From the Kitchen Table: The Duffys - The Spiritual Cost Of Political Silence & The Catholic Church's Latest Controversy

Episode Date: December 14, 2023

Author and former Indiana State Congresswoman Christy Stutzman shares her new book The Spiritual Cost Of Political Silence, and why she believes the religious population of the nation needs to speak out against Marxist ideology.  Later, FOX News Contributor Raymond Arroyo explains the latest controversy involving the punishment of Cardinal Raymond Burke for speaking out against Church reforms. Raymond also touches upon the recording of his new Christmas album and his tour.  Follow Sean & Rachel on Twitter: @SeanDuffyWI & @RCamposDuffy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey everyone, welcome to From the Kitchen Table. I'm Sean Duffy along with my co-host for the podcast, my partner in life and my wife, Rachel Campos Duffy. Hi honey. Hi honey. It's great to be back. We're at the kitchen table and we have two great guests, two friends. Yes. I mean, genuinely friends.

We're not saying that in TV talk. So we have Raymond Arroyo is going to be joining us a little later. We're going to talk about Pope and Cardinal Burke. And what's the latest on that drama and drama. And we're going to talk about Christmas. So he has a new Christmas album now. It's just sort of like how to take back the joy in Christmas and not let the Grinches steal it from us. The Grinches are the secularists, by the way, the Marxists. And so he has some really great advice on that. And I thought it was an important conversation to have as we're winding down here in the last two weeks of advent and moving into christmas um i'm in we're in full

christmas spirit here our house is fully decorated we are shot john's sneezing and he's still sick uh but but uh but we're in the christmas spirit there's a lot of people trying to take the christmas spirit away even satan hasists in Wisconsin taking over the railroad museum. We're going to talk about that and a few other things and just how to really take that back for us. And I'm bringing in my friend, our friend, Christy Stetsman. I met Christy when we were both congressional spouses. Her husband represented a district in Indiana, Sean in Wisconsin. And what people don't realize is that the spouses actually get

to know each other. We have a congressional spouse club. So just before we break, Christine, it was important to note is that the spouses that come in and the members that come in in the same cycle, they get to know each other even better. So Marlon Statsman and Sean Duffy came in together the class of 2010, the Tea Party wave. And Christy and Rachel were spouses and got to know each other very well. So let me bring in Christy. Christy, welcome. Hi, good to be with you guys.

So good to see you. So Christy wrote an amazing book and we're going to talk about it. It's called The Spiritual Cost of Political Silence. The second I, by the way, I'm not having her on because she wrote a book. I'm having her on because I'm obsessed having her on because she wrote a book. I'm having her on because I'm obsessed with her title in a book. I'm obsessed. I'm absolutely obsessed. I think that this is the greatest title at the right moment in time. And I, it's not a

plug. It's I'm genuinely fascinated with this discussion. I got to meet Christy, as Sean mentioned, through all the congressional events people don't realize that the spouses come in as sean said we go through orientation with her husband so we all get to know wives or not or wives yeah there's and there were some of those brian yeah brian brian no was in our club christy knows husband um so he's a congressional spouse he was part of the congressional spouse club he definitely was not as enthusiastic of a member and he did go to some things uh oh i love brian and um and and but also we go to retreats together uh we go to christmas galas together and we sort of have this it's by the way there's two clubs there's a bipartisan

club which i wasn't as big of a fan of i I did go to some of their stuff. The real fun club is the Republican Congressional Spouse Club because we are bonded. We love each other. We all know what it's like. And Christy and I became fast friends there. And here she is. Christy, welcome again. Thank you so much. Yeah, it's more like a therapy support club sometimes. It truly is. You can't, there's, it's so hard. Now that we're out, Christy, of the political world, it is the hardest thing to be a member. I'm not gonna underestimate what you guys went through. But as a spouse, you're back home, you're handling all the stuff that your husband can't do because he's gone.

So you're like the husband and wife at home. And you're dealing, by the way, you get as much of the incoming because you're going to the grocery store, you're going to Walmart and you're dealing with all that stuff as well. Right. And but you can never complain about it because if you complain about it, that becomes a story and you don't want to get in the way of your husband's work or your spouse's work. So that's right. Do no harm. And so what we would do is we would get together. And as you said, have therapy sessions with each other. And it helped a lot. It really helped a lot to know that you weren't in by yourself, you know, that there were others that were experiencing the same things and it was doable, you know, and it's it's been done before so yeah it was very helpful to have each other to kind of talk to and rely on and share best practices and yes your scheduler did this you better tell her not to cancel that

birthday party again i mean there was a lot of stuff that we learned from each other um there well i remember the first time rachel Rachel went to one of these big gatherings. And again, it's hard on a family because you're gone so much. And there was a lot of, like, I think Rachel was like, am I crazy that this is so hard? And I haven't taken on this extra load. And after the first big Republican meeting, she was like, oh, my God, I'm not crazy. Everyone else is going through the same thing that I'm going through. Yeah.

Because it's a similar experience for most of the spouses that are engaged with new members. It was kind of unusual to have young kids in that situation too. And I think that class had a lot of families that had younger children. Yes. So that was actually a big story, Christy.

That was a big story about the class. It wasn't just the size of the class. How many was it, Sean, that came in? 90? It would be 87, was it? It was the 87th. Years or so, yeah. Yeah, it wasn't all seats that Republicans had fled.

There were some Republicans that left in a different Republican, but 87 new members of Congress. 87 new members of Congress. And they took pictures of all of us going in through orientation. And they couldn't believe how many members were carrying babies. I mean, we had our baby at orientation. Strollers, bags, you know.

Yes. Yeah, strollers. Yeah, totally. Totally. And our kids kind of grew up together. You know, we didn't just exchange best practices, Sean. We actually had a meeting. I don't know if you remember this.

There were retired members, retired members and their spouses. The spouses had a meeting with all of us. And one of the first things they told us, and I took this advice, they said, and I loved it because they could only say this advice, Christy, because they were out of politics. Right. It didn't really matter what they said. So they gave us the full low down scoop. I think it was Jack Kemp's wife.

There were other wives there. And basically, they said, have lots of pictures of you and your family in your husband's office. Because there's a lot of women out there that are after Congress. Oh, like in your pictures about you in my office. Pictures of me in your office and our kids. So if any, you know, bad ladies walk in there. We had a lot of pictures. Yeah.

Oh, no, I put glamour shots up there, Christine. Yep, I have a lot of decorating time in there when we first moved in. And so we're gonna you know strategically place things and just you know it's good and it's i did that in in my office as well and it's just it's really good to just kind of that's why you're there you know you're there yeah it's you're there for the future and you're there for your family so so christy left um her husband uh ended up leaving congress and then Christy ended up running for state office, right? Was it assembly or state senator? Assembly. State representative. State rep. I'm sorry.

