ost of the staff
of 
are amateurs
and cannot be considered experts. However, despite our
lack of official "expert" status, our visitors and patrons can
expect cogent and competent opinions on matters related to the
Catholic Faith. Many of our members have decades of
knowledge and experience in defending and teaching the Catholic
faith. We are also blessed with some members who have had
formal training in the sacred sciences, while most others have
been published in reputable periodicals. To our knowledge,
we are the only Catholic Apologetics internet apostolate which
stretches across international borders.
After a number of years on the apologetics
scene, John founded after
a two year stint as Vice President of a prominent Catholic Apologetics Apostolate. John
has a Bachelors Degree in Commerce from Queen's University at Kingston and
another advanced financial degree. He is employed as a financial controller in the
commercial real estate development industry. In 1996, at the age of 26, John
became interested in apologetics after reading Scott and Kimberly Hahn's conversion
story Rome Sweet Home. John
began to delve more deeply into apologetics, especially after a series of encounters
with an Evangelical friend whose questions forced him to learn more about his faith. A
number of personal encounters with Fundamentalists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Mormons
further convinced John that apologetics was an important area of evangelization and
needed to be fostered. John has taught RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for
Adults) along with giving talks at local parishes and organizing Apologetic conferences
in the Ottawa area. He has also had a number articles published in Catholic
magazines and periodicals, including Challenge Magazine,
Culture Wars, The
Wanderer, The Catholic Answer,
Lay Witness, Bread
of Life, and This Rock. In recent
years, John has shifted his focus to fighting the culture war in Canada. To read
about his recent adventures, click
here.
William Albrecht is an
apologist and has a B.A. in Theology. William was raised in
a non-religious household and eventually became a Protestant. After
much studying and the undertaking of a religious career, William
converted to the Catholic faith close to seven years ago.
In addition to his contributions to ,
William's work in Catholic apologetics includes his many apologetic
videos available for viewing at
his YouTube apologetics page and
his GodTube apologetics page.
Mark Bonocore is one of the best
Catholic apologists in e-debate. He uses is vast wealth of patristic
knowledge to rebut any historical objections to the Catholic faith. He
has the very rare ability to set apparent contradictions of Church teaching
in their proper context. Our visitors will be richly blessed by reading
Mark's work.
A media professional by trade, Mark Bonocore has participated in Catholic
apologetics from boyhood, having learned at the feet of his late father,
Joseph Bonocore, and the numerous fine Catholic scholars with whom he
associated. Highly proficient in Scripture studies, Church history,
and Patristics, Mark is a member of the Secular Oratory of St. Philip Neri,
and regularly gives talks and writes articles for several
"grass roots"
apologetics organizations, as well as being one of the most prolific Catholic
apologists on the internet.
Our Apostolate is pleased to
provide our visitors with a feminine touch to apologetics which, for
some strange reason, is a certain rarity in this business. Along
with this feminine perspective, Suzanne brings her keen sense of history
and proportion to our Apostolate that we shall benefit from in the months
and years to come. Suzanne Fortin was born in 1973 and grew up in
Quebec City. She began participating in on-line religious discussions
since 1995. She graduated from
Laval University in 1998, with a Bachelor's
Degree in History. In recent years, Suzanne has concentrated on
fighting against abortion with her very popular
blog, Big Blue Wave.
"Wib" or "Wibi", as he prefers
to be called, is our Alberta Staff Apologist. Being extremely well
travelled, Wib joins us from Singapore where he was actively involved in
apologetics with ACT (Apostolate for Catholic Truth). Being a
lecturer in his field of expertise (Engineering), we are proud to welcome
Wib and his formidable academic talents as he puts them to good use in
advancing the Catholic Faith. To learn more about Wib, click
here.
Wibisono Hartono has a Doctorate degree in Applied Mechanics from the
University of Tokyo, Japan and a Masters degree in structural engineering
from the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand. He was
born into a Catholic family in Indonesia and was educated in Catholic
schools. His interest in apologetics came through a long process
where he was first involved in the Bible study with Evangelical Christians
in Thailand. Although they failed to persuade him to have another
baptism, he nevertheless became more Evangelical than Catholic in his
belief. The turning point came when he faced another challenge
from his Muslim friend in Tokyo who tried to convert him to Islam by
giving him books and booklets about the teaching of Christianity written
by Muslim apologists. This encounter piqued his interest in
apologetic works. After he realized that such books gave a
distorted view on Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular,
he started studying the teaching of the Catholic Church from Catholic
sources and comparing them to various Evangelical works. The study
finally led him back to the bosom of the Catholic Church in 1987.
