Father Knows Best Show
Father Knows Best is a locally produced Question and Answer show on Siouxland Catholic Radio 88.1 FM. The show is hosted by Father Mark Stoll. He is a priest in the Sioux City diocese, canon lawyer, and trained media person on air. The program airs on Wednesdays at 9pm.
Father Knows Best Show
Father Knows Best—Episode 37: Socialism and Communism; Attending a Wedding of a Divorced Catholic; and Funerals
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Wednesday September 23, 9:00 pm on Siouxland Catholic Radio 88.1 FM
Episode #37 of Father Knows Best sponsored by St. Augustine Indian Mission in Winnebago, NE features Father Mark Stoll addressing questions about socialism and communism, attending a wedding of a divorced Catholic, and funerals.
Tune in tonight so we may discover, learn, and engage our hearts, souls and minds so we may be illuminated, informed and inspired. Please send your questions to fatherknowsbestshow@yahoo.com.
I have questions. I don't understand. I'm confused. What's going on? This is not what I learned in school. What does it truth really teach? Welcome to Fundamental's Cash Studios of 88.1 FM, KFA C Pancaster City, and K-O-I-A. Storm Mike. Brought to you by the St. Augustine Indian Mission, Winnipeg. We all have questions and the curiosity about manners of faith. As it is normal for humanity to ask questions and seek answers quests for understanding regarding manners of faith in the church. We believe that there is no such thing as a foolish or dumb question. The opportunity to learn and to connect. And I say the only dumb question is the one that is not asked. And the reality is that the questions you have are like questions others have, and so it is good to ask. Sometimes an answer leads to more questions. Sometimes the questions and answers will lead us to insights that we never considered. We at Sioux Lan Catholic Radio want to invite our listeners from Jackson, Nebraska, to Help Point, South Dakota, to Stromlick, Iowa, and everywhere in between and beyond, send your questions to us at Father Knows Best Show at Yahoo.com. Or mail them to Father Knows Best, Sioux Line Catholic Radio, 701 West Fifth Street, Sioux City, Iowa, 51103. During this time, once a week, I or another guest will do our best to answer some of the questions I received here at the studio so we may discover, learn, and engage our hearts and souls and minds, so we may be illuminated, informed, and inspired. So I thank you for tuning in. We invite you to open your mind, let the questions begin, and let your curiosity find its voice. I'm Father Mark Stoll, priest of the Diocesus City, with you today. Joining me again is Tim Sidin, the Secretary Director of Sue Line Catholic Radio, presenting some of the questions I've received from you. Tim, are you ready again for another round of questions? Because here we are once again.
SPEAKER_01I'd love to get these answers every week, and I just want to encourage the listeners that when you get a chance, please try to send the question in the Father, because this really does increase your faith and help you become a better Catholic.
SPEAKER_00It's helping me too because some of these questions I had to dive in and do some research.
SPEAKER_01That's what we need is Father to get into his books. He has a whole library of books in his house, so he needs to make it.
SPEAKER_00Diving into them. There you go. And of course, we're gonna be grateful for Ann being here to record and get this on the air so we sound good, right, Tim? Mm-hmm. So hopefully the answer sound right too. Ann has the hardest job of all. I believe so. So let's try the first question. What is our first question?
SPEAKER_01One of our wonderful supporters of Sullivan Catholic Radio sent through this question. Pope Pius IX, Pope Leo the Thirteenth, Pope Pius XI, and Pope John Paul II all spoke out and wrote letters on socialism and communism. Why is the church leadership so quiet on socialism today?