And you served for how long? I served for one term. We had just purchased a property, a historic property, actually, in Indiana. It had a brown barn theater, which had been around for over 50 years. The barn is over 100 years old. It had a restaurant, had a brown barn theater, which had been around for over 50 years. The barn is over 100 years old, had a restaurant, had shops. It was a tourist restaurant entertainment destination right before COVID hit. So it was not great timing. And I was writing actually during COVID, they froze licensing out of New York. So any shows that I was trying to get to produce on Broadway, this is what our theater did. Wait a minute, Christy.

Christy, let me stop you for a second, just because I want our listeners to know. Christy is an amazing singer, professional singer, pianist, composer. She writes musicals. So she's an extraordinary human. She's kind of just kind of skipping through this, but that's why there's a theater. And that's why we're talking about that. Yeah. My husband is, you know, he's in the, he has a farming background and he loves raising beef cattle. And so we had gotten into Wagyu beef. And so the restaurant slash theater

really appealed to both of us. I love the theater side and he loved the restaurant side. And so and also we love preserving historic places in our state. So that was all combined. And when COVID hit, I was serving in the state house and could not get licensing out of New York. They had just frozen all licensing. And so I told my team, I was like, OK, we're creatives. Now's our time to shine. Let's let's write.

And so I told my team, I was like, okay, we're creatives. Now's our time to shine. Let's write. And so we wrote three original shows in the first two years. And it was a little crazy, but we made it. And through that, I realized that I'm just, I cannot do this plus state rep at the same time. And so I decided to step down, help the next person get elected. I supported the person that ended up winning

and knew that it was in good hands. And I just completely focused on keeping that place open and running. And it is today. We made it. It's been a long slog, but we made it. So I'm really thankful for good people being willing to run and step in when there's a need. What's the name of it again? So if people are going through Indiana? Oh, yeah. You should check out the barns at Napanee. And my theater is called the Round Barn Theater. That's awesome. So what made you decide that you wanted to write a book titled The Spiritual Cost of Political Silence? Well, I had been speaking at different events, whether it was TPUSA events or other

local events, and just kind of sharing how to get involved. And it was really from a grassroots level. I kind of shared our story. We never planned on being in politics. But when 9-11 hit, we had a three-week-old. Our first son was only three weeks old. And we really just wanted to make sure that our community was in good hands. And so we started attending meetings, you know, commissioner meetings, school board. We'd go to the local GOP meeting. And when you show up, I found out that doors open, opportunities present themselves, people approach you, and then you just have to pray about it and go, okay, all right, should I do this?

And so I was sharing that. And a lot of the questions I was getting from people had to do with, you know, it's so overwhelming. It's so intimidating. I don't know where to start. You know, where do I even begin? You know, and it's so ugly, you know, it's divisive. And really, you know, my experience, especially on the community level was not as bad. And I think sometimes we just think it's bigger than it is because of all the ads and the stuff that we see on TV. And so I started talking to a publisher friend of mine because people are asking me for my presentation, my PowerPoint. And I said, well, I just want to put in a little pamphlet, you know,

hand it out. And so I sent it to her and we talked about it. And she said, you know, I really think you have enough for a book here. And my passion has always been to just kind of make it accessible, make it doable for people. Because I really feel like people of faith have been silent for way too long. And we have been intimidated into silence a lot of times. We've been misled, misinformed about our role. And so I really feel like right now there's a lot of people of faith who are ready to be silent no more. They're ready to speak out and take action oftentimes because they feel like they're outnumbered on the left, that there's so many of them, whether it's in media or in business, in Hollywood, in sports, they remain silent. And so what advice do you have for probably the majority of America that is staying silent? How do you encourage them to

get out and have their voices heard? Well, you know, doing research for this book, I realized that we have actually been targeted actually further back than I realized. So when you look back at the cultural Marxist humanists, you know, thing that happens, it really started happening when the intellectual elites in Germany and other places that have, you know, thing that happens. It really started happening when the intellectual elites in Germany and other places that have, you know, tried socialism and communism before in other places realized that it didn't work. And of course, it's never their fault. They're utopias just around the corner. And so they look at America and go, you know, we should target the children. America and go, you know, we should target the children. We should target the educational institutions. And that's what they did. And so what I find is that you talk about the Frankfurt

School. This is what you're talking about. To give people some context, what time period is that? That was right around 1930-ish, maybe a little bit before. So in between the two world wars, there was this intellectual elite that were really sold out to humanism and atheism, but they really wanted to try their hand at, you know, experimenting on different civilizations. And so they tried things in Russia, they tried things in Italy, you know, and so when they looked at America, they said, you know, Antonio Gramsci wrote this from a prison cell. And he said, you know, we we really messed up when we didn't target the children, because once they're a certain age, you know, it's hard to get them. So what they're trying to do. And I told Marlon after reading some of these books, I realized that it can be summed up in one verse out of the Bible.

And that is the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. And once you decide that, then you're going to do away with the family unit. And once you decide that, then you're going to do away with the family unit. You're going to do away with anything that's authoritarian and you're going to try to attack it and take it down because your ultimate goal is to be transhuman, which is the new term today. Right. So we're evolving past humaneness and transhumanist. It's just insane. So it was very eye-opening to me that not only have we been targeted for so long, but we've also been intimidated by misinformation that's been spread by the same crew. And that is, you know, separation of church and state. Church leaders should not speak out on political things. And all of this is completely opposed to what the founders actually wrote and said. So when I did some, you know, looking into their actual words, they say over and over again that this is this government will only operate if there is a moral people supporting it. And people keep asking me

questions like, well, do you think our leaders should do more about this or that? And my answer is we are the leaders. It's a government of we the people. And so if our leaders aren't leading the way that we believe they should, we have the opportunity to either elect someone else or run ourselves. So we really, you know, it's not a dictatorship. It's not a it's not a royal family that we're dealing with. This is we the people. And it's unique in the history of the world. is we the people and it's unique in the history of the world so what are the spiritual costs if we are silent i mean i get the overall but what happens to the individual i mean first of all i see people beginning to wake up and it's just it's slow but but they are beginning to wake up but for a long time whether it was in dei meetings or even kids having to write stuff that they don't they know that they don't, they know that they don't believe in and that they weren't taught by their parents to believe. Whether it's, you know, leaders of companies having to hire people that they don't think

is the best person for the job, but they're doing it because they have to meet a certain quota. Whether it's being afraid to hang, you know, how many people did you know, Christy? I knew a lot who said they were going to vote for Donald Trump, but they would say to me, this is how I knew that Donald Trump

was going to win, by the way. They would go, and they felt safe telling me because they knew who I was. I was the wife of the Republican congressman, the only one in Wisconsin who had endorsed Donald Trump. Yeah. And so they felt comfortable coming to me. But I thought, what a terrible way to live where you're so afraid to say what you think in America. I have to believe that eats at your soul, not being able to tell the truth. Yeah.

that eats at your soul, not being able to tell the truth. Yeah. But what happens to you spiritually? Yeah. Well, I think we are paying a price. We see it being played out in the lives of children across America. There is so much fear and misunderstanding of who they are. And I think it goes to the root of the fact that we've been told as Americans for so long who we should be instead of knowing who we have always been.

