Catholic Converts - Why did you convert to Catholicism?

[lmpower]

I was converted by listening to recordings of Gregorian chant. I became interested in monasticism, visited a couple of Trappist monasteries and read Thomas Merton. The serenity of Gregorian chant appealed to me. Reading Merton put the idea of joining the church into my head. I am struck by the fact that when someone converts to Catholocism the priests want to know why. One of them asked Merton his reason and jumped to the silly conclusion that it was from reading James Joyce. I was asked this question by the priest that I approached about converting also. When one converts to evangelical Christianity he is merely congratulated for accepting truth and being saved. Converting to Catholicism is considered to be a weird and unnatural decision which has to be justified. This is because the barriers to joining the Catholic Church are so great in our society. We live in a Protestant culture, and becoming an evangelical is very simple an easy. It only takes few minutes. Becoming a Catholic drags out over many months and entails joining a hated minority. I would imagine becoming a Catholic in Italy would be considered more natural. I don’t think Catholics understand the psychology of the convert. The third degree of the Knights of Columbus contained a very vicious slur against converts at the time I joined. Catholics want to find a simple button to press in order to convert someone. The actual process of conversion is probably far more subtle and complex than the cradle Catholic can imagine. The priest who catechised me asked if I had any questions when he finished. I replied that I had no questions. Did he really believe that I wanted to argue each point in the cathechism and be convinced. You either buy the package or you don’t. I considered becoming a Trappist monk, but the prior of the monasterry I visited turned out to be a hate crazed bigot. Christianity is a sublime ideal, but the Christians are a serious stumbling block. They are so often inferior to non Christians.

 

[Ignatius]

Please tell me the reasons. I am interested to listen to your stories of conversion.
.

Because I love Jesus and want to be in the Church that He founded.

 

[Eric09]

To make the story as short as possible: the rosary and the catechism.

 

[usemelord]

I, like many, married a lifetime Catholic. Raised a Baptist/Bible-church-Billy-Graham-kind-of- guy, I could never understand what Mass was all about—stand up, sit down, kneel, stand up, sit down fight, fight, fight. Finally, after nearly forty years of marriage and in my early 60’s did I decide to join RCIA. I made it quite clear to my family that I was doing this for my own edification, not for them which would be the wrong reason. RCIA was eye-opening and helped me connect all the dots so to speak. I entered the Church at Easter Vigil, 2005 with unbridled enthusiasm. What I found out during my “journey” was that the Catholic Church offers so much more than what I experienced as a Protestant, a richer and truer form of faith that I could not have imagined before; i.e. the Sacraments, most especially, of course, the Eucharist which changed my life so dramatically. Now eight years later I am still on fire. There is a lot more to be said, but I’ll spare all of you the details. Let us all pray diligently for the new Catholics coming into the Church two weeks from today. Yay!!!

 

[The_Reginator]

I, like many, married a lifetime Catholic. Raised a Baptist/Bible-church-Billy-Graham-kind-of- guy, I could never understand what Mass was all about—stand up, sit down, kneel, stand up, sit down fight, fight, fight. Finally, after nearly forty years of marriage and in my early 60’s did I decide to join RCIA. I made it quite clear to my family that I was doing this for my own edification, not for them which would be the wrong reason. RCIA was eye-opening and helped me connect all the dots so to speak. I entered the Church at Easter Vigil, 2005 with unbridled enthusiasm. What I found out during my “journey” was that the Catholic Church offers so much more than what I experienced as a Protestant, a richer and truer form of faith that I could not have imagined before; i.e. the Sacraments, most especially, of course, the Eucharist which changed my life so dramatically. Now eight years later I am still on fire. There is a lot more to be said, but I’ll spare all of you the details. Let us all pray diligently for the new Catholics coming into the Church two weeks from today. Yay!!!

:clapping:

 

[michaelhager]

I, like many, married a lifetime Catholic. Raised a Baptist/Bible-church-Billy-Graham-kind-of- guy, I could never understand what Mass was all about—stand up, sit down, kneel, stand up, sit down fight, fight, fight. Finally, after nearly forty years of marriage and in my early 60’s did I decide to join RCIA. I made it quite clear to my family that I was doing this for my own edification, not for them which would be the wrong reason. RCIA was eye-opening and helped me connect all the dots so to speak. I entered the Church at Easter Vigil, 2005 with unbridled enthusiasm. What I found out during my “journey” was that the Catholic Church offers so much more than what I experienced as a Protestant, a richer and truer form of faith that I could not have imagined before; i.e. the Sacraments, most especially, of course, the Eucharist which changed my life so dramatically. Now eight years later I am still on fire. There is a lot more to be said, but I’ll spare all of you the details. Let us all pray diligently for the new Catholics coming into the Church two weeks from today. Yay!!!

