Patrick Madrid (born November 8, 1960) is an American

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, and

radio host A radio personality is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host (North American English), radio presenter (British English) or radio jockey. Radio personali ...

. His many books include ''Why Be Catholic?'' (Penguin Random House), ''Life Lessons: 50 Things I Learned in My First 50 Years'' (Ignatius Press), and ''How to Do Apologetics'' (Our Sunday Visitor). His books have sold over one million copies, including foreign-language editions. He hosts the “Patrick Madrid Show” radio program on

Relevant Radio Relevant Radio (corporate name Relevant Radio, Inc.) is a radio network in the United States, mainly broadcasting talk radio and religious programming involving the Catholic Church. Relevant Radio broadcasts "talk radio for Catholic life" over a ...

, three hours daily. Aside from his radio presence, Madrid is best known for his work in Catholic apologetics. He worked for eight years (1988 to 1996) at

Catholic Answers Catholic Answers is a Catholic advocacy group based in El Cajon, California. History Catholic Answers was founded in 1979 by Karl Keating in response to a fundamentalist Protestant church in San Diego that was distributing anti-Catholic propa ...

, serving as vice president. He has published numerous articles on Scripture, Church history, patristics, apologetics, and evangelization in various Catholic and Protestant periodicals and has contributed scholarly articles on apologetics in the ''

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''. He and his wife, Nancy, have 11 children and 29 grandchildren.

Early life

Patrick Madrid was born on November 8, 1960, in Lynwood, California, a near suburb of Los Angeles. His father, Bernard Madrid served for four years in the U.S. Coast Guard as a sailor, after which he had a long career as an electronics engineer. His mother, Gretchen, was a housewife. Madrid is the oldest of their eight children, one of whom died shortly after birth of pulmonary complications. Growing up in Southern California, Madrid was baptized at Saint Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church in Whittier and was raised primarily in Orange County, attending the Mission San Juan Capistrano Grammar School for several years.

Biography

Patrick Madrid has been a Catholic apologist since 1987. He hosts ''The Patrick Madrid Show'' on Relevant Radio weekdays 9-noon ET, discussing current events, modern culture, apologetics, and a variety of "God topics." Madrid does not have guests or conduct interviews on his show, but instead, engages listeners with personal commentary and interacts extensively with callers. He has conducted thousands of apologetics seminars in English and Spanish at parishes, conferences, and universities across the United States, as well as throughout Europe, Canada, in Latin America, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and Israel. Since 1990, he has been a regular presenter at the

Franciscan University of Steubenville Franciscan University of Steubenville is a Private university, private Third Order Regular of St. Francis of Penance, Franciscan university in Steubenville, Ohio, United States. As of fall 2023, the university enrolled 3,750 students in 40 under ...

's "Defending the Faith" summer apologetics conferences and has been a guest lecturer in theology at

Christendom College Christendom College is a private Catholic college in Front Royal, Virginia, United States. It was established in 1977. History 1977—2000 Christendom College was founded by Warren H. Carroll, a contributor at ''Triumph'' magazine. Carroll ...

in their "Major Speakers" program. Madrid has engaged in at least a dozen formal public debates with

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, and other non-Catholic spokesmen. He founded what is now known as the Envoy institute in 1996 with the launch of ''Envoy'' Magazine, which reached a peak circulation of approximately 12,000 paid subscribers. The magazine was discontinued in 2011 when it lost its institutional funding source. Madrid earned a bachelor of science degree in business management from the

University of Phoenix University of Phoenix (UoPX) is a Private university, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit university headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1976, the university confers certificates and degrees at the Ac ...

as well as a B.Phil in philosophy and an M.A. in dogmatic theology (cum laude) from the

Pontifical College Josephinum The Pontifical College Josephinum is a Roman Catholic seminary and private university in Columbus, Ohio. It was founded by Joseph Jessing in 1888 to prepare seminarians for the many German-speaking communities in the United States at that time. ...

