The John-Henry Westen Show - January 28, 2020


Trump, the Church, and Latin Mass： a discussion with LifeSite DC reporter Claire Chretien

Topics
bishops and interaction with Younger People family and Catholicism
Hosted by
John-Henry Westen
Mentioned
John Henry Claire Chrétien Francis Trump Cardinal Tobin Elton John Andrew
Michael Matt blows lid off German church, calls on Catholic to be 'militant' Five Cardinals and two prominent bishops speak about the end times

Episode Stats


Length

13 minutes

Words per minute

172.75

Word count

2,266

Sentence count

167

Harmful content

Misogyny

2

sentences flagged

Hate speech

4

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

In this episode of The John Henry Weston Show, Life Site's Washington correspondent and editor Claire Chrétien shares her thoughts on President Trump's historic pro-life speech at the March for Life in Washington, D.C. on March 31, 2019.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.160 Hello and welcome to this episode of the John Henry Weston Show.
00:00:03.100 I'm very pleased to introduce you to LifeSite's own Washington correspondent and editor.
00:00:09.120 Her name is Claire Chrétien. You better stay tuned. It's going to be an awesome show.
00:00:30.000 All right, let's begin as we always do at the sign of the cross.
00:00:37.860 In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
00:00:42.280 Claire, welcome to the John Henry Weston Show.
00:00:43.900 Thanks, John Henry. I'm excited I finally get to be on your show.
00:00:47.980 It is a joy being with you in this great work of the Lord, LifeSite News.
00:00:52.420 We've been at it for a long time now.
00:00:54.540 We were just at a very historic event with the March for Life going on.
00:00:58.980 And happening here in Washington, D.C., you're a Washington correspondent.
00:01:03.520 President Trump, for the very first time in history, any U.S. president arrives at the March for Life.
00:01:09.260 Tell me, A, your reaction, but B, what you think this means for the United States for the upcoming election.
00:01:15.800 Well, first of all, John Henry, this wasn't just the first U.S. president coming to the March for Life.
00:01:21.960 This was the first U.S. president ever coming to the March for Life and giving an incredible pro-life speech.
00:01:28.980 His speech was one of the best presidential speeches he's ever given.
00:01:33.440 He hit every major point, and he really talked about being pro-family.
00:01:39.900 He mentioned the words pro-family.
00:01:42.120 He praised mothers as heroes.
00:01:44.060 And I think everyone who wasn't at the March but who was watching that from home probably had tears in their eyes seeing it.
00:01:51.900 So it was extremely incredible that he came, but what he said was just as significant, if not more significant.
00:01:59.680 And I think it was just a shot in the arm for all of us.
00:02:02.400 We're winning, finally.
00:02:03.400 We have someone on our side, someone who gets it, and someone who can be our champion.
00:02:09.640 It's just, compared to the Obama years, I mean, this is just a totally different world now.
00:02:15.280 It's an amazing thing to see.
00:02:17.120 He was also impressed, enlivened, encouraged with the pro-life people there.
00:02:24.020 That was so inspiring to have the president of the most powerful country in the world basically say,
00:02:30.040 I'm looking up to you.
00:02:31.880 Yeah, and to talk about, you know, he talked about pro-life students being censored on campus.
00:02:36.160 He talked about all the young people.
00:02:38.900 And it was really touching.
00:02:41.540 I actually was, I re-watched his speech again later in the day, and I actually was close to tears at some parts of it,
00:02:48.620 which sounds dramatic.
00:02:49.900 But really, it was really, I think we're seeing that Trump is actually a pretty humble man deep in his heart.
00:02:58.800 And, yeah.
00:03:01.600 What a thing to tell your kids and your grandchildren about.
00:03:05.260 So, last night, or the night before the march, there's this humongous mass with all the bishops and cardinals.
00:03:14.600 You work a lot in D.C.
00:03:16.800 Let me hear about your perspective on the bishops.
00:03:19.240 I know a lot of them are there.
00:03:21.520 What do you make of what's going on in the United States today with the bishops of the Catholic Church?
00:03:27.040 Well, there are some really good trends and some really bad trends.
00:03:32.820 Unfortunately, a lot of the bishops who have been appointed or elevated during the Francis pontificate are,
00:03:40.520 they do not seem to be very faithful to the church.
00:03:45.180 I mean, as a young person, as a woman, I want my bishops to be Catholic.
00:03:49.260 I want my bishops to act like bishops.
00:03:50.860 I want my priests to act like priests.
00:03:52.160 I want my cardinals to act like cardinals.
00:03:54.200 And so, when people like Cardinal Tobin try to be hip and young and cool, it's really not appealing to me.
00:04:04.060 And so, a lot of these Pope Francis-appointed bishops I've found to be very disappointing.
00:04:09.140 But there are some really wonderful bishops, like Bishop Strickland in Texas,
00:04:13.360 who, I think two USCCB meetings ago, came outside and joined a rosary rally of people praying about the sex abuse crisis.
