PROVIDENCE — The Internet can lead its users to many places, including answers to questions about the Catholic faith.
Recognized among the most prominent and credible sites to search for answers is Catholic Answers at www.catholic.com, an apologetics and evangelization apostolate. And one of the authorities providing those responses is Father Charles Grondin, pastor of Blessed Sacrament Church in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of the city. Father’s question forum is found at Ask an Apologist at http://forums.catholic.com/.
“There are a lot of questions by people of what it means to be Catholic and what being Catholic means about their everyday life,” said Father Grondin, a Cumberland native who holds a master’s degree in divinity from Seton Hall University, a bachelor’s degree in social work from Providence College and who received priestly formation at Our Lady of Providence Seminary.
The son of Paula Paul and the late Raymond Paul, Father Grondin’s home parish growing up was St. John Vianney. He was ordained in 2003, serving his first assignment at St. Matthew Church in Cranston, which was for four years, followed by five years at Our Lady of Mercy Parish, East Greenwich. Since 2012, he has served as pastor at Blessed Sacrament Church in Providence, which has 500 families enrolled and 260 students in the parish school.
Father Grondin was invited to participate as an apologist on the Catholic Answers Web site after a moderator at Catholic Answers was impressed by several blog submissions the pastor contributed on the site in 2011 and 2012.
His first post as an apologist was on July 11, 2012, when he answered the question, “Why does the Catholic Church claim to be founded in 33 AD?
Father Grondin answered, “The Catholic Church claims to be founded by Jesus Christ Himself and that He founded His Church on His apostles.
“Now that we can see that the Catholic Church is the Church founded by Jesus, how do we arrive at the year 33 AD? That is the year that most historians believe that Jesus was crucified and resurrected. On Pentecost following Easter, the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles (Acts 2:1-6) and they began their mission of preaching and teaching the Gospel. Pentecost is considered by theologians to be the "birthday" of the Catholic Church.”
Father Grondin said he was unaware of the Web site until he went looking for answers to questions himself on the Internet.
“I was probably looking for a document or a reference of some kind and I came across the Web site,” he said. “I was a regular user of the Web site after that and I contributed responses in its blogs. A moderator took notice and asked me if I would like to the help them out.”
He added that the work does not divert time from his duties as pastor of the parish, which includes Blessed Sacrament School. While a pastor’s day can be filled with the tasks of a manager: from handling snow plowing contracts to keep the rectory and church buildings in repair and upkeep, the work as an apologist sparks the evangelical gifts of a priest.
“I find I enjoy it,” he said. “The questions are from honest and sincere people and I enjoy giving them honest and sincere answers.”
He answers about 10 questions per week and receives several thousand views per month to his answers.
“I am honored they asked me to help,” he said. “I just answer the questions that are submitted.”
In the last several weeks alone Father Grondin’s responses to questions have averaged several hundred views by users, including a high of 2,236 views to a response in January.
At that time, “christyd” asked, “How many babies were killed [in the Massacre of] the Holy Innocents?”
Father Grondin answered with an excerpt from “The Catholic Encyclopedia” and responded, “There is no reliable way to ascertain the number of children killed by Herod in his attempt to kill the Christ child. All someone can do is estimate the population of Bethlehem at the time and extrapolate how many children 2 and under would likely have been present. Given that most historians don't believe the population of Bethlehem to have been more than 1,000, the number holy innocents most likely was not in the hundreds let alone thousands.”
Another reader, “glendab” asked, “I have a friend whose priest insists that those who want to go to him for confession say their Act of Contrition outside the Confessional, while they are waiting to go to the sacrament. Is this licit? I said I would find out and get back to her. Can you help?”
Father Grondin cited two sources of church authority and responded that as long as the priest receives some kind of expression of sorrow from the penitent after the confession of sins it appears to be perfectly licit.
The topics addressed span the entire universe of Catholic dogma, teaching, beliefs, traditions, and practice. Father Grondin has had more than 760 postings on the site in 18 months. His postings are time stamped and appear from early morning until late evening.
“They want a relationship with God and the church is the best way to have that relationship,” he said. “I try to go back to the most basic building blocks and apply them to the situation being raised in the question.”
An apologist by definition is one who speaks or writes in defense of someone or something, but Father Grondin prefers another description, closer to evangelization.
“I prefer the word ‘explaining,’ explaining the faith,” he said. “If we believe it is the truth then all we have to do is explain the truth. Explaining the faith brings us to recognize the truth.”