And we have always been salt and light in this world. I mean, when we went on congressional delegations, I can't tell you how many people, leaders in countries would talk to my husband and I and say, we want to do trade with you. We appreciate all of your charities, your disaster work, your mission work, your educational work. But please don't export your morals. It's corrupting our children. And it was heartbreaking to hear. But at the same time, we totally understood what they were saying.

And I think that we have forgotten at our root and at our core who we are and what our mission is in this world. And, you know, we were over in Israel. It was our first, you know, we were over in Israel. It was our first, you know, delegation trip that we went on. And our lead, our guide said that, you know, he was a citizen of Israel, but he was not religious. And he made that very clear. But boy, he did a good job presenting, you know, all the different locations, you know, around Israel and the history there. But we got to the Mount of Beatitudes and he asked someone to read Matthew 5. My husband, Marlon, volunteered right away. So he read Matthew 5 together. And of course, I was in tears and several others were too. It was just very moving to be there. And he stopped Marlon and he said, can you go back and read

verses 13 and 14? I think it is. So Marlon read the verses that say, you're the light of the world, a city that is set in the hill cannot be held. You're the salt of the earth. So he read those verses. And then the guys looked at us and he said, I just want you to know as leaders in your country that as a citizen of Israel, you have done this thing that Jesus said. You have been a light to the world. And he said, I'm just asking you right now, please don't stop. If you stop, I don't know who's going to take your place. I don't know who's going to step forward. And boy, it hit me really hard. I thought, you know, why is he saying that? Why is he saying don't stop? Well, I think it's on us and our generation to step forward and say, not on our watch. And you can't tell us who we are. We know who we are and we know what our mission is. Well, Christy, it's hard to draw that conclusion because we are letting, not us specifically, but it's happening on our watch.

Yeah. You know, we came out of the catacombs and, you know, we brought these ideas and this faith around the world. And now we're kind of ceding territory to the left and retreating from culture. We're Catholics. Catholics are being investigated by the FBI because they're traditional Catholics. Right. And that every Christian, every Jew, like everyone, anyone of faith hasn't stepped up to be like, oh, my goodness, this is unbelievable. We're going to stand together against a tyrannical government. It hasn't happened. I know. But the Pope hasn't even said that.

But you know what? I know. He's not an American. But it's also the Church of the Laity. And it's all for God to stand together. And that's not happening. And it's really troubling that we're not standing together

with one voice. I think a government that has truly become franticle and not focused on threats overseas, but focused on made-up threats here in America for political purposes. And they know that if you're a church-going American, you probably vote Republican. And they want to target you because of the politics that come around the church.

You know, Chrissy, I've been thinking about the silence, too. And I believe, and Sean, I've had conversations about this. I mean, you see all these indictments against Donald Trump for nothing. I mean, nothing. I mean, they haven't found anything. And this is the most investigated man in the world. Truly, they haven't found anything. And yet they've managed to put all of these crazy trials and charges against him in order to interfere with our election. him in order to interfere with our election. What's surprising to Sean and I is there are no protests. You would have assumed, I mean, if you had asked me if this had happened 20 years ago, I would have said those courtrooms would be surrounded by people going, not in our

country. You are not going to turn this into a banana republic. This is communist stuff and it's not happening. And why is it not happening? People have been silenced by January 6th. I'm sorry. They're afraid. They've been afraid.

They're afraid of their own government. That's the world we live in. Let's be honest. Yeah. And, you know, I think there is a religion. There's a there's a religious aspect to the way the left operates in government. They truly believe that that is the answer um that is their religion you know so they see that as an answer and they also discount anybody of faith and

that's why i wrote my book to be as non-partisan as non-denominational it's just a people of faith in america to stand up and be bold because we're at war here for our very existence. And we are being targeted by our own country, our own government. And so, but I think there's enough of us. And, you know, as you read the Bible, there's several times where there's a remnant left, you know, whether it's in the Jewish history or whether it's elsewhere, but there's a remnant.

And I'm really praying that there is enough of a remnant and that God expands it and that there's a boldnant. And I'm really praying that there is enough of a remnant and that God expands it and that there's a boldness about our stand because, you know, we are on the right side. We do celebrate life. We want a culture of life. Everything that we have done around the world has made a difference and it's been recognized. And so it's definitely a battle of ideas and a battle of values right now. And it infiltrates our government. And we've got to be there.

We've got to be at the table. You know, Christy, I agree with you. You're on the right side. We're on the right side. But if we were on the wrong side, we have a constitution and a form of government that allows people to speak freely on the wrong side of every issue. Yes. That's right. that allows people to speak freely on the wrong side of every issue. Yes. And that has been, even when you're right and your speech is being taken from you,

it's a real battle to your point that we're in and more people have to be inspired. That's why I hope people go look at your book. I imagine, Christy, they can get it on Amazon, Spiritual Cost of Political Silence. Where else? Amazon? Anywhere else? Amazon, yeah. The Spiritual Cost of Political Silence. Where else could they, Amazon, anywhere else? Amazon, yeah, the Spiritual Price of Political Silence. And then it's also on, oh, just anywhere online that you can get books. I think christianbooks.com carries it.

I have a website, it's booksbychristie.org. They can find it there as well. There's links to it. But on Amazon right now, it'd be great if they could just go ahead and get it. It'll come before Christmas right now. And leave a review as well. That really helps to raise awareness about the book.

But I'm just really hoping that it makes it easy. I tried to make it a book where it's short chapters, easy read, right around 200 pages. So it's doable. It's definitely doable for folks. I think there's a lot of people who would benefit from just the inspiration. It's a little bit of a handbook how to do it. Right. And really the why.

Once you realize what's at stake, you can't stay silent. You can't outsource your voice to a Fox News pundit like me or Sean. You can't outsource your voice to a Fox News pundit like me or Sean. You can't outsource your voice to Christie or even your member of Congress. Everyone has to get involved. And that's why I think your book is so important. It's the spiritual cost of political science. Christie, thank you so much for your friendship. Thank you for writing this book, for putting that out there, for never giving up in that

fight. And by the way, I love how Christy is involved. You talk so much, Sean, about the culture, right? And how we need to really be in the culture. And she's in the culture. She's writing amazing musicals. Her voice is out there. And she's making a difference.

