On Immaculate Heart Radio, several of our hosts are Catholic apologists – people who offer a defense of the Catholic faith. The purpose of Catholic apologetics is to help others see the truth of Catholicism, with the hope that they will return to the Catholic Church or enter it for the first time.

Patrick Madrid has written several books to help lead people into the Catholic Church, and many of our listeners have shared that Patrick played a big role in their conversion to Catholicism. But why? Why do people like Patrick care if others are Catholic or not?

Recently on The Patrick Madrid Show, an Anglican priest named Don called and shared that he disagreed with the way certain Catholic apologists try to convert Protestants to Catholicism, and so Patrick shared with Don why we as Catholics place such an emphasis on conversion. He said:

“I look at it this way: St. Paul wanted to convert everybody to the faith that he had been preaching, the faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus established a particular Church. He didn’t establish Christianity as this generic, like-minded, affiliated group of people who generally believe, more or less, the same thing. Jesus, in the Great Commission at the end of Matthew’s gospel, told the apostles to go into the whole world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to observe all that He had commanded.

He wanted to bring people into this Church, to convert them. And the doorway into this Church was through baptism. So I won’t apologize for the fact that the Catholic Church has always held this mission very dearly that we are called to convert people – not because we’re trying to say that we’re better than anybody, but because we have been given a truth and a message that is indeed the fullness of Christianity. And people deserve it, so we shouldn’t be shy about saying, ‘Yes, this is what Jesus wants for you. And it does involve conversion.'”

Listen to the full call with Don below: