert of Catholic Unscripted joins Joe to walk through what the July 2 note said, what Francis granted in 2015, 2016 and 2017, what Archbishop Arrieta said about who can undo a pope's act, and what a Catholic who went to an SSPX priest for confession should think right now. Then, Dr. Janet Smith on Cardinal Joseph Bernardin: what do his admirers say, what do his critics say about the seamless garment and the bishops he promoted, and how should Catholics weigh grave accusations that have never been proven against a man who cannot answer them? Links, Show Notes & More - https://thestationofthecross.com/act Email Us! ACT@TheStationOfTheCross.com
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  Detroit Archbishop Tells Layman: Stop Advising Parishes (Audio) 10.11.2026 1h 27m

  November 10th, 2026 - The Archdiocese of Detroit is restructuring every one of its parishes, and draft plans could end weekend Mass at as many as 90 of them. When more than 600 Catholics from over 120 parishes rented a hall to learnwhat rights Church law gives them, the man who speaks for them says he received a canonical directive from his archbishop ordering him to stop giving canonical guidance to Catholics in the archdiocese. Then, author Rosemary McGuire Berry on her TAN Books title "Piety and Personality: The Temperaments of the Saints." Were the saints born holy? Which saint shares your temperament, and how did they conquer it? Links, Show Notes & More - https://thestationofthecross.com/act Email Us! ACT@TheStationOfTheCross.com
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  Cardinal Zen to Pope Leo: "Put a Stop to This" (Audio) 09.11.2026 1h 36m

  November 9th, 2026 - Cardinal Joseph Zen, 94, wrote to the Church on the feast of St. Charles Borromeo and asked Pope Leo XIV to put a stop to the Synod on Synodality. Then, Jason Jones joins us on Israel's election: Eisenkot has the mandate, Netanyahu is fighting to stay, and the Iran war is still not over. Links, Show Notes & More - https://thestationofthecross.com/act Email Us! ACT@TheStationOfTheCross.com
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  Pope Leo's Appointments Don't Add Up... (Audio) 06.11.2026 1h 21m

  November 6th, 2026 - Pope Leo XIV just made a theologian who criticized the Vatican's 2021 "no" to blessing same-sex unions an under-secretary in the Roman Curia, 17 days after naming her to the International Theological Commission. Mark Lambert of Regina Unscripted calls it "a growing incoherence." Plus, Dr. Anthony Stine asks why Latin Mass pilgrims were stopped at the obelisk in St. Peter's Square. Links, Show Notes & More - https://thestationofthecross.com/act Email Us! ACT@TheStationOfTheCross.com
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  “Progressing Us Off a Cliff” — Fr. McTeigue, S.J. on Cardinal Fernández (Audio) 05.11.2026 1h 32m

  November 5th, 2026 - Father Robert McTeigue, S.J. says some of the Church's leading men are "progressing us right off a cliff" - and he names Cardinal Fernández. Plus, Jesse Romero asks who lost the Catholic vote. Links, Show Notes & More - https://thestationofthecross.com/act Email Us! ACT@TheStationOfTheCross.com
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  Catholics Swung Left. Abortion Won 3 of 4. Now What? (Audio) 04.11.2026 1h 52m

  November 4th, 2026 - Democrats took the House and the Senate. Abortion won in three of the four states where it was on the ballot. And the Catholic vote, which Trump carried in 2024, swung hard the other way. Nick Cavazos of The Traditional Thomist joins Joe McClane for both guest segments to go through what happened, why it happened, and what a faithful Catholic does now. Links, Show Notes & More - https://thestationofthecross.com/act Email Us! ACT@TheStationOfTheCross.com
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  Exorcist Reacts to Netflix’s Satanic-Ritual “Catholic Schoolgirl” Series (Audio) 03.11.2026 1h 22m

  November 3rd, 2026 - We welcome exorcist Fr. Carlos Martins to discuss Netflix’s new Catholic horror series, which follows "a group of Catholic schoolgirls involved in a drug-fueled initiation ritual that may summon the devil." What are the spiritual dangers of portraying demonic activity as entertainment, and what responsibility do filmmakers bear for the influence their work may have on young viewers? Plus, Michael Haynes of The Catholic Herald joins us to examine growing tensions among German bishops over their relationship with Pope Leo XIV. While former bishops’ conference president Bishop Georg Bätzing publicly criticizes the Pope, his successor, Bishop Heiner Wilmer, calls for full communion with Rome and rejects a separate German path. Which direction is the German Church really heading? Links, Show Notes & More - https://thestationofthecross.com/act Email Us! ACT@TheStationOfTheCross.com
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  The Learjet Fell at 400 MPH. Someone Was Praying the Our Father. (Audio) 02.11.2026 1h 23m