SPEAKER_00Thank you for that question. Again, it's an interesting question, and uh I just have to say I'm not sure why, you know, especially recently, the leadership has been quiet on socialism and even on communism today. I can just kind of speculate that the reasons might include, you know, previous popes have addressed this issue. And of course, there are many other issues that uh popes need to be addressing today, you know, such as Pope Leo 14th addressing AI today. But there still are some bishops, there are some priests, and there are some laity who are addressing these issues, especially regarding the rise of the democratic socialists of America, the DSA here in the United States. So I'm gonna just kinda let's talk about the the this whole rise of socialism in the United States, even. So the Democratic Socialists of America, the DSA, published their platform back in July of 2026 on the website. Now the website states that the Democratic Socialists of America is the largest socialist organization in the United States with over 100,000 members and chapters in all 50 states. They say, quote, we believe that working people should run both the economy and society democratically to meet human needs, but not to make profits for a few. And the quote goes on We are a political and activist organization, not a party, though campus and community-based chapters through those chapters, the DSA members use a variety of tactics from legislative to direct action to fight for reforms and power working people. The nearest chapter to Sioux City is in Iowa. Excuse me, in Omaha. That's for the one for Iowa. And so it's Omaha. So there's actually no chapter in the Iowa itself, but again, they got chapters right next to Iowa. Now, again, since July 2026, there are now 120,000 members, with the largest chapters being in New York City, where it is headquartered, also in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. The DSA was founded in 1982 when a merger happened between the Democratic Socialist Organization Committee and the New American Movement. Now, members of the DSA include Senator Bernie Sanders, U.S. Representative Alexandra Alkoza Cortez, U.S. Representative U.S. Representative Rashad Trillib, and New York Mayor Zahran Madami. And there's other candidates now running for Congress and other offices around the country as we are recording the show. Now, their new platform that was released in July of 2026, if you've not heard of it, demands the following one, unlimited abortion and taxpayer-funded gender-affirming care for everyone, including minors. Two, the dissolution of law enforcement as we know it. No police, no prisons, no ICE, no deportations. Third, the elimination of the presidency, the Senate, and an independent judiciary. Four, federal ownership of major economic sectors. Five, government seizure of the Federal Reserve, the insurance industry, the banking sector, and real estate. In short, what the DSA has put together, what I would call an explicit program for the demolition of American institutions, constitutional structure, and moral foundations. And again, we take a look at that, you know, basically what they're aimed at is the heartland of America. Again, this is again really more about politics, but what we've seen here is a clash between two fundamental visions of society and the human person. And we can really see from their platform that DSA knows what it wants and where it wants to go. So we as Catholics, again, along with all Americans and other nations, really ought to be alarmed of what the DSA wants. You know, when we look at the 250-year history of the United States of America, again, we sought freedom from a tyrannical king in 1776. We have fought wars to defeat dictators and others who have oppressed their people. And of course, we also have to be alarmed because what we've seen happen in other countries, and it even happens still today in other countries, including Russia, China, what happened in Nazi Germany, what's happening in North Korea, what happened in Venezuela and Cuba, and again in other places, where really we've seen more than a hundred million people, estimated, it's probably a lot more, who have actually died under communist socialist regimes. And we've been hearing some of this on the news, of course. Back on July 28th, 2026, mayor of New York City, Jeron Mordami, released a searchable database of properties that could be subject to the state's new Pi Dera, excuse me, Pi Deterra property tax. It's a uh additional property tax applied to specifically to people who own properties where the property is not their primary residence. It's really aimed at non-resident owners of luxury properties. And this list includes owners, full name, and address. So gone is privacy. There's other DSA members who are being elected in primaries to run for Congress or become mayors of other cities, including Washington, D.C. And again, there's reports of immigrants from socialist countries who are sounding the even some immigrants from other countries that were socialists sounding to learn what they're doing. And so we're also hearing some news organizations also suddenly learn