Well, a lot more than her husband, Marlon, who ran for Congress. And now at least we have Christy out there fighting. Yeah. Christy, tell Marlon I said hello. I miss him as well. He was a lot more than her husband, Marlon, who ran for Congress, and now at least we have Christy out there fighting. Yeah. Christy, tell Marlon I said hello. I miss him as well. He was a great one. He's running for office. Oh, that's right. What's Marlon?

AGs? You're running for AGs? No, he's running for Senator. He's running for his old seat in Congress. Oh, he is? No, the member that was running in his seat is now running for Senator, and he's running for his old seat. Right, yeah. Okay, who's his current member?

Who took his seat? Jim Banks. Jim Banks. Okay, so Marlon wants to go back to Congress? Yes. Are you crazy, Christine? For the love of God. We talked about that.

I saw her. She came by and visited me on the show. She was in town. Her husband had a fundraiser, and she was in town. And she stopped by and visited me on the show she was in town her husband had a fundraiser and she was in town and she stopped by the studio on the weekend she met with me and pete and will our kids were there yeah and i asked her the same question are you crazy and so she's putting her mouth where she's putting her money where her mouth is i mean she gets what what's at stake i'm um i'm being i'm being playful. I would be a much

different member of Congress. I think I'd be a better member of Congress now, Christy, just doing it, coming home. And if I went back, and I think Marlon was a great member, he'll be an even better member. You'd be a better family in the heat. Because if you've never done it before, it's really hard to navigate those waters. You come in with eyes wide open. I feel the same way. I think he will be. You know, he's had experience in multiple sectors in business. And just the things you learn in that experience and then understanding how government works, I think it's going to be good.

Appreciate your prayer. Christy, the first year Sean was in office was, it was not good. It was so traumatic. And there is a ramping up period. And so, you know, I do think that he's somebody who could hit the ground running because he knows how it works. He's already done it before. But you're right, Sean. You do it.

You get all that experience. You go back out. And what Sean has said to me, Christy, is that he didn't realize until he left Congress what a bubble Congress is. And it's nice to come out of the bubble and go back in and say, I'm not going to be in a bubble again. I'm not going to get caught in that bubble again. So I wish him lots of luck. I wish you lots of luck. And especially with the book, Christy. Thank you. Thanks, guys. He can drive a tractor and he can be a member of Congress, all kinds of things.

He's a man of all trades. That's right. Christy Sussman, make sure you get a book. It is The Spiritual Cost of Political Silence. Christy, good to see you. Merry Christmas. Thank you for joining us at the kitchen table. All right.

Bye-bye. We'll have more of this conversation after this. The world of business moves fast. Stay on top of it with the Fox Business Rundown. Listen to the Fox Business Rundown every Monday and Friday at foxbusinesspodcasts.com or wherever you download your favorite podcasts. It's a great conversation with Christy Sautzman. Again, wonderful family. She's an example of some of the wonderful, nice people that you meet in Congress. A good family. I was surprised Marla's coming back, but he will be a better member of Congress.

He was a very conservative Christian guy who represents Indiana very well. Really well. And again, what a cool title book. We talked about it. I couldn't help but be like, what's the title? I know. What a great topic. It's the title.

I wish I'd written a book and had that title title but but it couldn't have it to a nicer person um christy statsman uh from the great state of indiana but now let's invite another guest in he's an old friend an old friend and a happy old good happy friend raymond arroyo is back tackle a couple interesting um cultural hot points including christmas which obviously is always a cultural hot point because the left hates Christmas. But we've got Raymond Arroyo. We love him. Raymond, welcome to the kitchen table. Hi, guys.

I wish I could get a cup of coffee with you. I wish I could do this in person, but we'll do that next time. We will do that next time. Before we move on to Christmas and the secularization of Christmas and what you say is the answer to it, give us a quick update on what's going on with Raymond Burke and the Pope. Yeah, well, look, Cardinal Burke has been, he is one of the greatest canon lawyers in the world, okay? This is a guy who was head of the Vatican Supreme Court, just to put it in lay terms. No one knows the church law better than Raymond Burke. He's a sober, you all know him. He's a sober, decent, kind, gentle man, not a flamethrower. And he's always, always said, look, I'm very loyal to the Pope. And I mean, that's like the

prerequisite to everything he says. But he has questioned the direction of things, you know, allowing married, unmarried couples, couples who are divorced and remarried to come to communion, allowing, you know, transgender grandparents or godparents, rather. He has questioned whether this is licit and a whole host of other things. And the pope is apparently very unhappy with all of this, doesn't like the questioning, doesn't like the challenge. And, you know, the reason cardinals are there and the reason they wear red, people always see the cardinals in their red, the red is a sign that they're going to shed their blood to the church.

And part of that is challenging the deficits of orthodoxy. And when you have people around the Pope suggesting that what was two years ago illegal and illicit is today allowable and embraced, that's a problem. Cardinal Burke is one of the few truth-tellers who stood up and said, wait a minute, we need to look at this and consider the consequences. So that not only took away his apartment in Rome, they took away his pension. He's 75 years old. He's now retired or in semi retirement. This is really cruel. It would be like you and I working for a company. They give us a pension, but because of something we say later down the road, they take the pension away

and throw us out of our house. Sorry, that's not allowed. And that money, if it's truly the money of the people of God, they should be accountable to the people of God and transparent about why they did it and the reasons and give substantive reasons for it. And thus far, there are none. This is kind of a petty action. And some are saying it's a papal vindictiveness. It's payback. So that's my question, Raymond. Historically, do popes do this? If they have some really outspoken critics of some of the policies coming from the Vatican, do popes traditionally go, there's some retribution, there's some sidelining that happens, or is this really new to the church?

Is this kind of a, at least in modern times, an unseen effort that is historically not experienced? Well, look, if you go back in time, you certainly see petty popes. You know, we had pretty bad popes. You had the Borgia popes, you had others. Yeah, they would imprison their enemies. They would round up and poison those they didn't like. Yeah, this stuff went on. It's venal.

It's raw. It's wicked. They were bad popes for doing it. In the modern age, we've seen nothing like this. Look, you all know, I knew John Paul II. I knew Benedict XVI. Even their fierce critics, even people they disagreed with theologically or who they battled with theologically or theoretically, or even on matters of doctrine, they would correct

them. They did it with gentleness and love. They never stripped people, very rarely, unless there was a... And look, you don't remove a guy from office or punish them in this way unless there's real corruption or corruption of faith, okay? Financial, sexual corruption, where they're teaching something that's just in such error and they won't move off the point. That rarely happened during the last two papacies.

