{"id":3489,"date":"2015-09-25T12:22:31","date_gmt":"2015-09-25T16:22:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?p=3489"},"modified":"2017-05-19T16:53:19","modified_gmt":"2017-05-19T20:53:19","slug":"pope-francis-strongly-pro-life-comments-to-the-un-bothand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2015\/09\/pope-francis-strongly-pro-life-comments-to-the-un-bothand.html","title":{"rendered":"Pope Francis&#8217; Strongly Pro-Life Comments to the UN (&#8220;Both\/And&#8221;!)"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2015\/09\/UnitedNations.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-3490 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2015\/09\/UnitedNations.jpg\" alt=\"UnitedNations\" width=\"550\" height=\"341\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #252525;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">United Nations General Assembly hall in New York City (photograph by Patrick Gruban, 12-17-06)<\/span> [<a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:UN_General_Assembly_hall.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/\u00a0\u00a0<a class=\"extiw decorated-link\" style=\"color: #663366;\" title=\"w:en:Creative Commons\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/en:Creative_Commons\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Creative Commons<\/a>\u00a0<a class=\"external text decorated-link\" style=\"color: #663366;\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/2.0\/deed.en\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic<\/a>\u00a0license]<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">* * * * *<\/p>\n<p>I wrote an article yesterday defending the pope\u2019s speech to Congress, and saying that he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2015\/09\/must-the-pope-explicitly-mention-abortion-to-congress.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">need not always explicitly mention abortion<\/a>. I denounced true grumbling and complaining about the speech, but at the same time, opined that it is not necessarily wrong for someone \u2014 especially pro-life activists \u2014 to be (respectfully)\u00a0<em>disappointed<\/em> that he was not more forceful in his remarks, citing at length the example of Blessed Mother Teresa\u2019s very strong deunciations of abortion in her talks to the UN in 1985 and the National Prayer Breakfast in 1994. Literally a few minutes before I heard about Pope Francis\u2019 speech to the UN on 9-25-15 (this very day, as I write), I virtually predicted the future, in my advocacy of a tolerant \u201cboth\/and\u201d approach (the pope made a \u201cprophet\u201d of me!). I had written the following words within 18 minutes prior to\u00a0writing this paper, as an \u201cAddendum\u201d to my previous article (linked above):<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text4\/=010\">The Catholic Church is big enough to incorporate multiple approaches. The Holy Father has made it clear (see, e.g., this excellent <a href=\"http:\/\/www.catholicculture.org\/commentary\/otn.cfm?ID=1113#st_refDomain%3Dt.co&amp;st_refQuery=%2FZmDO2s510E\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">article by Phil Lawler<\/a>) that he is taking a \u201cpastoral\u201d approach.<\/span><br style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text5\/=010\"><br style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text7\/=010\"><span style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text8\/=010\">Another approach is the \u201cprophetic\u201d one, which is equally biblical and valid. An example of that would be Blessed Mother Teresa\u2019s strong denunciations of abortion that she made at the UN in 1985 and the National Prayer Breakfast in 1994, as I noted above.<\/span><br style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text9\/=010\"><br style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text11\/=010\"><span style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text12\/=010\">Jesus was \u201cprophetic\u201d when He turned over the tables of the moneychangers and confronted the Pharisees and Sadducees. He was pastoral almost all of the time when interacting with seekers and open-minded people.<\/span><br style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text13\/=010\"><br style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text15\/=010\"><span style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text16\/=010\">St. Paul was prophetic when he denounced the sins of the Galatians and Corinthians. He was pastoral with the Athenians on Mars Hill.<\/span><br style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text17\/=010\"><br style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text19\/=010\"><span style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text20\/=010\">Elijah was prophetic when he opposed the false prophets on Mt. Carmel.<\/span><br style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text21\/=010\"><br style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text23\/=010\"><span style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text24\/=010\">David was alternately prophetic and pastoral in the Psalms.<\/span><br style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text25\/=010\"><br style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text27\/=010\"><span style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text28\/=010\">St. Stephen was prophetic when he denounced the sins of the Jewish leaders, just before he was stoned to death.<\/span><br style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text29\/=010\"><br style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text31\/=010\"><span style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text32\/=010\">So I say it\u2019s great that Pope Francis takes one approach. That\u2019s prudentially good for him at this particular time in history, and given his office.<\/span><br style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text33\/=010\"><br style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text35\/=010\"><span style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text36\/=010\">It\u2019s also good that others are prophetic, and it isn\u2019t wrong for a pro-life activist to have wished that the pope was more \u201cprophetic\u201d in talking to Congress.<\/span><br style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text37\/=010\"><br style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text39\/=010\"><span style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text40\/=010\">But since he wasn\u2019t, it must be accepted in trust that he knows what he\u2019s doing; and no one should publicly grumble and complain in a sinful, divisive way.