what's going on, along with a few bishops, priests, and other Catholic organizations. For example, on July 21st, 2026, Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winnow and Rochester issued a video in which he referred to a speech he had heard of someone advocating for communism. The speaker stated that Mao Sei Tung, the mid-20th century communist dictator of China, was one of the greatest leaders in human history. Bishop Barron pointed out that Mao Shen Tung could be considered one of the greatest mass murderers in human history due to at least 40 to 80 million deaths, either by political execution or by mass starvation due to economic policies that he created, that created famine. Bishop Barron went on to note that these Marxist communist socialist systems are hostile to religion, denied the rights of humans of individuals, are all about having political, economic, and cultural all concentrated in a few unelected elite, and again are against freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of press, and against free market. And Bishop Barron noted there have been many people who have fled these types of countries to find freedom here in the United States, but we do not see people fleeing the United States go back to socialist countries. So Bishop Barron again stated that we really need to take seriously, these people who are promoting Marxist, communist, socialist ideas because of how dangerous these ideas and systems are to society. On the 23rd of July, 2026, Father Chris Ayler, he is the provincial superior of the Marion Fathers of Immaculate Conception of the United States, he gave a homily, powerful homily. In this homily, he explained the Catholic Church's teaching on communism, socialism, human dignity, private property, and the role of the state in the light of the gospel. Again, he drew his comments from Scripture, from the Catexus Catholic Church, from the teachings of popes Leo XIII and Pius XI. And again, he also noted that our ultimate hope and freedom come from God, not from any political ideology ideology. And so he did address today's cultural challenges, again, the importance of defending objective moral truth and why the Church teaches that authentic freedom, justice, and human dignity can only flourish when God remains at the heart of society. And so again, this homily was not about partisan politics, but again about salvation of souls, protection of religious freedom, and again remaining faithful to Christ in the world that increasingly rejects his truth. And he also, of course, pointed out in the Catholic Catholic Church, paragraphs 2401 to 2463, how that those paragraphs condemn communism and socialism. After the show, I'm going to post a link to this homily on my Facebook page so you can then listen to this homily. There's also a Catholic organization called Catholic Vote that on the 20th of July 2026 issued a statement that said, quote, a generation of socialist candidates educated in the Ivy League and nurtured in genuine mediocracy has turned the ladder it climbed into a weapon to wield against the very nation it provided it. Calling themselves Democratic Socialists, they are appearing on ballots nationwide, including Colorado, Michigan, and New York's most competitive congressional districts. They claim to be champions of the paycheck to paycheck labor, but are anything but what they are is something Pope Saint John Paul II warned us, something more akin to cut flowers. Their campaign is full, excuse me, their campaigns pull from civilizational goods and look appealing in the short term, but the beauty lack the beauty quickly fades. These people represent an educated class that has been taught by their own misguided institutions to despise the civilization they formed it. Now is the time also to recall Pope Saint John Paul's powerful words in 1982 at St. James's tomb when he said, I, Bishop of Rome and Pastor of the University Church from Santiago addressed to you, Ode Old Europe Old Europe, a cry full of love. Return to yourself, be yourself, discover your origins, revive your roots, experience again those authentic values that make that made your history glorious and your presence in other continents beneficial. And then this quote from Catholic Vote comes and concludes with saying, the latest piece at Catholic Vote introduces a socialist called Adversarial Assimilation and explains why it's important to understand the true nature of their backgrounds as beneficiaries of capitalism in the West. Once you understand that, you understand better the lies that their socialism is promoting. So again, I'm also going to post a link to this article on my Facebook page after the show. In my reading, and again in my watching, you know, what's been going on with these people, again, I see a very determined move in this country from democrat from democracy, excuse me, from democracy to a that is a capitalist society to a socialist system where most people will then be placed in a lower class, only a few are governed, and actually those few that are governed will be actually worshipped where there's no religion, freedoms are severely limited, and again we see