They were very magnanimous and decent and kind, even to those they disagreed with. Pope Francis takes a very different view. him as sort of like, you know, the counter to the, you know, socialist, wokey pope that we have right now. And some people see him as his nemesis, but he is still part of the American, I guess, clergy. How have American bishops and cardinals reacted to this? Is there a count? Has this maybe backfired? Because in some ways, do some bishops and cardinals who are, even those who are liberal, say, well, yeah, but he's one of us, and this could happen to any of

us? Or is there sort of a rallying around the pope's decision? Which is it? Well, you're right. He's an international figure. He remains a Roman, believe it or not, he remains a Curial or a Roman cardinal. So he's still in the employ of the Vatican. He just basically has no money and no housing. So he's going to have to find his own. The thing I love about Raymond Burke is after this announcement came down, he said, I'm staying in Rome. I'm not leaving. I'm going to stay here. That's my calling as a cardinal. So good on him. What I'm hearing from cardinals and bishops internationally, and not only in the United States, I'm talking about people in Europe, one in Africa, they are telling me, and by the way, some of these people are not ideologically

where Raymond Burke is. They're not traditionalists or conservative. They are appalled by this action and the way it happened. And that this is the way a cardinal is being treated. You know, it's one thing to think you're taking your enemies out. It's quite another when your friends see the way you're treating people just like them, because tomorrow they could be out of favor with the Pope and they could lose everything. This has not gone down well. if anything i think again the ways of god the economy of god god uses all things for good i think even horrible thing what this moment has done unbeknownst i think and perhaps unintended by the pope or those around him it has galvanized uh the cardinals about to go into the next conclave. And they are committed to having a pope who is not in the mold of what we're seeing today.

That's an interesting development, I think. And something, frankly, I had not heard a year ago or two years ago. The things have changed. Raymond Burke and Bishop Strickland in Tyler, Texas, also removed recently from his diocese for the same reasons, speaking out and raising questions about things the Pope was doing, not criticizing, just raising questions. They were removed as well. This has not gone down well with bishops. Yeah, I've heard my sources, and you have many, many more sources. People

should know when Raymond says, this is what I'm hearing, it's like he's really hearing it from the horse's mouth. I don't know any American journalist, Catholic journalist, who has more contacts and more connections than Raymond Arroyo. This has been your beat for decades, and you certainly are probably the most credible voice on what the bishops around the world and in America are, how they are reacting in many cases privately. And that's what I want to say. The little bit of context I've had is that because I was upset that more people haven't, you know, more bishops and cardinals haven't vocally and publicly, you know. They won't, Rachel. Rally.

And they won't. And the reason they said the excuse, but maybe a very good reason is they do want to be part of those who are cardinals, want to be part of that conclave to pick the next pope. And they're afraid that if they raise their voices now, they could be sidelined, removed from their duties and not be part of that decision. And so many of them are holding their fire because, as you know, Raymond, the Pope is not doing well. He's probably more sickly than the Vatican is letting on. So this is a very intriguing story. I think, thank you for filling us in. Social credit score, right? If you want to be part of the next conclave, you better, you know, stay within your lane. It works. Well, you've seen the fear factor. Look, the fear factor is running through the church right now. And Rachel, you're a hundred percent right. Look, I've spoken

to cardinals who said, look, or bishops, if I speak out now and make a big fuss, I'm going to end up like Strickland. This thing is coming to a close. This papacy is coming to a close. And for all the promises that Pope Francis was going to open it up to the people, work with the bishops, let's give the bishops more authority. That turns out not to have been true over the last decade. In fact, it's the most monarchical, kingly, courtly Vatican we have seen in papacy in probably 100 years. It's remarkable. It really is remarkable. It's time for a change. We'll see what happens. But I'm glad to hear that the bishops around the

world are unhappy with what happened to him, in the very least. There's that. Okay, so let's move to the secularization of Christmas. Tell me, what is Gavin Newsom doing in California? Because it seems like he's the latest Grinch. Yeah, well, Gavin Newsom, every year for 92 years in Sacramento, there is a lighting of the Christmas tree at the Capitol there. Well, this year, Gavin Newsom called it off. Why? Because some Palestinian protesters promised to show up. This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. So the majority of Americans, the majority of Californians have a 92-year-old tradition that's both secular and religious, tied to a religious holiday. And we just decide we're

going to turn that into a virtual event rather than do it in person because these Palestinian protesters are going to use it as a staging ground for their little uprising. Sorry, that's not how we roll here. I would have doubled down on security, pushed them back to a perimeter where they could be, and allow the tree lighting ceremony to go forward. But Gavin Newsom, just like Joe Biden, they're trying to balance the political base and keep those Arab Americans in their corner. And the only way to do that is to offer up our religious and secular traditions during Christmas. This is the most absurd thing I've heard.

And it's just the beginning. But remember, a month ago, just at the end of November, the Democrats had their party convention in California. Gavin Newsom shut that one down, too. Why? Palestinian protesters came in the front door. So they just basically stopped the convention and said, oh, because of the protesters, we want everybody to be safe, so we're shutting this down. That's the wrong way to go. That shows no leadership at all. And worse, it's a coarsening. It's an anti, I would argue,

it's an anti-Christian and an anti-American view of how we should conduct ourselves, and it creates a vacuum. And that vacuum will be filled by someone. And it's not going to be people doing Eucharistic processions or evangelicals praying and singing Hark the Herald Angels Sing. That's not who's going to fill that void. Just watch. Well, you don't push back on mobs by allowing mobs to work, right, and shut down things that are very important and closely held, as you mentioned, by a wide swath, a majority of the American people. I think this happened at the lighting of, or there was rumors of this happening at the lighting of the Rockefeller Christmas tree as well, that the protesters

were going to come. And I had this vision that wouldn't it be great if Christian men locked arms around the Christmas tree to make sure that none of these protesters could come in and disrupt this really important event in their lives, in the preparation, in the Advent season of lighting the Christmas tree. And men were men and said, ain't happening here. You're not getting through.

Well, it just doesn't seem like we all turn it over to go. Well, if Gavin Newsom says we can't do it, I guess, well, we're not going to do it. The question is, could you find enough Christian men in New York City to surround the Miller Tree? But here's the problem I'm kidding of course there are there are plenty of Christians and by the way in New York City many Christians you know

maybe not out out and doing processions through the street although I've seen that happen yeah Christian Catholic processions I think Father Mike led one not too long ago, a Eucharistic procession through the streets of New York City. Or maybe it was a rosary.

I can't remember. It was a Eucharistic procession. It was a Eucharistic procession. I saw it up this avenue traffic. Yeah. So, I mean, they exist, but I guess they weren't organized or ready to handle. So, you know what happened, Raymond?

