GERRY MATATICS, Founder & President of a Traditionalist Catholic apostolate known as Biblical Foundations International , and the very first ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America ever to convert to Roman Catholicism, who subsequently in recent years has adopted an extremely controversial position adhered to by a minority of self-professed Traditionalist Catholics called "sedevacantism", will address the theme: "IS JOSEPH RATZINGER A TRUE POPE?: A Sedevacantist Catholic's View."
Sedevacantism, a term derived from the Latin "while the seat is empty", referring to the "Chair of St. Peter" or the papal office, is a belief that although the papacy is still an office ordained by God Himself, there have been no legitimate popes for half a century, and that all those bishops alleged to have ascended to the papacy subsequent to the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958 up through the present (which would include John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II and Benedict XVI) are not only counterfeit popes, but are also counterfeit Catholics, since they have espoused modernist heresies such as maintaining ecumenical relations with Protestants and other non-Catholics, and have perpetuated other teachings and practices upheld by Vatican II which were deemed to be heretical by previous Catholic councils. Sedevacantism received a lot more media attention than is typical several years ago during the publicity surrounding the blockbuster film "The Passion of the Christ", produced and directed by Academy Award winner Mel Gibson, whose father Hutton is a sedevacantist (whether or not Mel Gibson himself could correctly be described as a sedevacantist is debatable, albeit the fact that the church he privately funded, Church of the Holy Family in Malibu, CA, appears to have sympathies with some controversial sedevacantist positions). Although our guest today, Gerry Matatics, was featured providing theological commentary on the DVD of the "Director's Cut" of "The Passion of the Christ," Gerry insists he has no close affiliation with Mel Gibson nor any connection whatsoever with Mr. Gibson's privately funded congregation.
Prior to Gerry's adoption of sedevacantism (a term he only grudgingly uses as shorthand when describing his views), he was one of the most highly sought after Catholic apologists in America, and was one of the most highly praised contemporary defenders of the Catholic Faith by his former colleagues at Catholic Answers , a well known apologetic organization within the mainstream of Catholicism. While Gerry was himself within the pale of the mainstream, he was invited to participate and engaged in frequent public, moderated debates with such noteworthy Evangelical Protestant apologists as Dr. James R. White of Alpha & Omega Ministries .
Although Gerry is still very actively traveling and speaking, it has been extremely difficult finding a capable, noteworthy apologist within the mainstream of Catholicism willing to participate in a public forum with him to debate or discuss the sedevacantist controversy. Many unsuccessful attempts were made to find such a Catholic to oppose Gerry's positions on this radio/Internet program. A more extensive biographical sketch of Gerry can be found at http://www.gerrymatatics.org/aboutgerry.html. Two earlier programs on "Iron Sharpens Iron" on the topic of "Sedevacantism", one with Gerry alone, and one featuring an exchange between Gerry and Evangelical Protestant apologist Dr. James R. White, can be heard on free, downloadable mp3 .
CAVEAT LECTOR: This interview is not to be mistaken as an expression of "modern ecumenism" between the Reformed Baptist host and his Traditionalist Catholic guest on this radio broadcast. The host merely believes that a critical examination of Pope Benedict XVI from a scholarly Catholic perspective is not only something that may rarely be heard or seen elsewhere in the media, but is a valuable topic for discussion in a day and age where the desire to preserve theological purity has been replaced with sentimentalism in both modern Catholicism and Evangelicalism.
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