the examples clearly in North Korea, and I think another good example is Venezuela. The little history of Venezuela, they had a thriving economy and a democracy from 1958 until the 1990s, when in 1999, Hugo Chavez was elected, and he began enacting socialist policies, introduced a new constitution. We saw poverty began to increase rapidly. The integrity of elections were questioned, opposition candidates were arrested and were exiled. Then Nicholas Maduro was picked by Chavez as his successor, became president in 2013, and was re-elected several times despite disputed election results. Then Maduro grew wealthier and the people of the country grew poorer. During all this, this formerly rich petrol state saw its GDP fall by 80% in less than a decade, driving some 7 million of its citizens to flee the country. The inflation rate rose to 1 million percent by 2018, putting Venezuela in a similar situation. We found Germany in 1923 or Zimbabwe in the late 2000s. In 2024, most Venezuelans were living on just a few dollars a month, with health care and education systems in total disrepair, shortage of electricity and fuel. The literacy rate fell from 47% in 1950 to 5% in 2015. A majority of the population, that is 88%, in 2011 were Christian, you know, and of course 71% of that population is Catholic. But again, we know what happened on January 3rd, 2026. Maduro was captured. Since then, again, it's kind of short term, but we see now the oil sector is now being reopened to private investors, and we'll see again over the coming months and years how the country recovers under numerous administration. Again, what I'm doing is sharing some facts of what has happened around the world and now it's starting to creep into the United States. And again, I find I find this personally scary what people are wanting to do to our country. And so we've got to remember socialism is not about being social and friendly, it's not about social media, it's not about what the early church was doing when it was founded back in the Acts of the Apostles, he sees chapter two, where the community uh the the faithful community can devote themselves to uh the communal life. This is the political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, exchange should be owned or regulated by a community as a whole. But as, again, remind us the DSA wants, again, unlimited abortions, taxpayer-friendly, gender-affirming care for everyone, including minors. They want the dissolution of law enforcement, including no police, no prisons, no ICE, no deportations, the elimination of the presidency, the Senate, and have an independent judiciary. They want federal ownership of the major economic sectors. They want the government to seize the Federal Reserve, the insurance industry, the banking sector, and real estate. And again, they really want to demolish what we see today as important American institutions, the constitutional structure, and moral foundations. And so, again, going back to the original question, I'm not sure why church leadership has been quiet, but there are again people that are speaking up. There is, again, some of it's being addressed in various homilies and some bulletins and other means by some priests, some bishops. And again, we have also a large group of laity that are starting to speak up. And again, we as laity can encourage our bishops and priests and others again to address these issues that have destroyed other countries and other peoples. And again, it's for us as faithful Catholics, you know, are we willing to kind of match that determination that those who are opposed to our current economic and political systems and that are actually opposed to religious freedom, for example, are we willing to step up and promote, you know, what we stand for? For example, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of enterprise. Again, help to preserve the freedoms that we enjoy. So long answer, but again, I think it's an important issue that we need to address, and I really hope that answers your question.
SPEAKER_01It's a very involved question, and I really appreciate the answer. I think it was a very honest, and you know, the thing is, the Catholic Church has always been steeped in tradition and history. It is. And this goes against everything that goes against everything. That tradition and history. Exactly.
SPEAKER_00If you're just tuning in, you're listening to Father Knows Best here on Sioux Lan Catholic Radio to answer questions about faith in the Catholic Church. I'm Father Mark Stoll, joined by Tim Sadine, who is presenting some of the questions I received from you. So let's try a second question.
SPEAKER_01Another wonderful supporter of Sioux and Catholic Radio sent you this question. I know someone who has been invited to a wedding of a close relative who was married in the Catholic Church, divorced, and is now having a second wedding that has not been held in the church, even though the person has not received an annulment for the first marriage. Is it okay for this person to be a witness to this wedding? The concern is that this person does not attend the second wedding, a rift in the family could happen.