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. He did graduate studies in theology at the

University of Dallas The University of Dallas is a Private university, private Catholic church, Catholic university in Irving, Texas, United States. Established in 1956, it is Higher education accreditation in the United States, accredited by the Southern Associat ...

. He has taught undergraduate courses on apologetics and the sacraments as an adjunct professor on the theology faculty at

. He currently serves as an adjunct professor of apologetics at Holy Apostles College and Seminary and at

Saint Patrick's Seminary and University St. Patrick's Seminary and University (STPSU) in Menlo Park, California, is a Roman Catholic undergraduate and graduate seminary whose primary mission is the formation of priests for dioceses in California and the Pacific Northwest of the United ...

in Menlo Park, California. A life-long avid fan of the Beatles, after playing trumpet in grammar school since the fourth grade, Madrid switched to the bass guitar at the age of 14, playing in various area garage bands, and eventually played bass for several years in Geneva Brown, an obscure Southern California rock band. He sometimes refers humorously on his radio show to his garage-band days by commenting on a particular word or phrase drawn news sources that he says would make for a "good garage band name."

References

Books

* ''Surprised by Truth'' (Saint Benedict Press), 1994 * ''Any Friend of God’s Is a Friend of Mine'' (Saint Benedict Press), 1996 * ''Pope Fiction: Answers to 30 Myths and Misconceptions about the Papacy'' (Saint Benedict Press), 1999 * ''Surprised by Truth 2'' (Sophia Institute Press), 2000 * ''Search and Rescue'' (Sophia Institute Press), 2001 * ''Where Is That in the Bible?'' (Our Sunday Visitor), 2001 * ''Surprised by Truth 3'' (Sophia Institute Press), 2002 * ''Why Is That in Tradition?'' (Our Sunday Visitor), 2002 * ''Answer Me This'' (Our Sunday Visitor) 2003 * ''More Catholic than the Pope'' (Our Sunday Visitor), 2004 * ''Does the Bible Really Say That?'' (Servant Books), 2006 * ''A Pocket Guide to Apologetics'' (Our Sunday Visitor), 2006 * ''A Pocket Guide to Purgatory'' (Our Sunday Visitor), 2007 * ''150 Bible Verses Every Catholic Should Know'' (Servant Books), 2008 ] * ''The Godless Delusion: A Catholic Challenge to Modern Atheism'' (Our Sunday Visitor), 2010 * ''Envoy for Christ: 25 Years as a Catholic Apologist'' (Servant Books), 2012 * ''A Year With the Bible: Scriptural Wisdom for Daily Living'' (St. Benedict Press), 2012 * ''Why Be Catholic? 10 Answers to a Very Important Question'' (Penguin Random House, 2013) * ''On a Mission: Lessons from Saint Francis de Sales'' (Servant Books), 2013 * ''Scripture and Tradition in the Church'' (Sophia Institute Press), 2014 * ''Now What? A Guide for New (and Not So New) Catholics'' (Servant Books), 2015 * ''How to Do Apologetics'' (Our Sunday Visitor), 2015 * ''Life Lessons: 50 Things I Learned in My First 50 Years'' (Ignatius Press), 2016 * ''Surprised by Life'' (Sophia Institute Press), 2017 * ''InQUIZition: Rack Your Brain & Stretch Your Knowledge'' (Sophia Institute Press, 2022) * FORTHCOMING BOOKS: * ''What Am I Doing Here?''

External links

*
"Catholic Apologist Makes No Apologies for His Deep-Rooted Beliefs"

Holy Apostles College: Professor Patrick Madrid
{{DEFAULTSORT:Madrid, Patrick 1960 births Living people 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century Roman Catholics 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century Roman Catholics American male non-fiction writers American radio personalities American religious writers American Roman Catholic writers Christian apologists Franciscan University of Steubenville Pontifical College Josephinum alumni University of Dallas alumni University of Phoenix alumni