The protesters, a lot of them got confused, and they ended up thinking that the Fox tree... They protested against the Fox tree. They wanted to go to the Rockefeller tree. They ended up coming to the Fox tree. They knew it was Midtown and it was a bright tree, so any bright tree will be what they make. So we got the protesters. We showed the stupidity of these protesters, but you make a great point. I would show the stupidity of these protesters. But, you know, you make a great point. I think we need to be more. We have to show our colors and our lights a little more, particularly at Christmas and Easter.

We are so shy, the majority of people, Christians in America, so shy about showing any excitement or belief in what these holidays really mean or why we celebrate them. And when you don't, when you lose the reason for these holidays, you're left with basically reindeer and snow and jingle bells. That's not enough to sustain a holiday. And I promise you, other forces will rush in and fill that religious and spiritual void. It's already happening. Raymond, what would those, what are those small things that you think people could do that we, again, sometimes I don't even think that we know that we do it, that we kind of step aside or hold it in or don't do certain things. And Rachel talks about when she goes Christmas shopping, she'll say, Merry Christmas.

And if someone says, Happy Holidays, she probably won't go back again. But I'm actually buying for Christmas. I'm buying for Christmas, not for winter. So if you don't want to recognize why I'm shopping, then I don't want to be there. But also, we can do it. So I posted yesterday our Feast of St. Nicholas.

And that's my small way of doing it. By the way, I do it for my kids. I've been doing this since I've had little tiny babies, you know, we put their shoes out by the altar on the 5th of December. And then, you know, right after prayer time. And then, and, and, and by the way, we light our candles every night and we, and we sing O Come, O Come Emmanuel. We have our own things here. And then my way is I just started to

try and post some of it to remind people of what we do and to do it in that way. But the outward sign is decorate the outside of your house. I mean, a lot of people don't even do that anymore. That was like, I remember as a kid, nobody had their house undecorated. And now it's like every other house might not be decorated for Christmas. And now it's like every other house might not be decorated for Christmas. Rachel, what's the big holiday everybody decorates for now? Halloween.

Halloween. They've got spider webs and monsters and spooks everywhere you turn. There's something horrible, a slasher. There's some demonic kid crawling, a robotic thing crawling up and down the driveway. But Christmas looks like Gaza. I mean, it's just like nothing crawling up and down the driveway. But Christmas looks like Gaza. I mean, it's just like nothing, blackness on the neighborhood. We need to not only show

our colors that way, but I think, hey, look, it's part of the reason I did this Merry and Bright Christmas album. I wanted to remind people what the season was about, what these great songs that we take for granted were about. And I encourage people, get a little group together, Boy Scout troop, church group, group of men or women you're with, get them together, go caroling this year. Pick a day. My kids are going with the school. Their school is taking them caroling.

People love carolers. They'll open their doors to you. They're so amazed. It's like they almost can't believe you're on their front doorstep singing to them. It takes their breath away. And it's a symbol of joy. It's a sign that you believe in the coming of the Christ child.

True hope. Real hope. And I think the human connection is so important during the holidays. There's a lot of lonely people out there. It's a great way to get over their door. That is, caroling is a truly lost, beautiful connection. And you're so right sean often talks about raymond how so much has been lost in urban planning that we no longer have that front porch where we

people walk by and say hi and you kind of get the neighborhood gossip on the front porch like that's all gone right it's all become you know on the phone which is so impersonal but caroling with your neighbors and that gesture of really loving and neighborly love. Wow. Bring that back. I think people are afraid to do it because we've become so insular. Well, we're friends with our neighbors, but a lot of people aren't friends with their neighbors. Well, that almost doesn't matter. This is a way to make friends with your neighbors. And more importantly, it's a way for you to show what you believe. Everybody else is showing what they believe. Believe me, they're in technicolor.

I'll tell you one thing you got to respect. Everybody's griping about these Hamas and Palestinian protesters. I'll tell you one thing. You are watching religious belief in action. Take note, America. Take note, Christian America. This is what it looks like when people galvanize. They show up all over the country. They're invading other people's religious and secular traditions and celebrations. They're unafraid. I think Christians have to get a little of that spirit and show the positive and true hopeful face of Judeo-Christianity. That is the bedrock of the country. And it's a beautiful thing. We have beautiful songs. We have beautiful traditions. Share them

with people or they're going to die. Like all traditions, they'll die if you don't practice. We'll have more of this conversation after this. Okay. So, Raymond, Rachel can attest to this. I can't sing. And so, I love idea of caroling. That is fantastic. I'm in the background. If I'm not a singer, Raymond, can you give me something else I can do? That one is like, oh, come on, man. Don't make me sing.

What else could I do? You can bring the star shower and do the light show behind the carolers and light them up and light up the house. You know what you could do? And here's another. I can play. I have a tambourine or the drums.

I can drum in or tambourine. It's a tambourine. You know what? You know what you could do, Sean? I can play the guitar if I could play the guitar. You could bring a plate of you could bring a small gift over to the neighbor. You could say, here's a plate of cookies. Or you, Sean, I don't know if you know, Sean knows how to make homemade applesauce

and butter. And he could give a homemade gift like that. If you bring over your homemade Zafirka. Sean, you could bring them copies of Raymond Arroyo, Christmas, Mary and Bright. I have one. Maybe that Merry and Bright album could be playing. If I had you with me and, you know, over the loudspeakers, it might actually work. You could lip sync. I could.

What is it about this album? Why did you put this out? Because, listen, there's a lot of Christmas albums out there. Every star, no matter how famous they are, wants to have, I mean, whether it was Elvis or Mariah Carey or... Dolly Parton. Everybody wants Kenny Rogers, Harry Belafonte, every famous singer. As famous as they are, as many gold and platinum albums as they have, they do not feel like they have arrived until their Christmas song becomes part of

the American Christmas repertoire. The canon, yeah, the canon. The canon. And now we have Reem and Aureole. Tell us about the album. Why did you want to do it? Okay, a record producer friend of mine approached me because on my Christmas specials on EWTN,

they heard me singing with Johnny Mappas and Andy Williams and Aaron Neville over the years. And they said, would you do a Christmas album? And initially I said, no, I don't want to do a Christmas album. When I thought about it, I said, you know what? Let me look at my favorite songs. So I pulled 50 songs dug deep into them. And when I discovered the backstory and the context and what I didn't know, it shocked me, I have to tell you. And I thought, okay, if I can get an original orchestration of each of these songs and bend my vocal performance in the band to reframe these songs so you hear them in a new way, then it might be worthwhile.

So that's what we did. We're basically revivifying and, I think, conveying these songs in their original form. Now, it's in a big band. It's a big band behind me. But Hark the Herald Angels Sing was never meant to be sung by an off-key, dead, bored choir. It was meant to be sung with gusto and excitement and dynamism. And when you hear those lyrics, Rachel, again, we take that song for granted. Hark the Herald Angels Sing. You've heard a thousand children's choirs sing it.