SPEAKER_00Thank you for that question. This is a challenging situation for many Catholics who are similarly invited to be part of a wedding of a divorced Catholic who's now attempting a second marriage without the benefit of annulment. Again, I'm just gonna base my answer on a few assumptions. Again, the person involved is Catholic, the close relative is Catholic, the relative is planning a marriage in a non-Catholic church or even at a courthouse or maybe even a destination wedding. While being divorced and separated from the first spouse, the first spouse is still alive, and there's been no uh start of a petition for an annulment. So this is again a very common issue we run into many times. And again, what happens is happening, it seems like you know, people are ignoring the teachings of the church, again, which are based on the teachings of Jesus and the Ten Commandments, you know, which includes summary, people, Catholic, even non-Catholic, may only marry once to a person of the opposite sex. And if that person divorces, again, that divorce only ends the civil aspects of marriage, but not the sacramental commitment. And thus the man and woman remain married to each other even though they're separated. Again, neither may date or marry until the other spot while the other spouse is still alive. Otherwise, as Jesus points out clearly in the Gospels, that person commits adultery, violation of commandment number six. Now, to assist in these divorce separation systems, the church does, of course, offer the annulment process, and again, it's all about investigating the secondal status and seeing if that marriage is valid to begin with. But what do we do when someone is attempting another marriage while being separated, and that spouse is still alive or there's been no declaration of invalidity? This really, again, is my call a thousand dollar, a hundred thousand dollar question. And again, the answer, and the answer may be slipper if one is simply invited to attend the wedding as opposed to someone's actually being invited to be part of the wedding. And again, when you talk about being a witness, it could be a witness could be someone that is simply invited to attend. And uh, we could probably then excuse ourselves, you know, because as a Catholic, we say, Well, I'm not thinking I'm doing the right thing. You know, they're married outside the church without proper preparation with the priest or proper permission dispensation. Answer may be a little difficult when the person's being actually asked to be part of, like, say, the wedding party. Um, again, obviously the relative clearly wants the person to be part of that wedding. And again, there's that whole issue of being causing a rift in the in the in the relationship that is not wanted, not desired. So, again, from my point of view, what I know of this situation, again, just kind of a general uh recommendation, and again, each case is a little different. Again, this has also been suggested that. By other you know, Katha Collins shows I've listened to. We who are invited to one of these weddings, you know, need to assure the relative that we and we love them. Same time, we can politely let the person know that while we do not agree with what they're doing, we hope and pray that they will do the right thing eventually. We're not disapproving of the person that they want to marry. Uh this is not about dropping our love or support for the person. Um, and so again, it's like make sure that you clearly say, I love you. I mean, you're my relative. You're right, I really love you. We could, you know, try to get this answer to the question, consult other relatives and friends to help decide what's the best thing to do. There's also prayer, discernment, consulting others. Again, we might attend out of love for the relative with the hope that relative will do the right thing later, apply for annulment, or you know, if that annulment's granted, then go through the proper preparation and the exchange of vows in the church. Or again, with maybe some proper explanation understanding, we could excuse ourselves with reinsurance. Again, we love you. And in either case, whether we attend the wedding or not, uh, we could even offer to help the relative find a priest, either the owner their own pastor or maybe this relative's pastor that could help then this relative, you know, file for a petition for an omen. But in short, I would encourage if we're invited to a wedding like this, to pray, speak kindly with the relative about the situation that we're in in a way that expresses love for the relative. Again, maybe you know, maybe a little explanation, and why the why what the relative is doing is not right, and the relative might even know. So, again, I won't be too hard on the relative, but again, uh assure the person that you're not being excluded to family, that uh that the decision on whether or not I attend the wedding, you know, has been based on prayer, discernment, consulting others. Uh, there's again, there really should be no fear of riff because simply again, I'm doing this because of love. And again, hopefully the relative appreciates this. And again, be there to offer assistance to help the relative, you know, and whatever the relative might need. In the end, again, it's with a heavy heart. And I don't know, this person could attend the wedding. Express your love. But again, you know, you're not in the inside, you say I'm not being I'm not supportive of what the relative is make doing. But again, it's all about love. Again, how do we express our love that uh you know we lead the relative, hopefully, eventually, maybe sometime down the road in the right direction. So again, it's not not an easy situation to address, but hopefully this answer is helpful.
SPEAKER_01I think that's a very appropriate answer.
SPEAKER_00So let's try a third one.
SPEAKER_01Okay. This question actually comes from me. And really, Father, it really expresses how old I am more than anything else.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we might not get through the whole one. We have to continue this next week. Let's start it though. Okay.
