About AskACatholic.com and CPATS

• What is AskACatholic.com?
• The CPATS Philosophy

AskACatholic.com is a lay Catholic support group of Catholic Apologists, Priest-helpers and Grammarians who work together to answer questions from anyone with a sincere heart about the Catholic Faith and what Catholics believe in general. We do the best we can to ensure all our answers are loyal to the Magisterium and Teaching Authority of the Roman Catholic Church founded by Jesus, Our Lord.

In addition we have a secondary goal of assisting and promoting the development of other lay Catholic apologetics support group at the parish level. We have been doing this under the founding name of our web site: the Christifideles Pizza and Theology Society, ( CPATS.ORG ) since 1996. (aliases have been: FaithfulChristians .org | .com | .net )

This CPATS group meets in and around Natick, Massachusetts where CPATS Web Administrator, Mike Humphrey lives. (About 20 miles west of Boston.)  Our very informal membership resides in the Boston-Worcester, Massachusetts area, although we have been blessed to have other well-educated Catholics join the team from out-of-state as well as across "the pond". Over the past years we have assembled a volunteer grammarian team which proof-reads the questions and answers for clarity. You can read up on the team here. Our primary focus is two-fold:

• to clarify teachings and correct misperceptions about the only True Church Our Blessed Lord Jesus established on St. Peter, the Roman Catholic Church.
  {AskACatholic.com}
  
  
• to promote Catholic support groups that are loyal to the Holy Father and to the Church's Magisterium.
  {CPATS.ORG}

For those who may question the kind of Catholics we are; all the apologists who answer questions on our web site:

• reaffirm and believe in all the Catholic councils from Nicea to Vatican II.
  
  
• discourage politicizing of any one Liturgy against the others, including the:
  • Ordo
  • Tridentine
  • those used in the Eastern Rite or
  • liturgies that preceded the Council of Trent
    
    
• reaffirm and believe in ALL the content in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

I believe we are the first Lay Catholic Apologetics support group in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We consider ourselves a mini "Catholic Answers" of Massachusetts, so whether you are a confused Catholic or sincere-seeking:

• Protestant
• Jew
• Muslim
• Atheist
• Agnostic
• Pagan
• Mormon or
• Jehovah Witness
• or some other type of Non-Christian

we WANT you to ASK A CATHOLIC, { us } the question that has been on YOUR MIND for a while: TODAY!

AskACatholic.com/CPATS is for the Catholic Christian surfer that is:

• loyal to the Church's Magisterium and Her teachings.
• seeking to reaffirm Catholic truth he (or she) are unsure of
• seeking to discern what are proper moral and ethical Catholic standards
• striving to be supportive of Cardinals and bishops who are loyal to the Holy See

AskACatholic.com/CPATS is for the Non-Catholic Christian surfer that is:

• being drawn toward or thinking about joining the Catholic Church.
  (be sure to check out our programs: CCCPP | Holy Rosary )
  
• confused about what Catholics REALLY believe and interested in getting REAL truth!
• in a complex or confusing relationship with a Catholic and is looking for guidance.
• interested in the Catholic Church's moral view on a specific issue.

AskACatholic.com/CPATS is for the Non-Christian surfer that:

• Just wants to know more about who Jesus Christ is and
• wants to know what Catholic Christians believe and teach about Him.

Occasionally we get a question that is phrased:

"What does your group believe about ______?"

What "our group" thinks or believes in is NOT important. We just pass on what the Roman Catholic Church has officially taught since 33AD and continues to teach and believe today.

That's it! No more, no less.

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We address areas of:

• Catholic Apologetics
• Situational Apologetics
• "True" Catholic faith-sharing and evangelization
• Church liturgy and proper liturgical practices
• Canon Law
• Clarification of theological and doctrinal issues

Situational Apologetics

Whether via the "Net" or at a pizza party, we also talk about "situational apologetics". By this I mean discerning proper ways of handling perceived liturgical or Church abuses and suggesting proper ways of handling each unique situation whether by charitable conversation with the pastor, priest, deacon, religious, their immediate superior, or layman or by just leaving it in the Hands of Our Lord by our personal prayer.

We strive to combine that social love which should spring among Catholics because of the "Real Presence" (John 6:51-71). Some issues, with due respect to our Catholic priests, can sometimes be aired out more freely among the Christifideles Laici (the lay faithful of Christ). This lay organization strives to work with, not against bishops and pastors at the ecclesiastical level who are in union with the Holy See.