Currently, Dr. Hartono is living and working in Calgary, Alberta.
Otherwise known as "Bible Buck"
by his former trucking buddies, Chuck is our resident Bible apologetic
specialist. is honoured
to have a guy like Charlie on staff because he has the grit, the tenacity,
and the knowledge which are going to prove invaluable to our Apostolate in
the coming years.
Charlie "The Russian Bear" Hatchko is somethin' else. Some Catholics
know their Bible and some Catholics don't. But then there's the
Russian Bear. As the working man's blue-collar Catholic apologist,
Charlie can go toe-to-toe with the slickest and quickest fundy Bible thumper,
rattling off Bible verses faster than most country auctioneers think. He's
a living reminder never to underestimate your opponent when engaging in Bible
apologetics.
Charlie is a Russian Catholic who possesses an eighth grade Catholic
education. He grew up in the mining town of Scranton, and he bears
an uncanny resemblance to the legendary professional wrestler Ivan
Koloff. Charlie earned the CB handle "Bible Buck" during the twelve
years he spent as a long-distance truck driver, and for the past decade
he's worked as a jail guard.
He has practically memorized the entire Bible,
the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and
decades of back issues of Homiletic & Pastoral
Review. As a Catholic apologist, he has given numerous talks in
North Eastern Pennsylvania and written over a hundred articles for local
community publications. Charlie's one desire in life is to bring souls to
Christ through the Catholic Church.
Frank Jerry comes to
from his very popular
ministry, Pillar
of Truth Ministries (PTM), which has featured Art Sippo's
work for years. An effective apologist in his own right, Frank
adds a keen mind and a deft hand in e-pologetic
banter. is
very pleased to have Frank and the rest of the PTM team join
our crew. In his own words:
"My story is no different than many others. I was born in
1964 and grew up Catholic but like many, wandered away from my
faith when I reached my teen years. After spending about
10 years away from the Church, I started to get the sense that
there had to be more to life than the fleeting moments of joy
which never seemed to last and eventually left me with an empty
feeling inside. Well, to make a long story short, I eventually
went out and bought a Bible and began reading. This helped but
I still knew there was something left that I had to do. At the
time, I was living with a friend of mine who was a non-practicing
Catholic and whose family had left the Catholic Church previously
for a Fundamentalist church. I found that many
of my friends who were non-Catholics, and even some who claimed
to be Catholics, started attacking the Church and its teachings. They
thought I was foolish for becoming a practicing Catholic once
again. Instead of swallowing everything they said, I decided
to do a little studying up myself. Though they didn't know it,
my anti-Catholic friends were building my faith up more and more. I
began to find myself no longer on the defensive, but now on the
offensive. The truths of the Catholic Church were so great that
I couldn't keep them to myself."
Born in Montreal in 1952
and having lived there all his life, Anthony is the second of four
children. He earned a B.A. at McGill University from 1969 to
1974. He then worked for two years (1974-1976) as a paralegal
and then completed a law degree at the University of Montreal. Anthony
was received into the Bar as a lawyer in 1980. After working for
a small firm in commercial litigation for a few years, he started his
own firm in 1984, and currently specializes in the law of charitable
organizations and non-profit corporations.
Begininng in the early 1980s, Anthony began to do research in
Church History, and over the past 20 years, he has developed a
series of conferences on controversial issues in Church History. He
has also acquired a sound knowledge of Theology and regularly gives
classes on Christian doctrine and talks on how to exercise the
Christian virtues in daily life. Anthony gives these talks
both at the McGill Newman Centre and at Riverview University Centre,
where he is the Director. Riverview is a university centre in
which the activities of doctrinal and spiritual formation are
entrusted to the Opus Dei Prelature, of which Anthony is a member.
Art Sippo is one of
the most knowledgeable Catholic apologists on the internet
today. His breadth and depth of knowledge are virtually
unmatched among active e-pologists. His specialty involves
issues surrounding the Reformation. is
very proud to host Dr. Sippo's material. We know that
our visitors will be enlightened and edified by reading his
postings.