There are lyrics in there that are worthy of Shakespeare, where he says, veiled in flesh, the Godhead see. Behold the incarnate deity. Such beautiful words that focus us again on why we celebrate Christmas and why Christmas music exists. The other reason I wanted to be a part of it, these songs are eternal. I mean, think of it, they're like prayers. Your great-great-grandfather and grandmother were singing these songs. We're singing them today, and our children's children will be singing them way after we're gone. Many Christmases in the future. No other genre of music has that power because it touches on the divine. It touches on the Christ child. You can get it on Amazon, by the way.

You can download it on, can you get it on Spotify as well? Yes, Spotify, Amazon. We have been, by the way, we have been the number one jazz release on Amazon for two months. We were in billboards charts, both jazz and holiday charts. And it's still one of Barnes & Noble's best-selling CDs of the year. And that is because it's still one of uh barnes and nobles best-selling cds of the year

and that is because it's so accessible the band is great and i sing along and hit the right he has feliz navidad which is one of my i mean that is such a great i mean jose feliciano so did you sing it with him or is it just you raymond no no no if you go to raymondaroyalchristmas.com there's a trailer there. Oh, he's playing your songs. Are you, is this a little bit like Frank Sinatra going on here? Yeah, it's totally. It is a classic American approach to these songs.

Look, I saw Sinatra 30 times in concert. Look, he's hanging on my tree. You see Frank on the tree. You sang a duet with Jose Feliciano. I saw him 30 times in concert. You're a little affected by him. But, you know, it is not a, I'm not doing Frank Sinatra. I hate those impression people, people who redo arrangements. These are all new arrangements, but they're in that classic American style. And that's why this album is called one. It's a familiar sound, but it's new.

And Rachel, not only did Jose Feliciano agree, and this is a great backstory. We've heard that song Feliz Navidad about a million times. By the way, this week on Billboard, Jose is the number one played and downloaded song of Christmas. He passed Mariah Carey this week. Number one. Yeah. I think that was possible to do. Amazing.

He did it. Jose did it at Feliz Navidad. You know, it's a symbol. It's a beautiful song. I've heard it a million times, but Jose told me he wrote it under duress. His record producer said, you need an original song and you got to write it now. And he thought about celebrating Christmas on the shores of Puerto Rico, where he grew up, with his brothers and mom and dad drinking rum and eating little tamales and playing

guitars and beating on instruments and tin cans. That was the image he had in his head. I said, Jose, let's do our version, very bossa nova. And it'll be like two brothers singing on the sand. He agreed to do it. He came into studio. We do it together. What is Jose Feliciano like?

Oh, he is the dearest man. Hilarious. He's got a joke a minute. We were just in Dallas together. We did a show in Dallas and the people I have to tell you, Rachel, the man's a legend. He wrote that song 50 years up. And obviously that was, you know, if you're in a Hispanic family, I mean, it's part of the, and it's part of your, you know, it totally is. But then for me, one of my first Christmases in Northern Wisconsin, I have such a beautiful memory of being in your mom's kitchen, Sean, and your whole family was there and your mom probably had it on cassette

player, I think. And the whole family was there and your mom probably had it on cassette player, I think. And the whole family just preparing for Christmas, preparing the food and that song on and people dancing and it, the version, the original version is very danceable. Yeah, it's really rocky. Yeah, that is such a, it is one of my favorite Christmas songs, for sure.

You know, can I bring us to full circle? You know, what do we do and how do we set out the secularization of Christmas? And it does start in our homes, right? Yeah. And making sure we're celebrating it with the ones that are closest to us. But to that point, when you do celebrate it, when you are in that spirit, whether it's your Christmas trees and your Advent calendars and your Christmas cookies and the Christmas music in the background, it does start to take over the spirit of those who are involved. It almost

becomes unavoidable to share that spirit as you go out through your everyday lives, as opposed to if you don't live it at home, and if you have the spirit at home, it's hard to go share it. When you do have it, you're kind of a walking testament to how wonderful it is. It's infectious. It's infectious, yes, Raymond. It's infectious. And Rachel, you're so right.

This is what I love about Christmas music. It's the other reason I'm glad we did this album. People are making it part of their traditions when they're putting their tree up or they're cooking or they're wrapping presents and they start tapping their feet and listening. The other night when we were in Dallas and Jose is with me in Nashville at the Ryman Auditorium on December 21st and then I'm in Cleveland on the 15th. When you look out and Jose comes out and you're singing that song, people are stand up, they start to sway. I had tears in my eyes watching them just because it becomes like a family reunion.

Everybody's together around these songs we love and really around the Christ child. And Jose said, I wrote this song as a tribute to the Savior. And that's really what all these songs are straining for. It's what we're all trying to grab and be a part of at Christmas. And if we can take a bit of that, and like you said, Sean, carry it out to the workplace, to the neighborhood, down to the corner pub, and share a bit of that hope, joy with people, they you take the religious meaning out of Christmas, you're left with reindeer and snow and winter. And there's just nothing there. And it doesn't mean you have to go proselytize out in public about the birth of Jesus. But again, if your little family and Sean is so good about talking about that all the time, I can't control what's out there. I can control and I can I can instill in this little family and because it is

infectious it will inevitably come out of you in in so many different ways just the way you say you know when you're when you're leaving the the the airplane and you see the store you know the flight attendant and and the people who are getting ready to get on board to clean you just say merry christmas and the way you say that um there's on board to clean, you just say, Merry Christmas. And the way you say that, there's a way, people know that you know the meaning of Christmas. When you say, if not, you're left with, you know, insipid,

insipid, bland Hallmark movies that never, you know, mention the birth of Christ. Those movies are fun to watch. That's my old special passion. I love movies. Saying, I know, Sean loves those cheesy love stories. Not bashing Hallmark movies.

There's nothing I'd rather sit around and wrap presents to. And Christmas music. I can think of two or three other things. Okay, you're right. Merry and Bright. I'll put up Merry and Bright this year. But what I'm saying is the culture has done so much to suck the meaning out and it is as you said there's a vacuum it will be filled with

something and it really is up to us as christians who truly are the majority we ought to remember that uh it is truly up to us christians to inject back into the culture what we've allowed to be removed. And we must start in our home. But it is infectious. I remember being a Christian, growing up as a Christian in a Muslim country. I lived in Turkey for three years. Oh, really? Yeah, I did. I lived in Turkey for three years as a young middle schooler.

As a young middle schooler. And it was interesting to me to experience Christmas and experience it with my Muslim Turkish neighbors who absolutely loved Christmas. And just thought, you guys are lucky. These beautiful traditions you have. And there's so much joy. I'm not dissing the Muslim faith, but I'm telling you, there's not anything equivalent to the joyful, beautiful. I mean, just the idea that we're celebrating the birth of a little baby on all of that is so. And it's interesting to experience it through the eyes of people who have never experienced it before and who have have never seen anything like this. We take it for granted, don't we?

