2023 Catholic Answers 9th Annual Conference

REGISTRATION 2:00 PM

Get checked-in and load up with everything you need for the conference. You'll receive your name badge, conference program, and some free stuff!

LIVE BROADCAST OF CA LIVE 3:00 PM

Watch the live broadcast of Catholic Answers Live with host Cy Kellett and our apologists. Attendees may ask their questions during the live show.

VIP PRIVATE RECEPTION 3:30 PM

A special event for Catholic Answers Founders Circle and President's Club members. The VIP reception invitation is indicated on the back of your name badge.

Joe Heschmeyer - Benedict XVI’s 5 Ways of Demonstrating the Existence of God - 5:45 PM

In the Summa Theologiae, St. Thomas Aquinas famously offers his qunique viae, or “five ways,” for demonstrating the existence of God. Throughout the work of Joseph Ratzinger / Benedict XVI, we find five other ways for demonstrating the existence of God. Over the course of his public career, he variously pointed to (1) science (and the intelligibility of the universe more broadly); (2) the meaning of life; (3) philosophy, and particularly, great philosophical questions like “where does everything come from?”; (4) the witness of the Saints; and (5) the role of beauty. Of these last two, then-Cardinal Ratzinger once observed that “the only really effective apologia for Christianity comes down to two arguments, namely the saints the Church has produced and the art which has grown in her womb.” So how do these five things point to God, and how can we present these in a compelling way to the non-believers in our lives?

Dale Ahlquist - The Lost Art of Wonder - 6:40 PM

G.K. Chesterton says, “The world will never starve for want of wonders, but only for want of wonder.” What have we lost by losing our sense of wonder, by having it dulled and decimated in today’s world? In a word, we’ve lost God. Using the timeless insights of Chesterton, Dale Ahlquist will help reawaken our wonder and rediscover the thrill of a Creed that declares: “I believe in God...”

MORNING MASS 8:00 AM

Join us for morning Mass in the Aventine Ballroom.

Jimmy Akin - 10:00 AM

(Talk description to come!)

Karlo Broussard - Why Doesn’t God Show His Face? Making Sense of Divine Hiddenness - 11:30 AM

Why doesn’t God make his presence undeniable to honest inquirers? It seems like a God who is all-good would not leave us stumbling in the dark, unsure of his existence—especially in times of trial and suffering when we need him most. The reality of God’s hiddenness can be a cause for struggle in our faith life, and skeptics seize on it to claim that he doesn’t even exist. In this talk, Karlo explains why it’s no reason for despair or doubt. Using a popular philosophical approach that is thorough and intellectually satisfying yet still accessible, Karlo shows how God’s apparent hiddenness is not contrary to his goodness, but flows from it.

Tim Staples - Seeing is Believing: How to Lead Souls to Belief in God - 2:15 PM

St. Thomas’ proofs for the existence of God are tried and true. And science today makes an excellent case for the existence of God. In the end, however, Tim maintains there is one most most effective way we can prove to an unbelieving world that God is real. And he takes it right from Scripture: St. Paul’s encounter with the philosophers on Mars Hill will lead the way.

Francis Beckwith - Relativism, Morality, and the Existence of God - 4:00 PM

There are a variety of reasons why one should believe that moral relativism is a mistaken view, chief among them that morality is objective, that it really exists and that it functions as a law on the conscience. But to say there is a moral law implies a moral lawgiver, a being who has the authority to issue moral commands and who does not receive his authority from another.

EVENING MIXER 5:30 PM (FULL CONFERENCE ONLY)

Casual evening under the stars with good food and great fellowship.

Society 315 Fire Side Chat - 8:00 PM

All Society 315 members are invited to join our Apologist for a Q&A panel. To learn more about our monthly giving society click here or email [email protected].

SATURDAY MORNING MASS 8:00 AM

Holy Mass Saturday morning at the Catholic Answers National Conference.

SATURDAY BREAKFAST 8:30 AM (ON YOUR OWN)

Grab a bite to eat after Mass. Fuel up for another day of amazing talks, shopping, and community.

Dr. Scott Hahn - It is Right and Just; Why the Future of Civilization Depends on the Catholic Faith - 10:00 AM

Contrary to what political commentators and activists say, religion is not only relevant to justice and law, but is necessary for civilization to thrive. Dr. Scott Hahn will uncover the public nature of true religion and its role in society. He will unpack the necessary need for religious liberty, justice, peace and the call to reject the lie perpetuated by secular liberal culture: that religion is a private matter.

Fr. Paul Check - Liturgy and Belief - 11:30 AM

Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi is a traditional Catholic principle maintaining that the law of prayer is the law of belief. In other words, the way we pray—especially at Mass—expresses and shapes our faith in Jesus Christ and our relationship with Him as His disciples. What is the divine architecture of the Mass, in which we are invited to participate? What grace does Our Lord offer to us when we pray and prepare to receive Him in Holy Communion? With what blessing, understanding and mission do we go forth, when the Mass is ended?

Trent Horn - The New Case for God - 1:30 PM

In the past 40 years academic defenders of God's existence have continually refined and improved well-known arguments for the existence of God. In this talk Trent takes you on a helpful tour of these arguments and provides resources to help you take a stand against the rising tide of modern atheism.

Logan Gage - Beauty as a Path to God - 3:00 PM

Not long ago, it was easy to see the world’s beauty as strong evidence for a Creator. But some argue that the rise of secular ideologies and the moral horrors of the last two centuries obscure this evidence. In this talk, Dr. Gage gives four lines of evidence to help us once again see that beauty clearly points to God.

Dinner Banquet with Keynote by Sr. Regina Marie Gorman and Music by Floriani - 6:45 PM

SUNDAY MASS 8:00 AM

Join us for Mass to end the Catholic Answers Conference on a high note.