Episode 135 - "Columbus and the Crisis of the West" with Robert Royal

<p>Earlier this year, statues of Christopher Columbus were torn down by mobs in cities like Baltimore and Richmond. In recent decades, some authors have questioned the legacy of Columbus. Robert Royal, Catholic author and the President of the Faith & Reason Institute, gave a defense of Christopher Columbus during a lecture at the Basilica on October 1, 2020. Royal is the author of <em>Columbus and the Crisis of the West</em> and <em>1492 and All That: Political Manipulations of History</em>.</p> <p>Royal clarified that he did not want to give a “full-throated defense” but added that Columbus has been unfairly demonized and that it is a topic that “very few people know anything about and that a lot of people are agitated about.”</p> <p><em>Founded in 1795, the Basilica of Saint Mary in Old Town Alexandria is the first Catholic parish established in Virginia. Pope Francis named the church a minor basilica on December 6, 2017 due to its important role in the growth of the Catholic Church in North America.</em></p> <p> </p>