We all strive to love, support and pray for our Catholic priests. We thank the Lord for the fine examples of priests he has given us, while at the some time praying for those who could, at times, give a better example.

Unlike some people who "call" themselves "catholic" but play "personal pope" in their life (a grave sin): by picking and choosing what the want to believe, this organization consists of lay Catholics who understand what "submitting to Jesus' Church" means and what being submissive to the Church's Magisterium means.

This DOES NOT mean that we will never have doubts or always understand the full meaning of all Church teachings. It DOES mean that among our Catholic brethren we will strive to foster an environment where we can share with each other our confusions, knowing that whatever the Church teaches on an issue of faith and morals is true and must be believed, because Jesus said so. It is through our fraternal Eucharistic friendships that we can be open to asking our friends those "dumb questions", so we can be more knowledgeable and better Catholics for the Church.

Thanks to the great work from our volunteer apologists and grammarians who have helped answer questions from this web site in the past, we have been rated EEE Excellent, Excellent, Excellent by Catholic Culture, a well-known web site that evaluates web sites for their loyalty to the Church. We have also received the Benedictine 2000 Award for Excellence, among other awards.

Ecclesiastical obedience and the rights of Catholic Christians

The volunteer apologists, grammarians and priest-helpers who have supported CPATS since 1996 all strive to fulfill our Christian vocation via apostolic action permitted and even obligated by canon law. We specifically derive our rights and obligations from the following:

Canon 215

Christ's faithful may freely establish and direct associations which serve charitable or pious purposes or which foster the Christian vocation in the world, and they may hold meetings to pursue these purposes by common effort.

Canon 225 § 1

Since lay people, like all of Christ's faithful, are deputed to the apostolate by Baptism and Confirmation, they are bound by the general obligation and they have the right, whether as individuals or in associations, to strive so that the divine message of salvation may be known and accepted by all people throughout the world. This obligation is all the more insistent in circumstances in which only through them are people able to hear the Gospel and to know Christ.

Canon 225 § 2

They have also, according to the condition of each, the special obligation to permeate and perfect the temporal order of things with the spirit of the Gospel. In this way, particularly in conducting secular business and exercising secular functions, they are to give witness to Christ.

1 Peter 3:15

Simply proclaim the Lord Christ holy in your hearts, and always have your answer ready for people who ask you the reason for the hope that you have. But give it with courtesy and respect and with a clear conscience. (1 Peter 3:15)

The Catholic Church for all of us starts at the local level: in our parish. This is where Our Lord from the beginning of time has planned for us to partake in his plan of bringing the Good News of Jesus to the whole world. We encourage everyone to work and develop their unique calling from here and in obedience with a bishop that is loyal to the Holy See.

Most of our Apostolate work is based in the Archdiocese of Boston, and we are delighted to report that according to Cardinal O'Malley's secretary, the Cardinal, himself, has said some very kind things about the work we are doing.  Nevertheless, we acknowledge the content of Canon 216 which states:

Canon 216

Since they share the Church's mission, all Christ's faithful have the right to promote and support apostolic action, by their own initiative, undertaken according to their state and condition. No initiative, however, can lay claim to the title 'Catholic' without consent of the competent ecclesiastical authority.

Thus we want to make it clear that our domain name, "AskACatholic.com" does NOT imply that we are an official Catholic web site in any way. By putting the disclaimer "Does not imply ecclesiastical approval" below our domain header, we hope to clarify this issue, and show that we are striving keep in good graces with our local bishop/cardinal {Cardinal O'Malley}.

We are simply a group of individual Catholics trying to do God's will. We are baptized Catholic Christians called to preach, teach, evangelize and clarify the Word of God in both the Written and Oral Tradition of the Church in whatever diocese the Lord has called each of us.

Isn't that what Our Lord Jesus tells us to do in the Gospels. Isn't that what St. Paul would do if he had access to "the internet" back in his times?

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The CPATS Philosophy

Although we have changed the name of the main domain from CPATS.ORG to AskACatholc.com, I still think it is very important to spread and develop the initial philosophy we started about 11 years ago. For this reason, we still have the "Starting your own CPATS" web page. Why?

Man is a social being and enjoys being around like-minded individuals with whom he can develop friendships. Even monks in monasteries belong to a religious family dedicated to imitating their lives to that of a saint who was an exceptional model of holiness; an exceptional ideal for living a "Christ-like" life. They share a sense of community and identify themselves as witnesses of Christ in their living, working, eating and praying. They have been called by Christ to a religious vocation.