\u00a0<\/span><br style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text41\/=010\"><br style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text43\/=010\"><span style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text44\/=010\">There are multiple strategies for different situations in the pro-life movement as well. The Planned Parenthood videos are extremely confrontational in intent. The result was a nationwide horror at what they contained, leading to much discussion and quite possibly massive defunding. That\u2019s a very good result. In many other situations, a more pastoral approach is called for.<\/span><br style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text45\/=010\"><br style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text47\/=010\"><span style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text48\/=010\">The problem is, so often, that people think their approach or method is the best and only way, and don\u2019t allow for others to be different. This is occurring on both sides of the current raging debate about what the pope should or shouldn\u2019t have said to Congress.<\/span><br style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text49\/=010\"><br style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text51\/=010\"><span style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text52\/=010\">The Catholic Church is bigger than all that. It has and allows for plenty of diversity and sub-dogmatic difference of opinion or practice or approach.<\/span><br style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text53\/=010\"><br style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text55\/=010\"><span style=\"color: #141823;\" data-reactid=\".er.1:5.0.1:$comment1065081853526799_1065415750160076\/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end\/=1$text56\/=010\">Both\/and rather than either\/or.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I had noted in my paper yesterday that Pope Francis denounced abortion (being more \u201cprophetic\u201d) in many <em>other<\/em> instances. Lo and behold, immediately after writing that, I learned that the pope made considerably more \u201cdirect\u201d remarks about abortion and other issues of particular concern to so-called \u201cconservative\u201d Catholics, at the UN. Thus, he chose to be <em>relatively more prophetic<\/em> in that speech, <em>within<\/em> an overall style that is <em>predominantly pastoral<\/em>. Once again, Pope Francis has, marvelously confounded critics on both the \u201cleft\u201d and \u201cright\u201d of the theological and political spectrum. He has done what I\u2019ve been saying about him in my defenses for over two years now. He doesn\u2019t fit into the boxes that both right and left try to force him into. He is simply a profoundly orthodox, committed, compelling, heroic Catholic. Period. End of story. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.usnews.com\/news\/us\/articles\/2015\/09\/25\/the-latest-vatican-flag-flying-outside-united-nations\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><em>US News &amp; World Report<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(9-25-15), citing the AP, described his UN talk as follows:<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #222222; padding-left: 30px;\">Pope Francis is demanding respect for the sacredness of all life, in a reference to abortion. His comments are sure to please conservatives who have complained that he doesn\u2019t speak out enough against abortion.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #222222; padding-left: 30px;\">Francis made the comments at the United Nations on Friday. The Vatican has long objected to U.N. calls for access to contraception and abortion for women.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #222222; padding-left: 30px;\">In a speech to the General Assembly, Francis offered conservatives a lot to cheer: He called for a respect for all life and called for recognition of what he called the \u201cnatural difference between man and woman\u201d \u2014 a reference to the Vatican\u2019s opposition to gender theory.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #222222; padding-left: 30px;\">He denounced what he called \u201cideological colonization\u201d of the developing world \u2014 a reference to how ideas about contraception and gay rights are often imposed on poor nations as a condition for development aid.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #222222;\">Here are <a href=\"http:\/\/time.com\/4049905\/pope-francis-us-visit-united-nations-speech-transcript\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">some of the \u201ctraditional morality \/ pro-life\u201d remarks<\/a> made by the Holy Father in this speech:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 300; color: #282828;\">[E]very creature, particularly a living creature, has an intrinsic value, in its existence, its life, its beauty and its interdependence with other creatures.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 300; color: #282828;\">These pillars of integral human development have a common foundation, which is the right to life and, more generally, what we could call the right to existence of human nature itself.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 300; color: #282828;\">The misuse of creation begins when we no longer recognize any instance above ourselves, when we see nothing else but ourselves\u201d (ID. Address to the Clergy of the Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone, 6 August 2008, cited ibid.). Consequently, the defence of the environment and the fight against exclusion demand that we recognize a moral law written into human nature itself, one which includes the natural difference between man and woman (cf. Laudato Si\u2019, 155), and absolute respect for life in all its stages and dimensions (cf. ibid., 123, 136).<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 300; color: #282828;\">The common home of all men and women must continue to rise on the foundations of a right understanding of universal fraternity and respect for the sacredness of every human life, of every man and every woman, the poor, the elderly, children, the infirm, the unborn, the unemployed, the abandoned, those considered disposable because they are only considered as part of a statistic. This common home of all men and women must also be built on the understanding of a certain sacredness of created nature.