00:04:22.320 And I'm glad that people are finally seeing that there are some issues with the bishops.
00:04:27.420 For example, there's a class-action lawsuit against Peter's Pence, the Pope's own charity.
00:04:32.380 It's a class-action lawsuit against the US bishops for, it's accusing them of swindling Catholics out of money
00:04:39.240 that they thought they were giving to the poor, and really it was going to fund this Elton John movie that was rather graphic.
00:04:48.660 So, good and bad with the bishops, but it's, I wish that the good guys would get promoted more.
00:04:56.880 And unfortunately, it just doesn't seem like that's been happening recently.
00:05:00.240 And you know this, personally, you're at the bishops' conference meetings, you go there regularly.
00:05:08.360 When you're there, you see them first person, you're able to ask them questions.
00:05:13.420 How have the interactions been?
00:05:14.680 I mean, this is an interesting thing always for, you know, those of us watching when you do this.
00:05:19.080 When you approach bishops, what's their reaction to you?
00:05:22.420 You're a young person, you're someone who they probably don't hear talking to a lot.
00:05:27.220 What's the power of young people talking to bishops as well?
00:05:29.420 Well, sometimes bishops seem startled when they hear that I like the Latin Mass,
00:05:34.260 and that I work for LifeSite News, and that, you know, I really want them to uphold orthodoxy.
00:05:41.520 But it's really good for bishops to be exposed to young people like that,
00:05:44.760 because young people who are the heart of the church, the heart of the pro-life movement,
00:05:49.080 we want orthodoxy, we want truth, we want moral clarity and charity together.
00:05:55.060 And so I think it's good to encourage them, in a sense,
00:05:59.780 but also, you know, show them that your faithful want you to be more faithful and want you to be more orthodox.
00:06:08.740 And I hope I can encourage some of them to do the Latin Mass.
00:06:12.140 It's just, I try to mention it to bishops when I meet them.
00:06:15.480 It's an amazing thing.
00:06:16.600 I mean, here you are a young person, and wanting the Latin Mass thing, 0.86
00:06:20.360 many people think, oh, it's so ancient and whatnot.
00:06:22.940 What do you think, and tell me your experience, too.
00:06:25.420 I mean, I've seen, when I've been traveling around the world,
00:06:28.080 I see a lot of young people at these Masses sometimes,
00:06:30.980 particularly in the United States, but really all over the place.
00:06:33.800 And what do you make of this trend?
00:06:37.220 Have you seen it yourself?
00:06:38.960 Absolutely.
00:06:39.860 If you go, I always joke, if you go to a Latin Mass parish, 1.00
00:06:43.700 the average, the median parishioner age is about five,
00:06:46.560 because there are so many young families.
00:06:48.900 And it's really true.
00:06:50.240 The Latin Mass is for everyone, though.
00:06:52.280 And it's the most beautiful thing, this side of heaven.
00:06:55.800 I like the Latin Mass because it brings me closer to God.
00:07:00.320 It's not about being horizontal, and it's not about who you're with
00:07:05.720 and the community that you feel.
00:07:07.220 It's about you praying up to God and the priest helping you pray to God.
00:07:11.800 So that's one of the most beautiful things about the Latin Mass.
00:07:15.000 You know, when the church tries to be cool and do these rock shows,
00:07:20.060 the world is better at rock shows than the Catholic Church. 0.89
00:07:22.820 The Catholic Church is better at truth, beauty, and goodness than the world.
00:07:26.520 So we don't need to try to be like the world.
00:07:28.720 We need to be distinct.
00:07:30.280 If our priests aren't wearing collars and cassocks,
00:07:34.440 then how are people even going to know that they're priests?
00:07:38.040 You know, someone I met a few years ago was saying,
00:07:42.220 if you were going to take a taxi, would you get in the yellow taxi that said taxi,
00:07:46.100 or would you get in the scary white van that didn't have anything written on it?
00:07:49.300 Similarly, when a priest dresses like a priest,
00:07:52.540 you know this is a man of God.
00:07:55.400 And another thing I like about the Latin Mass is the really rich theology of it.
00:08:00.040 Every single action that the priest does has a very deep, significant theological meaning.
00:08:06.400 And you can read about that in your missal.
00:08:08.720 As you're going along, you can follow the priest and read about his actions
00:08:13.160 and how they're taken from the Old Testament and the New Testament,
00:08:17.260 what they represent.
00:08:18.560 There's a lot of symbolism, and I really like that.
00:08:21.040 A lot of the younger priests we see this trend with.
00:08:25.240 Their interest in the Latin Mass is kind of a reawakening.
00:08:28.760 And funny enough, right now, in this time,
00:08:31.660 when it seems like, at least from the official hierarchy of the Church,
00:08:36.340 is this very negative attitude toward it,
00:08:38.820 yet it's among the youngest of priests.
00:08:41.160 You see this coming back.
00:08:42.980 We're wearing cassocks, and they're celebrating the Latin Mass,