  November 2nd, 2026 - A Learjet 60 fell from 35,000 feet to a Palm Beach County road in about a minute on Sunday. Nine people died. In the final seconds of the air-traffic audio, under the mayday calls, a man's voice is praying the Our Father. On All Souls' Day, Fr. John Brancich, FSSP, on what a Catholic can do with sixty seconds – and what you should be doing now. First, one day before the midterms: Mike Koeniger on the House and Senate map, the polling fight, and Tucker Carlson's late-Sunday post claiming the Trump administration "may be within days of launching a nuclear strike on Iran." What he actually said, what nobody has confirmed, and what the Catechism says about it. Links, Show Notes & More - https://thestationofthecross.com/act Email Us! ACT@TheStationOfTheCross.com
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  "Better Things to Do Than Convert": Cardinal Vesco Doubles Down on Barron (Audio) 30.10.2026 1h 23m

  October 30th, 2026 - Dr. Anthony Stine (Return to Tradition) joins Joe to take the whole week apart: the cardinal who won't convert, the Vatican worship office that calls kneeling for Communion "extremism," and the new Pewreport that says there's no clear evidence of a youth revival — even as 41% of 18-to-22-year-olds say they're in church every month. Also today: the Vatican confirms Pope Leo XIV mailed in a ballot for Tuesday's U.S. midterms from New Lenox, Illinois — the first pope in history to vote in a secular election. Plus, a new installment of "Their Catholic Story": "The Man in the Garden." Links, Show Notes & More - https://thestationofthecross.com/act Email Us! ACT@TheStationOfTheCross.com
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  "No Holy War"? Fr. Murray on Pope Leo, a Cardinal Who Won't Convert & a Prefect Nobody Read (Audio) 29.10.2026 1h 23m

  October 29th, 2026 - A cardinal says the Church is "not there to convert." The Prefect of the Doctrine of the Faith admits nobody read his document. And Pope Leo XIV tells an interfaith meeting at Assisi that "there is no such thing as a holy war" — three weeks after the feast of Our Lady of Victory. Fr. Gerald Murray joins Joe McClane to take all three. Plus, Nick Cavazos on the midterms five days out: Democrats +9 on the generic ballot, Texas a toss-up, and abortion on the ballot in four states. Links, Show Notes & More - https://thestationofthecross.com/act Email Us! ACT@TheStationOfTheCross.com
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  Constantine Ended Christian Persecution 1,714 Years Ago Today. It’s Back. (Audio) 28.10.2026 1h 33m

  October 28th, 2026 - Edward Clancy, Director of Outreach for Aid to the Church in Need USA, walks through “Persecuted and Forgotten? 2024–2026” — the Yelewata massacre in Nigeria (200 killed in one night), girls abducted and forcibly married in Pakistan and Egypt, North Korea’s prison camps, China’s crackdown on the underground Church, and why 56% of the 18 countries surveyed got worse. Plus, Joe tells the story of Constantine: the sign in the sky, the Chi-Rho on the shields, the bridge that collapsed under Maxentius, the Edict of Milan, St. Helena, Nicaea, and a deathbed baptism. Links, Show Notes & More - https://thestationofthecross.com/act Email Us! ACT@TheStationOfTheCross.com
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  Moscow Rejects Ukrainian Baptisms — Fr. Jason Charron Responds (Audio) 27.10.2026 1h 36m

  October 27th, 2026 - The Russian Orthodox Church says a Ukrainian Orthodox baptism is not a baptism. Fr. Jason Charron, a Ukrainian Catholic priest, joins Joe on what Moscow just decreed. What it means for “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” — and for the Catholics of Ukraine who live next door to it. Links, Show Notes & More - https://thestationofthecross.com/act Email Us! ACT@TheStationOfTheCross.com
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  Rome's "Inclusion" Doesn't Include You: Latin Mass Pilgrims Locked Out (Audio) 23.10.2026 1h 21m

  October 23rd, 2026 - The DDF's new document is titled Come to Me. One day after it dropped, the Vatican told the Latin Mass pilgrimage: not you. Dr. Anthony Stine of Return to Tradition joins the show on Venite ad Me, the St. Peter's ban, and what this week tells us about where Rome is headed under Pope Leo. Links, Show Notes & More - https://thestationofthecross.com/act Email Us! ACT@TheStationOfTheCross.com
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  Venite ad Me: 7 Red Flags in the Vatican's New Document - Answered by Today's Gospel (Audio) 22.10.2026 1h 44m

  October 22nd, 2026 - Rome's new document says "God does not bless division." Today's Gospel has Our Lord saying He came to bring it. Which is it? Joe reads "Venite ad Me - Considerations on the Transmission of the Faith in an Epochal Change" - the last document Pope Francis asked for, approved by Pope Leo XIV on August 21, 2026, and signed by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández - against the Gospel for Thursday, October 22: Luke 12:49-53. Fire on the earth. Division in the house. And a text that quotes the fire twice (¶30, ¶77) and warns catechists off anything "scholastic," "dogmatic," or "moralistic" (¶80). The red flags, with paragraph numbers so you can read them yourself. And the good in it, because there is some - the family as "the first and most essential place" for handing on the faith (¶31), parents as "our first catechists" (¶36), and the honest admission that automatic transmission of the faith inside Catholic homes is ending (¶38). Links, Show Notes & More - https://thestationofthecross.com/act Email Us! ACT@TheStationOfTheCross.com
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  Bishop Strickland Reacts: Fr. Ripperger, the St. Michael Ban, Women Deacons (Audio) 21.10.2026 1h 21m

