Envoy Institute Summer Apologetics Camp

May 10, 2010 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog



Come enjoy deepening your faith and learning how to better defend it from some of America’s leading Catholic apologists, while having a blast in the great outdoors in a setting that’s close to heaven: nestled in the Pisgah National Forest in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. (Go to www.2FunCamps.com to check out our gorgeous conference site. Boys and girls will sleep in separate camps, but will be together during the day.)

Our first-ever Envoy Institute Summer Apologetics Camp is open to students ages 16-19 and will be held August 15-21. Sessions will be led by Dr. Ben Wiker, Jim Burnham, Ken Hensley, Dr. Paul Thigpen, and your host Patrick Madrid, Director of the Envoy Institute of Belmont Abbey College. Other speakers will be finalized over the summer, and all reading materials, etc. will be supplied. And in between sessions you’ll have ample opportunities to enjoy fun activities like whitewater rafting, rope climbing, hiking, or just reading in the shade of a tree.

Details and registration info here.

"Treasures Holy and Mystical"

May 8, 2010 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog

A new book by our Catholic brother blogger Fr. Philip Neri Powell, O.P. has just hit the market and, judging from the impressive things he’s written on his blog, I have no doubt this book will be a welcome addition to my library of spiritually works.


Check it out, and help the good Padre help the Dominican Order by buying a copy or two. Says he: “All the royalties from sales go to support the preaching mission of the Order. . .and not to support my Nutella habit!”


Why Young Catholics Are Leaving the Church

May 8, 2010 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog


By Kathryn Jean Lopez

Catholic Radio (finally) arrives in Washington, D.C., in a big way

May 6, 2010 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog


The EWTN Global Catholic Radio Network announced some big news this morning:
W-M-E-T 1160 AM is now on the air… serving our nation’s capital — Washington DC!

Congratulations to Len Oswald, Toya Hall, Doug Pearson and all involved with Guadalupe Radio to help make this happen!

Washington DC is the number 9 ranked radio market in the country, and with a powerful 50,000 watts, the station will be available to an estimated 5 million people throughout the DC metro.

This is a great victory for Our Lord and His Church…. A big, big welcome to all our new listeners now hearing EWTN Radio on Guadalupe Radio in Washington, DC — WMET 1160 AM!

This is big news. The station’s 50,000 watts daytime signal— a blowtorch — will completely blanket all of DC, and will extend into large parts of the surrounding states of Maryland, Virgina, and Pennsylvania. This is muy good news, amigos. Muy, muy good.


It will be very interesting to see how this new influx of robust, orthodox, aredently pro-life Catholic voices (Fr. Corapi, Scott Hahn, Catholic Answers Live, etc.) will be received by the locals, especially by those CINO types who infest the corridors of power in that town. (Take note, Nancy Pelosi!)


On a personal note, I’m particularly pleased by this new station going live today because my own EWTN radio show, the “Open Line” broadcast (Thursdays from 3-5 p.m. ET) will have its debut today, the same day the station debuts its new format of 24/7 Catholic programming. Hoo ha.

And the secular media has picked up on this story.

Love Will Keep Us Alive

May 6, 2010 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog

I’m sure the Eagles didn’t have any theological or eschatological thoughts in mind when they wrote this beaut of a song, but, even so, it seems to me that it inadvertently offers a flash, here and there, of a certain theological truth we Catholics should remind ourselves about frequently, especially as we move through difficult times in which “the world is changing, right before [our] eyes.”

I'm looking for 100 committed Catholics. Are you one?

May 4, 2010 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog



Please click the image to read my message about the work we’re doing at the Envoy Institute and how you can play a role.


I hope you’ll join us today. Thanks.

— Patrick

What a way to woo a woman

May 4, 2010 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog

Cheer Up, Sleepy Gene

May 3, 2010 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog



Ol’ Gene Robinson is at it again. This time, he’s hectoring Pope Benedict XVI about sex, or more specifically, homosexual sex, something Gene knows a thing or two about, dontchyaknow.