00:08:46.420 sometimes secretly because they can't, you know, have to get away with it.
00:08:49.900 It is encouraging to see, but the deep, deep faith of these young men is really encouraging.
00:08:56.280 I was at, you know, many of these Masses.
00:08:59.420 I'm astounded.
00:09:01.180 These guys are, you know, half my age,
00:09:03.800 and they're coming out with such wisdom, such beauty.
00:09:07.140 It's been absolutely incredible.
00:09:08.280 It really is, and I'm always touched by the humility of these priests who offer the Latin Mass.
00:09:15.700 I've had just so many good experiences with them,
00:09:19.080 and also the people at the Latin Mass, too.
00:09:24.100 It's really quite inspiring.
00:09:26.940 So tell me, a lot of people say,
00:09:28.740 oh, the Catholic Church is in, like, the worst shape it ever has been.
00:09:32.040 There's an argument for that, too.
00:09:33.320 But you're a young Catholic.
00:09:35.700 You're recently married.
00:09:37.260 You're a young, growing family in the midst of a world that is seemingly against the faith,
00:09:43.100 but you don't look at all that depressed at all.
00:09:46.300 What keeps your hope up?
00:09:47.760 What keeps your courage up?
00:09:49.140 The darker the night, the brighter the stars.
00:09:53.320 When it's really dark, you can see the stars much more clearly,
00:09:56.740 and I think that's how we should see the Church.
00:09:59.100 Things are really bad, and things in the world are bad.
00:10:01.460 We've got transgenderism, abortion on demand, 1.00
00:10:04.900 all of these terrible parts of the culture of death.
00:10:08.020 But because it's so dark, we can now see more clearly than ever
00:10:12.020 the beauty and the truth and the light of Jesus in the Catholic Church.
00:10:16.460 So as things have gotten more tumultuous in the Church, too,
00:10:20.560 I think more people are seeing that beautiful, bright light of the Latin Mass
00:10:24.900 and the timeless Catholic tradition, and they're going back to that.
00:10:28.680 So in a sense, the darkness is pointing us to the light.
00:10:32.140 Now, I'm going to embarrass you and call you out,
00:10:34.520 because while we were talking about doing this interview,
00:10:37.900 I said, you know, I want you to talk about what your greatest love is in the world.
00:10:43.880 And you said, oh, I want to talk about my husband.
00:10:46.380 I thought that was really beautiful.
00:10:48.060 Andrew, I thought you should know.
00:10:49.140 And I think that's actually, I think it's a really beautiful thing.
00:10:55.680 Next to God, we have our spouses and family first.
00:10:59.940 I know you're an activist.
00:11:01.700 I know you work hard for the pro-life movement.
00:11:04.460 But you have your family first.
00:11:06.020 I think that's beautiful.
00:11:08.140 Give us maybe some closing words with that.
00:11:10.240 Oh, well, thanks, John Henry.
00:11:12.380 Yes, my husband is really awesome.
00:11:14.380 And it's funny that you bring him up,
00:11:16.260 because actually at this very conference about,
00:11:19.740 I don't know how many years ago, five or whatever,
00:11:22.140 at this conference, before it became the National Pro-Life Summit,
00:11:24.820 it was the Students for Life of America Conference.
00:11:26.800 And that's where I met him.
00:11:28.760 So, and now we both work in the pro-life movement.
00:11:30.800 So this conference always has a very special place in my heart.
00:11:33.780 But, yeah, you know, if you have a good foundation of God and then family,
00:11:41.560 everything can flow well from that.
00:11:44.160 And I can't remember who said it,
00:11:45.560 but if you want to change the world, go home and love your family.
00:11:48.780 We have to have our family life properly ordered and as it should be
00:11:54.180 before we go out and try to improve the culture related to family.
00:11:57.500 If we don't have strong families that teach self-sacrifice and virtue,
00:12:03.720 we can't show that to the world.
00:12:06.340 So the family is really where it starts.
00:12:08.960 And my husband is wonderful.
00:12:10.320 I mean, he's truly the head of the household
00:12:13.140 in the best possible sense of how you could see that.
00:12:18.020 It's not oppressive or sexist.
00:12:21.300 It's actually wonderful because he's a leader,
00:12:24.260 and I trust him to lead.
00:12:25.600 And anyone who knows me knows I'm certainly not an oppressed person.
00:12:31.800 And my husband will tell you that, too.
00:12:33.860 So I really like what the church teaches about the family
00:12:38.200 and the husband being the head of the household.
00:12:40.800 You know, the man is the head and the woman is the heart. 0.93
00:12:43.920 I also say, yes, the man is the head,
00:12:46.120 but I'm the one who can give you a migraine.
00:12:48.480 So there's that.
00:12:50.340 But, yeah, I'm so grateful to be Catholic.
00:12:52.400 I'm so grateful to be part of LifeSite News.
00:12:54.300 And I'm so grateful to have such an awesome husband
00:12:56.940 and such an awesome boss, John Henry.
00:13:00.460 Thank you, Claire, for being on the John Henry Weston Show.
00:13:03.400 God bless you.
00:13:04.160 You, too.
00:13:04.920 And God bless all of you.
00:13:06.260 We'll see you next time.