  October 21st, 2026 - Three stories, one bishop. Joe poses the week's hardest Catholic headlines to Bishop Joseph Strickland and asks what he sees: Fr. Chad Ripperger's one-year "fast" from public speaking, a Tennessee bishop dropping the St. Michael Prayer after Mass, and a new Vatican official renewing the call for women deacons after the Church has already said no. Underneath all three is the question Bishop Strickland has been asking on his podcast, If You Only Knew Him: do we actually know Jesus Christ? Links, Show Notes & More - https://thestationofthecross.com/act Email Us! ACT@TheStationOfTheCross.com
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  Fr. Ripperger Told to Go Quiet for a Year. Why? (Audio) 20.10.2026 1h 28m

  October 20th, 2026 - The best-known exorcist in the English-speaking world has been asked to go quiet for a year, and his archbishop won't say why. Steve Cunningham of Sensus Fidelium, who has published Fr. Chad Ripperger's talks for a decade, joins Joe on what Denver actually said, what LifeSite says, and what happens to hundreds of hours of recorded teaching. Plus: a Vatican cardinal says Pope Leo's encyclical made the "Spirit of Assisi" ordinary Church teaching, one week before the Pope is due in Assisi for the 40th anniversary of the 1986 interreligious prayer meeting. Mark Lambert of Regina Unscripted reads the four sentences in question. Links, Show Notes & More - https://thestationofthecross.com/act Email Us! ACT@TheStationOfTheCross.com
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  Bishop Stops the St. Michael Prayer After Mass (Audio) 19.10.2026 1h 20m

  October 19th, 2026 - A Tennessee bishop has told his parishes to stop praying the St. Michael Prayer together at Mass. The prayer was written by Pope Leo XIII, and it's being set aside under Pope Leo XIV. Michael Matt of The Remnant joins Joe on the Knoxville directive, Bishop Rob Mutsaerts' talk at the 2026 Catholic Identity Conference, and the riots spreading from France across Europe while too many bishops sit on the fence. Plus: Pope Leo is home after lung cancer surgery, and Michael Haynes of the Catholic Herald brings the latest on hisrecovery and on the 30 theologians just named to advise the Vatican on doctrine. Links, Show Notes & More - https://thestationofthecross.com/act Email Us! ACT@TheStationOfTheCross.com
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  Vatican Officials Tried LEAKING The Third Secret Of Fatima. No One Listened. (Audio) 16.10.2026 49m

  October 16th, 2026 - Did the Vatican reveal the entire Third Secret of Fatima in 2000, or was an important warning about apostasy within the Church left unexplained? Guest host Michael Hichborn is joined by Dr. Anthony Stine of Return to Tradition to examine statements attributed to bishops, cardinals, and Padre Pio concerning the Third Secret of Fatima and its alleged warning of a crisis of faith originating within the Church's own hierarchy. What did these figures reportedly reveal, and how do their statements compare with the Vatican's published interpretation? Links, Show Notes & More - https://thestationofthecross.com/act Email Us! ACT@TheStationOfTheCross.com
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  NYC Eucharistic Procession: Young Catholics Return to Tradition? (Audio) 15.10.2026 50m

  October 15th, 2026 - Thousands of Catholics filled the streets of New York City for a public procession with the Blessed Sacrament. But could this remarkable display of faith reveal something bigger about the future of the Catholic Church? Guest host Mike Koeniger welcomes Nicholas Cavazos, known as The Traditional Thomist, to examine what the procession—and the young, diverse crowd following Christ—might tell us about a growing conservative movement among younger Catholics. Why are traditional expressions of the faith attracting young people? Could the very things older generations believe will draw people into the Church actually be driving them away? And what does the ongoing tension between conservatism and modernism mean for Catholicism today? Links, Show Notes & More - https://thestationofthecross.com/act Email Us! ACT@TheStationOfTheCross.com
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  Fr. Gerald Murray: Can Catholics Still Support the Death Penalty? (Audio) 14.10.2026 1h 25m

  October 14th, 2026 - The Pentagon plans to execute Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan by firing squad on December 3 and livestream it. Days later, Pope Leo XIV called the death penalty "inadmissible." Fr. Gerald Murray joins Joe on the question Catholics are arguing about: can a faithful Catholic still support capital punishment? Links, Show Notes & More - https://thestationofthecross.com/act Email Us! ACT@TheStationOfTheCross.com