Biography.
Personal background Information:
I was born in Bath, Maine, on June 29, 1955. We moved after about 1-2 weeks
to Wakefield, Massachusetts in Northern Massachusetts where we stayed for a
couple years. We then moved to Sudbury, Massachusetts, where I spent the rest
of my childhood. I did very well in high school receiving 13 out of a possible
16 honor rolls. (B- or better in all course work.) I attended St. Bonaventure
University in Olean, New York for two years, but because I was still undecided,
I took the next year off during which I took aptitude and interest tests. In
the fall of 1977 I attended Framingham State College, in Massachusetts, and
after four and a half years, I graduated in the Summer of 1982 with a B.S. in
Computer Science and minor in Mathematics. (For me this was an important accomplishment
at this point in my life.)
After college, I moved out of the house, (cheap rent, I stole my younger brother's
apartment), and lived in Framingham for about four years. Afterwards, I moved
to Natick, where I currently live. I've been here for about fifteen years at
68 East Central Street, Apt 2. I come from a family of three boys. I'm the middle
one. Mark, my younger brother: the ugly one, is four years younger. He lives
in Webster, Mass. with a wonderful wife and four kids. Steve, my other brother,
is four years older, married and lives in Franklin, Mass.
My Spiritual Journey:
I was baptized a Catholic, though my interest in the faith really didn't catch
FIRE until later. Any CCD which I attended was either poor or
forgotten.
How did I get interested in faith issues?
During my post-High School graduation years at St. Bonaventure and
Framingham State I had a few illnesses (three times, close together)
that I struggled with for a while. It's amazing how a little illness
or suffering in ones life can change a person. In my case, it was
for the better.
Much of the Catholic faith I learned came initially from
acquaintances (Third order Benedictines or
Oblates) of my brother, Mark: as well as the priests and
monks at St. Benedict's Abbey in Harvard, Massachusetts. (Yes, this
IS the Fr. Feeney place) Over time I learned to respect the doctrine
Fr. Leonard fought so hard to defend but at the same time keep the
balance in following the Church's correct interpretation of that
IMPORTANT doctrine in accord with the Catechism of the Catholic
Church:
"Outside the Catholic Church there is no salvation." (CCC 846 -
848)
Many are unaware that:
- Father Leonard was excommunicated for reasons of discipline, NOT doctrine.
- That he was reconciled with the Church before his death.
I started listening to some Scott Hahn and Gerry Matatic's Catholic apologetic
tapes. These days, I don't listen to Gerry Matatic's tapes as much
as I used to, as he has been known to question weather the Catechism
of the Catholic Church is a "sure norm for the faithful" - JP II,
and has been known to question the validity of the Ordo Mass. For the Catholic
in the pew, I would not recommend listening to his tapes. I really thought the
field of "Apologetics" filled
an important need within the Church at the parish and work place
level. Although I may have thought about the priesthood at one time,
when I learned about the purpose and goal of "Apologetics", I really
felt this was where the Lord was calling me at that time. As time went on I
ran into friends with a similar interests. Some of my friends were living closer
to Boston and some were out in the Worcester area. (for those of you who don't
know, Natick is in between the two.) I thought it was a shame that loyal Catholic's
who are:
- striving to live a holy life, and
- striving to obey to the teachings of the Magisterium of the
Church Jesus founded, didn't know each other
... especially in a world of dissenting 'catholics', if you want
to call them that. That's when the idea for a Catholic support group
came into play. By that time I had already been involved in a Catholic
apologetics project with David Thorpe, Director of Evangelization
for the Archdiocese of Boston. (The apologetics project started
by David Thorp never came to be a reality, and soon died in the
Archdiocese of Boston) Nevertheless, I wanted to carry on this apostolic
ministry. There were about 5 different names that I
considered for our apologetics group. Two of them were:
- the OOVD, the Orthodox Order of Vatican Delegates
- SPM, the Society of Papal Marian's
Ultimately we ended up with the Christifideles Pizza and Theology
Society, or CPATS.ORG
Since July 4, 1996 we have been answering questions from people
both inside and outside the Church about the Church. Our knowledge
base of Catholic answers to questions about the Church has been
on-line since August 2000. About a year or so later we found a grammarian
who volunteered to review the questions and answers before posting.
Side note: We are always looking for other volunteer grammarians
who are practicing Catholics with the appropriate academic background.
Our main goal: To clarify teachings and correct misperceptions
about the One Roman Catholic Church, Our Blessed Lord Jesus instituted
in 33AD.
Read our mission and philosophy statement and check out our web
site.
Annually we have anywhere from 4,000 to 8,500 Unique Monthly Visitors
to the CPATS.ORG web site depending on the month and season. Our
high number season, obviously, is Lent.
{Unique Monthly Visitors means if I visit the site 5 times in
one month, I'm still only counted only once.}
I owe a debt of gratitude to some friends who have donated their
time and talents to assist me in this lay apostolate. Through our
group efforts we have answered over 390 questions from this web
site. These Catholic apologists include:
- John C. DiMascio
- Eric Ewanco
- Bob Kirby
- Mary Ann Parks, MA Theology
- Terry Quinn, BA (Divinity) Hons, MA Theology (Marian
Studies) from England
- and Rob Coutinho, our grammarian.
Previous volunteer Catholic apologists include:
- Bob Centamore
- Sean Connolly
- John F. Griffin
- Steve Kellmeyer
- Joseph Kent
- William M. Klimon
- Alexander R. Prus
- Perry Turchi
as well as well known apologists like:
- Patrick Madrid
- Mark Brumley
- Steve Ray
- Robert Sungenis
- Ed Furton from the National Catholic Bio ethics
Center
If you have a strong Catholic education and an interest in helping
out, please e-mail
me. I'm always thinking of new features for the
site as well. Try the newest one:
HOLY QUOTES: "Quotes from the Early Church Fathers and first
Christians of the Church"