I’m not sure why, exactly, but the refrain from the Monkee’s song, “Daydream Believer,” just popped right into my mind when I started reading the following story from LifeSiteNews.com.
“Cheer up, sleepy Gene Jean.
Oh, what can it mean
To a daydream believer
And a homecoming queen?”
Anyway, here’s the article. Get a load of this:
Bishop Gene Robinson, the openly gay Episcopal bishop whose 2003 ordination threatened to tear apart the Global Anglican Communion, has published an open letter to Pope Benedict XVI, in which he advises the pope regarding how to reform the Church and denies any connection between homosexuality and the Church abuse crisis.

In his letter Robinson recalls how the Episcopal Church became aware of the sexual abuse of minors in its ranks twenty years ago in the United States, and relates in detail how his Church dealt with the problem. “Rather than refusing to acknowledge our transgressions,” he says, “we sought to change our church’s culture.”

Nevertheless, he also says, “I would not presume to instruct you. That would be arrogant. Nor would I impose upon you advice you’ve not sought.”

Robinson commends the pope’s letter to the faithful in Ireland and his meeting with victims of abuse in Malta as “a good start.” But he also goes on to make the more controversial point that it is merely a “thoroughly debunked myth” that connects homosexuality with pedophilia and child abuse.

“I believe it is misguided and wrong for gay men to be scapegoated in this scandal,” he says. “In the media, representatives of and advocates for the Roman Catholic Church have laid blame for sexual abuse at the feet of gay priests.”

Robinson’s remarks were most likely directed at Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State of the Vatican, who had stated earlier this year that, “Many psychologists, many psychiatrists, have demonstrated that there is no relationship between celibacy and pedophilia.”

“But many others have demonstrated, and have told me recently, that there is a relationship between homosexuality and pedophilia,” he continued. “That is the truth, this is the problem.” Bertone’s contentions appear to be supported by the fact that studies of clerical sex abuse have found that the vast majority of such abuse is homosexual in nature.

According to the John Jay Report, a report commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and issued in 2004, 81% of the victims of priestly sexual abuse were male. A 2002 study conducted by USA Today in 2002 similarly found that 91% of allegations against priests involved male victims.

One step that the Church has taken in addressing the abuse crisis has been to reiterate the requirement that men with deep-seated homosexual tendencies must not be admitted to the seminary or the priesthood.

The cardinal’s remarks have also sparked a re-analysis of the data in reference to homosexuality and pedophilia. A lengthy paperissued last month by Brian Clowes of Human Life International cites multiple studies showing that homosexuality is far higher among pedophiles than among the rest of the population. “Celibacy is not the root of the problem,” Clowes claims. “Homosexuality is.”

Robinson, however, says that “every reputable scientific study shows that homosexuals are no more or less likely to be child-abusers than heterosexuals. Psychologically healthy homosexual men are no more drawn to little boys than psychologically heterosexual men are drawn to little girls.”

He also takes direct aim at Church requirements barring homosexuals from the priesthood. “Homosexual priests have faithfully and responsibly served God throughout Catholic history,” he says. “To scapegoat them and deprive them of their pulpits is a tragedy for the people they serve and for the church. Yours is a problem of abuse, not sexual orientation.” (source)

Reinforcements have arrived in the battle against relativism

May 3, 2010 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog

Just imagine having Dr. Peter Kreeft (renowned Catholic author and professor of philosophy at Boston College), Teresa Tomeo, Jim Burnham, and a whole group of dedicated Catholic leaders personally tutor you in the art of resisting and refuting the “Dictatorship of Relativism.” Well, with this stellar set of DVDs or CDs (or MP3 and MP4 downloads), you can have exactly what you’re looking for.


Check out
this all-star lineup of dynamic Catholic speakers who will teach you how. This is a truly powerful set of 12 talks that will prepare you to more effectively “fight the good fight” on the modern intellectual battlefield of ideas and ideologies.

Don’t just sit back and wait for Pope Benedict or Fr. Corapi to lead the charge. You have what it takes, and these teaching DVDs & CDs will show you how to make it happen.



Would you like to reach out to those who have left the Catholic Church?

May 3, 2010 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog

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