Patrick Madrid - Why Be Catholic?: Ten Answers to a Very Important Question

Copyright 2014 by Patrick Madrid

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Image, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York.
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ISBN 978-0-307-98643-6
eBook ISBN 978-0-307-98644-3

Cover design by Nupoor Gordon
Cover photograph: Nagel Photography/Shutterstock

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To my parents, Bernard and Gretchen Madrid, who gave me the two greatest gifts of all, life and the Catholic faith

When I was Bishop of the U.S. Virgin Islands, my friends at Catholic Extension recommended Catholic Answers to me, because we were facing some very aggressive proselytizing on the part of some fundamentalist churches. Father Edward Slattery, now Bishop Slattery of Tulsa, told me about Karl Keating, a lawyer from California who started Catholic Answers to defend and explain our Catholic faith. He encouraged me to invite Karl to come to the Virgin Islands for an apologetics tour, and he offered to underwrite the expenses of hosting that event.

When I contacted Karl he said that he wasnt available, but he offered to send one of his best speakers, Patrick Madrid. Because Patrick is bilingual, it was a twofersince he would be able to give conferences in both English and in Spanish. Patrick asked me to publicize his lectures as open to the public and to invite Catholics, fundamentalists, and anyone else who might be interested to our cathedral to hear him speak. I was so nervous, I removed the Blessed Sacrament, expecting the worst! But I need not have worried. Patrick gave an extraordinary exposition of the Catholic faith, thoroughly based in Scripture. I realized that many of our Catholics were beginning to look at the Bible as the enemy book. But now, suddenly, they could see that it is the Word of God and is our book. Patrick answered their questions brilliantly and very respectfully. He understood how to defuse peoples anger and fear. When I was greeting the people at the door following the presentation, all of the Catholics asked, When is this man coming again? And some of the fundamentalists asked, How can I become a Catholic?

From St. Thomas, we went to St. Croix, where we had a large outdoor rally with hundreds of people. One lady handed Patrick a booklet she received from the fundamentalists who visited her home many times, and she asked for a comment on what they said about the pope. The book displayed a sketch of the papal tiara, and on it was an inscription in Latin: Vicarius Filii Dei. The commentary said that if you took all of the letters from that inscription that are Roman numerals and added up their numerical value you would find it equaled six hundred sixty-six, which, as it says in Revelation 13:1518, is the satanic number of the Beast. Patrick wrote all of this on the board and demonstrated that in fact it was true. However, he went on to explain that Vicar of the Son of God has never been an official title of the pope, much less his name. One of the popes official titles is Vicar of Christ, but never Vicar of the Son of God. Patrick then asked the crowd if anyone knew the name of the founder of the organization that had published that anti-Catholic propaganda. Several people shouted out the name. Patrick wrote it on the blackboard, extracted the letters that were Roman numerals, and added up their numerical value. It was 666! A cheer went up from the crowd. Needless to say, the Church is very lucky to have apologists like Patrick Madrid, who are so competent and so respectful, and who have such a deep sense of mission.

The Church needs apologists like Patrick Madrid, and we all need resources such as this book, Why Be Catholic? It helps to remind us all of what the Church stands for, what she teaches, and most of all how she is called to be a place of welcome and hope. As much as we have suffered these past few years in the Church because of the sins of a few, there is also reason to have hope and to cling to Christ, the Head of the Body, which is the Church. I pray that all who read this book will discover in it a rich source of faith and clarity, especially for those who are thinking of becoming Catholic. You are most welcome!

Our challenge in the New Evangelization is to transform secularized Christians into apostles and inviters, reaching out to the people of today to offer them answers to the questions they have in their hearts and to help them find a path that leads to God through a life of discipleship in the Catholic Church. Our first task is to introduce people to Christ, to His Love and Mercy, and to His presence in our lives.

Many people have written the Catholic Church off as simply a player in the cultural wars, but in reality the Churchs message is that of Christ, and He is the answer to the deepest longings of the human heart. One of the reasons that Pope Franciss message is making such a sensation in the world is that it is forcing people again to focus on the merciful face of God, reaching out to sinners and the suffering. In the pages that follow, Patrick Madrid opens our eyes to see the Church as the place where Gods face is revealed, His mercy is received, and His love is shared.

Cardinal Sen OMalley, O.F.M., Cap.
November 2013

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS A LOT LIKE NOAH S ARK . Immense and capacious, it is also ungainly and lumbering, not built for speed but for endurance. It causes everyone to stop and stare. Some scoff, thinking it bizarre or comical. Others find themselves drawn to it, longing to get on board. It is freighted with an incredibly diverse array of unruly passengers, some of whom do not get along well with one another. It is also very messy.

Try to imagine getting a good nights sleep on the Ark! Try to imagine what the Ark smelled like inside by the time the Flood waters receded. And yet, if you could go back in time to that fateful day, just as the floodgates opened and the rain really started to come down hardknowing what you know now about what happened nextyou surely would waste no time scrambling aboard, regardless of the noise, stench, messiness, and commotion.

This is the Catholic Church Id like to tell you about.

In view of the recent abuse scandals that have convulsed the Church and scandalized the world, it seems right and just to me to begin my case for the Catholic Church here, amid the uproar and confusion these scandals have wrought.

The question Why be Catholic? demands an answer now, more than ever.

Scandal has shown its hideous face among believers in every generation of salvation history. This strange, counterintuitive reality is as mysterious as it is disconcerting. The Catholic Church is reeling right now under an avalanche of grave sexual crimes against children, teens, and young adults perpetrated by its own priests and bishops. The only honorable and honest choice is to admit these transgressions and squarely face the consequences.

Given the cascade of heinous sex crimes committed by the clergy and moral corruption among the laity of recent decades, how can the Catholic Church possibly claim to be the One, True Church? As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger wrote in 2005, just before he was elected Pope Benedict XVI, How much filth there is in the Church, and even among those who, in the priesthood, ought to belong entirely to Him. He compared the Catholic Church to a boat about to sink, a boat taking in water on every side.and similar delinquencies on the part of priests and bishops has made the situation even more intolerable.