Arthur C. Sippo, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.P.M., F.A.C.O.E.M is Board
Certified in Occupational Medicine and Aerospace Medicine and
is certified as a Medical Review Officer by the Medical Review
Officer Certification Council. He is a fellow of the
American College of Preventive Medicine and as well as an
Associate Fellow of the Aerospace Medicine Association. Dr.
Sippo belongs to the volunteer faculty of the Medical College of
Ohio with rank as Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department
of Occupational Health in the School of Allied Health. He
is the Assistant State Surgeon for the Ohio Army National
Guard, Adjutant General Office. He has a Bachelor of
Science degree in chemistry from St. Peter's College in New
Jersey where he graduated magna cum laude in 1974. He earned
his medical degree from Vanderbilt University Medical School in
Nashville, Tennessee in 1978, and his Master's degree in public
health in 1982 from The Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public
Health in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Sippo is a Fellow of the
American College of Preventive Medicine, the Royal Society of
Medicine, the Aerospace Medicine Association, the American College
of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, and the Toledo/Lucas
County Academy of Medicine. He is the Chairman of the Credentials
and Privileges Committee for the Ohio Army National Guard and a Life
Member of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars.
Dr. Sippo has also testified regarding his evaluations under Worker's
Compensation in the state of Ohio. He has given lectures on
topics such as medical case management, transitional work programs and
the Americans with Disabilities Act.
He also has lectured widely in the United States and England on religious
topics including a modern assessment of Martin Luther, the theology of
gender, the biblical portrait of St. Peter, Catholic apologetics, and
the Ten Commandments. He has publicly debated Protestant
controversialists on Justification, Baptism, and other topics.
He is the primary author of Case Management
is a Wise Approach for Injured Workers, (Dr. Arthur Sippo) Published
in the Toledo Business Journal, September 1993., Vol. 9, No. 9, pages 16 &
20; Anthropometric Considerations of the US
Army IHADSS, (Sippo AC, Licina JR, Noehl M.), USAARL Letter Report
88-10-4-5, US Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory, May
1988; Determining Aircrew Helmet Size Design
Requirements Using Statistical Analysis of Anthropometric Data, (Sippo
AC, Belyavin AJ), Published in Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine,
January 1991, Vol. 62, No. 1, pages 67-74.
Dr. Sippo is married and has 3 children.
Pete Vere offers our
team some muscle in the area of canon law. As a Catholic writer,
canonist and apologist, Pete is widely
publicized in a number of Catholic journals and magazines, including
frequent appearances in
Envoy Magazine,
Challenge,
The Interim,
The Bread of Life,
Lay Witness,
Roman Replies & CLSA Advisory Opinions,
and The Wanderer. Pete's work has also
appeared in such Catholic publications as
Homiletic & Pastoral Review,
Southern Renaissance, the
National Catholic Register,
CLSA Convention Proceedings,
New Covenant, and
St. Catherine Review. He
has also appeared on EWTN, MSNBC, and numerous Catholic radio programs.
He is also the author of many books, including:
Jerry Beckett received a Bachelor of Science
degree in Computer Engineering from the
University of Notre Dame in
Notre Dame, IN. After two years of professional computer hardware
design, Jerry moved to software and has spent the remainder of his career
designing and implementing both commercial and federal software
applications. His professional software projects have included
educational, game, national defense, medical, and (currently) custom
banking software and web applications.
Jerry became interested in Catholic apologetics and Church history 20
years ago, and has assembled quite the library of Catholic books, periodicals,
and other publications. He is currently pursuing a Master of
Theology degree (M.Th.) at the
University of Dallas.
Jerry and his wife, Lynda, were married in April of 2007, and they currently
live in Dallas, TX. When not found toiling away as
's
webmaster, Jerry occupies his time
Working
With Lynda, trying to whittle away the number of items on the "Honey Do" list she has prepared for him.
Doting on his new daughter, Maria Rosa Guadalupe (born April 30, 2009)
Reading
Tearing up the highway in his 5.7 liter Hemi-powered Challenger
At the gym, pumping the serious iron
for free, because
there is no charge for Awesomeness.