No, the excitement, the joy, the welcome of Christmas. And I'll tell you, it just brought it back to mind. When I was on my way to Dallas last week, and I guess this is what it's all about, whatever you're doing, whatever you're doing for Christmas. I was on my way to this concert and a flight attendant came up and he had a tie and it had the birth, it had a little stencil of the Holy Family, very kind of quietly drawn in. So you have to get close to see it. And it said the reason for the season on his tie. And I said, boy, how do you get away wearing that? And he said, you know, I knew you were coming to Dallas and you were doing a concert, but we have two special needs children and we can't, you know, we don't have anyone to watch

them. We really wanted to come to the show. Are you going to put it on Fox nation or something? I said, well, no, we're not. I said, but I'll tell you what, come to the show. I'll put you and your two daughters on the list. They came to the show and he sent me the most beautiful note afterward. And I bought all the people, you know, we're like 800 people there. I said, well, the people there, that family may be the entire reason why we had to do that show there. You never know who needs a little jolt of joy and a reminder that God loves them. That's really what we're here for, to be God and that Christ child's eyes and ears and hands and mouth. And it's our job to do that.

That's the gift we give back to God for all the good things he gives us. I love that story. It is a beautiful story. And as parents with younger kids, it's so important because the culture bombards them with everything that is presents and snowflakes and Rudolph and Santa Claus. They get just inundated with that. Santa Claus, they get just, I mean, inundated with that. And if you don't, as parents, bring them back to why are we actually doing this? Why are we celebrating it?

We do this every night. We come together and we say a prayer. We sing, O come, O come, Emmanuel. The lights are down. The candles are lit. We have a candle lit. And I might say something about the season and the reason and what we're doing and talk about Bethlehem and baby Jesus. But there's no doubt that with all this pressure, my kids at least have asked, what are we doing in December during Advent? What is the preparation for?

They know. And every parent has to do that because otherwise you lose them to this. Commercialization, this secularization. I got an email today from my daughters are part of a little Catholic girls group. And I haven't told you about this yet. I just got it right before the podcast. No, no, it's a wonderful thing. They said, hey, by the way way are the girls available on sunday we've

decided to do um a community babysitting group so the moms and dads can go get a few hours away to do their you know christmas shopping and whatnot and we're going to have our girls in this catholic little group uh little girls group um and we'll be there to help. But we're going to babysit for the neighborhood moms and dads so they can go off and do something. What a beautiful, I mean, these are the little gestures that we can do as a service. But you're so right, Sean, if we're not laying it out and being very explicit with them about what the purpose is. They're just not going to get it from the culture. I want to underscore something here that you said and that you all do and practice.

And I know you practice it. You also, years ago, Rachel sent me their picture. I saw it somewhere of a family nativity that you've kind of kept going every year that you all put up. And those little, what I love about, you know, a practice of the faith that is demonstrative. It's not just words or stories. It's things we do. It's things we hang and light and sing. It's active. So you're furnishing your children. You're giving them an interior furnishing during the holidays that they will carry with them for the rest of their

days. That will be the marker and the emblem of the holidays, the things they do that touch their soul and their heart. And they'll remember you forever because of that. That's why I urge people, find ways to make Christmas come alive. Acts of service, not only gift giving, but being present to people. And if song can be a part of that, joy should be a part of that. And being together, that's what it's about. That's what it really is about.

And giving worship to God made man. Yeah, it's beautiful. I think that nobody has done it better than you, Raymond, in trying to fill that gap, fill that vacuum that secularism has left, not just in our culture, but in so many hearts. that secularism has left, not just in our culture, but in so many hearts. You have used your work, your talents in so many different ways to create a new culture for us, to renew a culture that we once had. And for that, we love you. And we love you just because you're a great guy.

I love you all back. You know that. Raymond Arroyo, Christmas merry and bright. He's got a great top hat on, suit and tie. It varies. Frank Sinatra, Sinatra. I'm just saying, you do look like a young Sinatra. The cover is the truth.

Frank, it is. It is. You got a jacket over your shoulder. I do. The jacket thrown over the shoulder in the whole routine. It looks great, but the music's even better than the picture. Great picture, but awesome music. Thank you. I'm going to confess, Raymond, I haven't

put it on the 2015 Christmas. It's going on now. But it's going to go on. It's going to go on. What happened is you gave me a CD. And when I told my parents I had the CD, they made me give it to them. Oh, they wanted it.

It's better because I don't know who my CD player is. They do have a CD player. I'm going to just download it. Download it on Spotify, Amazon, Raven to Royal Christmas.com. Everything is there. The album, the tour, come see us in Cleveland and Nashville. I wish you all could come see us. It's such an incredible, fun

show. I can't wait. Next year, you said you're going to do it in Jersey. Next year, I'm coming to Jersey. Tell me what town and what theater. We'll see if we can book wait. Next year, you said you're going to do it in Jersey. Next year, I'm coming to Jersey. Tell me what town and what theater. We'll see if we can book it. We will do it. I could be the little drummer boy. Are you inspired to be the star shower guy?

Sean, are you inspired to do caroling? Well, I could do an interpretive dance. Oh, baby. I could get a leotard. Neighbors would call the cops. We're definitely calling in the Christmas police I can do an interpretive dance. Oh, baby. That would be scary. I could get a leotard on. The neighbors would call the cops. We're definitely calling in the Christmas police on that one.

Probably. Are we going to sing? Why don't I do a little carol on the way out, Rachel? You want to sing us out, Raymond? Yeah. We have to do it together. What do you want to do? You choose. You want to do Feliz Navidad?

Let's do it. Ready? Feliz Navidad. Feliz Navidad to do? You choose. Let's do it. Ready? Feliz Navidad. Feliz Navidad. Feliz Navidad. Feliz Navidad. Prospero año y felicidad. We're going to do a trio.

That would be amazing. Rachel and Lane was going to invite Rachel to do next year's album 2.0. She's definitely not invited. Rachel Campo-Stuffy, I think it's going to be. But if you bring Josef Beniciano, we'll definitely have Josef Beniciano.

Raymond Arroyo, always a pleasure. Thank you for being here at the kitchen table. Merry Christmas. A little bit brighter with your music, your presence, and your spirit. We appreciate that. Merry and bright. Thank you, my friend.

Thank you, Amy. Love you all. Love you too. Bye-bye. Merry Christmas. Listen ad-free with a Fox News Podcast plus subscription on Apple Podcasts and Amazon Prime members can listen to the show ad-free on the Amazon Music app.