By Michael F. Flach
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 9/23/04)

Catholic convert and Scripture scholar Gerry Matatics was the featured speaker at the Brent Society’s opening breakfast Sept. 19 at St. Catherine of Siena Church in Great Falls.

Matatics, founder and president of the Biblical Foundations Institute, recounted his journey to the Catholic faith after spending 14 years as a Presbyterian minister and self-described rabid anti-Catholic. His conversion mirrored that of his friend Scott Hahn, also a former Presbyterian minister. The two are among a growing number of Catholic converts who have become outspoken apologists for the faith.

Matatics grew up in a secular family that never went to church, even at Christmas and Easter. He was exposed to Christianity for the first time as a high school freshman when he stumbled upon a Billy Graham crusade on television. "I sat there spellbound," he said. "I had never heard this before."

He became a voracious reader of the Bible, much to his parents’ chagrin. His enthusiasm for the Christian faith pushed him to attend Gordon Cromwell Seminary after he graduated from high school. It was there he first met Scott Hahn.

Matatics said Protestant reformers such as Martin Luther and John Calvin couldn’t agree on the basic tenants of the Christian faith, but they all agreed that the Roman Catholic Church was "the whore of Babylon" as described in the Bible.

Despite this anti-Catholic mindset, Matatics and Hahn gradually traveled the same path toward Catholicism, spurred on by their mutual quest for the truth. Rather than finding "a giant chasm" between the teachings of the Bible and the Church, Matatics discovered that "Biblical faith is the Catholic faith."

He dispelled the notion that "faith alone" is enough for salvation, thus bringing into serious doubt one of the two pillars of Protestant belief.

Prior to Matatics’ presentation, Brent Society members participated in the weekly Solemn High Latin Mass at St. Catherine of Siena Church celebrated by Franklyn McAfee, pastor. More than 140 people attended the breakfast. The Brent Society president this year is Joe Strada. Father John De Celles, parochial vicar at St. Michael Church in Annandale, is society moderator. For additional information about society activities, call 703/641-0203.