Open Forum

The callers choose the topics during Open Forum, peppering our guests with questions on every aspect of Catholic life and faith, the moral life, and even philosophical topics that touch on general religious belief.

Questions Covered:

• 06:53 - In the last hour it was stated that Muslims worship the same God as Catholics do. I would like to respectfully disagree. Their God seems to be violent and condemn death to those who do not convert, whereas our God does not force us to follow Him. How can this be the same God that Catholics follow?
• 21:15 - I heard you state earlier that James could have possibly been a step-son through Joseph. How could this be if Joseph was chaste?
• 28:00 - What happened to the apostles and how do we know this information?
• 30:20 - Is there sorrow in Heaven? When Jesus and Mary appeared to some of the saints, they came with their sorrows for our sins. Will there be an end to sorrow and complete happiness at the end of the world?
• 36:34 - We have the Whaley House in San Diego where people make money on tours of a haunted house. Even for people who just go for fun, could this still be a spiritually dangerous activity?
• 43:40 - In the Gospel last Sunday, our priest interpreted the 5 husbands of the Samaritan woman as the 5 gods worshipped by the Samaritans. But then I read an article stating she literally had 5 husbands. Which interpretation is correct?  
• 45:55 - My understanding is that Peter is the reason the Catholic Church has the papacy, but I also read he was the bishop of Antioch, so why isn’t the Church in Antioch the supreme Church?
• 48:20 - I have had the understanding that the term “brother” had to do with the 12 tribes, and if you belonged to a tribe then you were called a “brother”. Am I correct?
• 49:55 - I wanted to ask about Unam sanctam’s statement: Absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature is subject to the Roman pontiff. What is the Church’s position on this? Is this still applicable?

Resources Covered:

• Purgatory: Explained by the Lives and Legends of the Saints by Fr. F. X. Schouppe
• Pope Fiction: Answers to 30 Myths & Misconceptions About the Papacy by Patrick Madrid