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 300; color: #282828;\">Without the recognition of certain incontestable natural ethical limits and without the immediate implementation of those pillars of integral human development, the ideal of \u201csaving succeeding generations from the scourge of war\u201d (Charter of the United Nations, Preamble), and \u201cpromoting social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom\u201d (ibid.), risks becoming an unattainable illusion, or, even worse, idle chatter which serves as a cover for all kinds of abuse and corruption, or for carrying out an ideological colonization by the imposition of anomalous models and lifestyles which are alien to people\u2019s identity and, in the end, irresponsible.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>When will the second-guessing and endless criticism of this pope ever end? Can\u2019t the man be trusted to know what he is doing? Can we not extend to him the benefit of the doubt that we routinely offer others every day? Hopefully, this will be a lesson learned, \u00a0for those who were so vigorously condemning him yesterday. But based on past history with this Pontiff, and the long, sad accounts of man\u2019s rebelliousness against God and human authority that we observe particularly \u00a0in the Old Testament\u2019s accounts, I won\u2019t hold my breath . . .<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>United Nations General Assembly hall in New York City (photograph by Patrick Gruban, 12-17-06) [Wikimedia Commons \/\u00a0\u00a0Creative Commons\u00a0Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic\u00a0license] * * * * * I wrote an article yesterday defending the pope\u2019s speech to Congress, and saying that he need not always explicitly mention abortion. I denounced true grumbling and complaining about the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":3490,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,138],"tags":[84,759,88,757,749,756,755,156,162,753,747,746,752,748,758,754],"class_list":["post-3489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-issues","category-papacy-infallibility","tag-abortion","tag-blessed-mother-teresa","tag-childkilling","tag-conscientious-objection","tag-ethical-issues","tag-infanticide","tag-planned-parenthood","tag-pope-francis","tag-popes","tag-preborn","tag-pro-choice","tag-pro-life","tag-right-to-life","tag-single-issue-voters","tag-the-papacy","tag-unborn"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Pope Francis&#039; Strongly Pro-Life Comments to the UN (&quot;Both\/And&quot;!)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Catholic Church is big enough to incorporate multiple approaches. Pope Francis has made it clear that he is taking a &quot;pastoral&quot; approach.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2015\/09\/pope-francis-strongly-pro-life-comments-to-the-un-bothand.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pope Francis&#039; Strongly Pro-Life Comments to the UN (&quot;Both\/And&quot;!)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Catholic Church is big enough to incorporate multiple approaches. 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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \\\"This Rock\\\" (now called \\\"Catholic Answers Magazine\\\"), \\\"Envoy Magazine\\\" (Patrick Madrid), \\\"The Catholic Answer,\\\" \\\"The Coming Home Journal,\\\" \\\"Gilbert Magazine\\\" (American Chesterton Society), and \\\"The Latin Mass.\\\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \\\"The Michigan Catholic\\\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \\\"Catholic Answers Live\\\" (twice), \\\"Faith and Family Live\\\" (Steve Wood), \\\"Kresta in the Afternoon,\\\" \\\"Son Rise Morning Show,\\\" \\\"Catholic Connection\\\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \\\"The Catholics Next Door.\\\" His large and popular website, \\\"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\\\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \\\"index\\\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \\\"Surprised by Truth\\\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \\\"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\\\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \\\"The Catholic Verses\\\" (2004), \\\"The One-Minute Apologist\\\" (2007), \\\"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\\\" (2009), \\\"The Quotable Newman\\\" (editor: 2012), and \\\"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\\\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \\\"The New Catholic Answer Bible\\\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \\\"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\\\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \\\"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\\\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \\\"Quotable Wesley\\\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LuxVeritatisApologetics\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pope Francis' Strongly Pro-Life Comments to the UN (\"Both\/And\"!)","description":"The Catholic Church is big enough to incorporate multiple approaches. 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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \"This Rock\" (now called \"Catholic Answers Magazine\"), \"Envoy Magazine\" (Patrick Madrid), \"The Catholic Answer,\" \"The Coming Home Journal,\" \"Gilbert Magazine\" (American Chesterton Society), and \"The Latin Mass.\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \"The Michigan Catholic\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \"Envoy Magazine.\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \"Catholic Answers Live\" (twice), \"Faith and Family Live\" (Steve Wood), \"Kresta in the Afternoon,\" \"Son Rise Morning Show,\" \"Catholic Connection\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \"The Catholics Next Door.\" His large and popular website, \"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \"Envoy Magazine.\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \"index\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \"Surprised by Truth\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \"The Catholic Verses\" (2004), \"The One-Minute Apologist\" (2007), \"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\" (2009), \"The Quotable Newman\" (editor: 2012), and \"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \"The New Catholic Answer Bible\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \"Quotable Wesley\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. 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