SPEAKER_01In my youth, the typical Catholic end-of-life events were rosary, wake, and funeral in the church. Today it seems as though a memorial service in the funeral home is almost standard. Discuss this change in how Catholic families say goodbye to their loved ones. And again, there's a second part to this question, which we may defer till next week. And discuss as well the change to a more cremated bodies in the Catholic faith.
SPEAKER_00Very good. I think uh for the time we have left, we're gonna talk about that uh preferred practice of the church, which again is part of that final farewell to someone, is what's known as the wake. We'll talk about the rest next week. But again, the church wants us to hold a wake. Again, it's a prayer service. Officially, it's known as the vigil for the deceased, and it's usually held at the parish church or in the funeral home. Now, the wake, of course, is a long-standing tradition of the church in which people would gather in the presence of the body. Going back years ago, they would even gather in the person's own home where the casket was there, and the person was laid out. And they would be there to pray, you know, throughout the night before the funeral, to share stories of the deceased comfort mourners. And again, the vigil for the deceased, as we experience today, was introduced after Vatican II, as part of the post-Vatican II reform. Again, when it came time to promulgate the new rites for the funeral liturgies. Again, in 1969, Pope Paul VI promulg this. It was scheduled to take place in June of 1970, but it wasn't until 1988 that the English language order of Christian funerals was published, and thus most of us were very accustomed to at wake, you know, a rosary's pray, have the vigil for the deceased. Again, that was up until 1988, and after that we started introducing this vigil for the deceased, which again may be led by a priest or deacon or layperson. And it's just the first of the three rites that we offer for the deceased and the family members expressed clearly the paschal character of Christ's death, that is his death understood in relationship to Christ's death and resurrection. Again, the rosary could be played prayed either before or after the vigil, so that's still part of it. But this Vigil for the deceased is actually a prayer service. Again, actually, it's more inviting for the uh non-Catholics who are attending, but again, that's the first rite day one to let's talk about the second, third rites and about cremation next week. Sounds fantastic. So they will be tuned in again next week, I am sure. So we're gonna wake this out a little bit. So let's yeah, we come to the end here. We gotta call it quits here, Tim. So let's pick up next week with the funeral and the and the and the ceremony at the cemetery and the issue about cremation. And then we may also talk about uh St. St. Paul's Letters and maybe Deacons and see what else we get into. So again, thank you for tuning in. We really appreciate you um coming to us, listening to us here on Soon Land Catholic Radio as we offer both national and local programs, including Faith in Action Life Plan, Catholic Ministry Professionals, Divine Mercy Chaplet, and Sunday Morning Mass. Please also check out our Facebook pages for Soon Line Catholic Radio and for Father Knows Best for more of more information about this show, including more information about questions and answers I've addressed, and more information that have not addressed on this show. As we wrap up today's question and answer session, we extend our heartfelt thanks to all of our listeners for tuning in and sharing your thought-provoking questions. Your curiosity and engagement make the show possible. We're always inspired by the incredible range of topics you bring to the table. We hope you have found the answers both informative and enlightening, and that you'll carry some new insights with you as you go about your week. If your question wasn't answered today, you may hear your answer to your question next week. If you missed this episode, would like to release and to this or other episodes, please visit our website, suit like radio.com, and visit the programs drop menu and local programs. Yeah, click on the local programs to find this episode and other episodes, Father Knows Best and other programs. Again, if your question was not answered this week, please listen next week or following week. If you have any questions, please send your questions to me at father knows best show at yahoo.com or mail them at Father Knows Best, Sue Light Catholic Radio, 701 West Fifth Street, Sioux City, Iowa, 51103. And thank you to our sponsor, San Augusta Indian Mission, Winnebago. Please join us again next Wednesday, 9 p.m. for another round of questions and answers. Till then, stay curious, stay faithful, keep your light shining, keep those questions coming. For now, I'm Father Mark Story, your host signing off. We should have a great week ahead. And mighty God bless you, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.