The philosophy behind CPATS meetings and get-togethers is to replicate this "way of living" among the lay faithful of Christ who have been called to a secular vocation, via the baptismal character on their soul. As lay Catholics, we have been called by Christ to sow the FULL GOSPEL seed in the secular world in which we work, and to be able to show evidence of this FULL GOSPEL going back to 33A.D. We strive to imitate the Christian life in the secular world at work, by example and faith-sharing, when proper, in order to fulfill Our Lord's desire in John 17 "that they may all be one, Father, as you and I are one."

As Cardinal Law said when he was bishop of Missouri:

"The most ecumenical thing a Catholic can do, is be unmistakably Catholic"

So too with lay Catholic apologists and evangelists.

In a world that is getting more confused by sin, practicing Catholics who are loyal to the Holy Father and the Church's Magisterium, need a secular vehicle by which we can confirm what we know to be true, check what we think is true among friends, and ask among these friends those "questions" that seem too embarrassing to us, but not to our friends. You, the visitor are wonderfully created in the image and likeness of Jesus! Your questions, if they are sincere, are NEVER dumb!

So the idea behind a Christifideles Pizza and Theology party is to gather together over pizza and drinks every several months, so that Catholics who ARE loyal to the Holy See and the Holy Father, can discuss current issues, raise questions and clarify concerns.

Why pizza?

Because no matter what the age, most people like pizza. Especially young people. Even at our get-together's we don't ALWAYS have pizza. This isn't a pizza cult. Many, (justifiable so) are concerned about health issues. At our last apologetics support meeting we had chicken!

Share with us similar CPATS concepts you have implemented in your parish/town or city. If they are good ones we'll post them on the "Starting your own CPATS" web page.

One last important issue:

I receive about one e-mail each year from visitors who are offended by the name of this web site. Some have questioned whether I am anti-Christian. They reason that the title, the Christifideles Pizza and Theology Society shows an invasion of Sacred Theology by the profane.

My response: Lighten up! The last thing I would want to do is to scandalize the Church in any way. Let's face the facts:

1. Catholic support groups loyal to the Magisterium, especially among young people are badly needed.
   
   
2. Young people love pizza.

By using this name, all I am striving to do is create an interest among young Catholics in apologetics with an emphasis on orthodoxy. This is badly needed because, at least in the Boston, Massachusetts area, there is a lack of interest in Catholic apologetics. Even WITH OUR SEMINARY AND PRIEST problems, if we could start introducing Catholic apologetics in the early religious education / CCD levels, we may find the Lord calling young people to the vocation of a single (or married) lay Catholic Apologist like me. By orthodoxy I mean not going to the left of Church teaching, AND not going to the right of Church teaching, but STAYING RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE. Besides, even our current and previous Pope, Benedict XVI and John Paul II like the idea. (See below)

One visitor to my site implied that you cannot talk about the Trinity over beer and pizza. I believe this is going a bit too far. What do you want practicing Catholics to talk about over beer and pizza? ... the sin they enjoy committing! Since this is not an issue of faith and morals but of theological opinion, I'm sure that my critics won't mind too much.

With the help of the Holy Spirit and the Lord, I would like to see clusters of CPATS meetings and get-togethers initiated throughout the United States and the world. This would be a place where lay Catholic apologists and evangelists could meet to discuss issues concerning the life of the Church and the life of Christ!

What could make our Blessed Lord, our Holy Father and our cardinals and bishops in union with him happier than not only to "be working out our salvation with fear and trembling" but to be doing so in true brotherhood.

Thanks for taking the time to read about us and come back often, I'm always interested in new ideas for the site.

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Pope starts his own CPATS

A good friend of mine commented:

Well Mike, you can't ask for a better endorsement!

The late John Paul II blesses pizzamakers during the Jubilee of Pizza Chefs on October 25, 2000. Here, gifts are delivered to Il Papa by Walter Botrugno of the Associazione Nazionale Pizzaioli E Ristoritori, Catalan Stefano of the Pizzaioli Associati Siciliani, and the owner of Naples' Starita Pizzeria, the famed location of Sofia Loren's L'Oro di Napoli.

September 14, 2005 - Pope Benedict blesses pizza ovens used for feeding the poor.       An article in next days Italian newspapers read: "Vatican Approves of Pizza" If some one has a copy of this issue from the Italian newspaper or the October 25 2000 (AFP) issue above, please e-mail it to me e-mail it to me.

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