Amen brother… Since my own conversion, my attitude about protestants has been a feeling of sorrow that they don’t have everything. It’s like a multi-course meal. They have the appetizer, but they’re missing out on the main course. Maybe we’ll all get dessert, but I have to keep open minded about that.

 

[Mariekin]

The Eucharist.

 

[outofdarkness77]

I was raised Assemblies of God, but my parents sent me to the local Catholic high school. At the time I didn’t understand why, but now I see God’s hand on my life. I blew off most of what I learned in religion class until my classmates and I had to go to Confession during Lent. With no idea what to say to the priest, I just listed all the sins that I could remember. Suddenly overwhelmed with guilt and sorrow, I started sobbing. Although I left confused, my repentance was more heartfelt than I had experienced before.

Fast forward a few months…after I had had a particularly rough day, a senior girl sat down next to me to talk to me. I didn’t know her very well, but when she told me about how she wanted to become a parish youth leader, I was surprised by her sincerity. If only she was a true Christian, I thought to myself. Then I had another thought: maybe she is!! Although the church I grew up in was not vehemently anti-Catholic, some of my friends and relatives were hostile towards Catholicism and their negative attitudes had rubbed off on me. The idea that Catholics could be true Christians caught me off guard.

Not long after this a local parish hosted a class retreat. One of the leaders of the event had converted from Protestantism to Catholicism and noticed that I was interested in the sacraments. As we spoke, I could feel God’s call, but I shrugged it off and buried it.

Hoping to prove to myself that the call to conversion was NOT from God, I immersed myself in the Bible, church teachings, stories of saints, and historical accounts. I also finally started paying attention in religion class! Oddly enough, what I learned did not disprove Catholicism. It did exactly the opposite! Secretly thrilled, I shared some of my newfound knowledge with my family members. They were understandably less than supportive.

But the moment when the truth of Catholicism sank in for me came when I told a classmate my desire to convert. The longer I elaborated on my decision, the more enthusiastic I became. I still had a few doubts, such as some Marian doctrines and all my years of reading Inquisition myths, but I had come a long way from the idealistic freshman hoping to win my school over to the Jesus I grew up with!

I was drawn to Catholicism through the sacraments and godly lives of my Catholic friends, but in the end, my decision was mostly based on dogma. Once I stopped reading the Bible through a lens of evangelical fundamentalism and read what was actually on the page, my life was changed forever! Although I grow stronger in my faith every day, I have a long way to go. I cannot attend RCIA until I leave for college in two years and my parents are still a bit skeptical. (I haven’t even told my grandparents! ) Until I can truly come home I will continue to trust in the Lord and thank him for showing me his truth and his Church!

 

[Miriam1947]

snip

I was drawn to Catholicism through the sacraments and godly lives of my Catholic friends, but in the end, my decision was mostly based on dogma. Once I stopped reading the Bible through a lens of evangelical fundamentalism and read what was actually on the page, my life was changed forever! Although I grow stronger in my faith every day, I have a long way to go. I cannot attend RCIA until I leave for college in two years and my parents are still a bit skeptical. (I haven’t even told my grandparents! ) Until I can truly come home I will continue to trust in the Lord and thank him for showing me his truth and his Church!

(The snip was only to save bandwidth)

What a wonderful story of your journey. Thank you for posting and WELCOME HOME!

 

[jesuspsr]

I was raised Assemblies of God, but my parents sent me to the local Catholic high school. At the time I didn’t understand why, but now I see God’s hand on my life. I blew off most of what I learned in religion class until my classmates and I had to go to Confession during Lent. With no idea what to say to the priest, I just listed all the sins that I could remember. Suddenly overwhelmed with guilt and sorrow, I started sobbing. Although I left confused, my repentance was more heartfelt than I had experienced before.

Fast forward a few months…after I had had a particularly rough day, a senior girl sat down next to me to talk to me. I didn’t know her very well, but when she told me about how she wanted to become a parish youth leader, I was surprised by her sincerity. If only she was a true Christian, I thought to myself. Then I had another thought: maybe she is!! Although the church I grew up in was not vehemently anti-Catholic, some of my friends and relatives were hostile towards Catholicism and their negative attitudes had rubbed off on me. The idea that Catholics could be true Christians caught me off guard.

Not long after this a local parish hosted a class retreat. One of the leaders of the event had converted from Protestantism to Catholicism and noticed that I was interested in the sacraments. As we spoke, I could feel God’s call, but I shrugged it off and buried it.

Hoping to prove to myself that the call to conversion was NOT from God, I immersed myself in the Bible, church teachings, stories of saints, and historical accounts. I also finally started paying attention in religion class! Oddly enough, what I learned did not disprove Catholicism. It did exactly the opposite! Secretly thrilled, I shared some of my newfound knowledge with my family members. They were understandably less than supportive.

But the moment when the truth of Catholicism sank in for me came when I told a classmate my desire to convert. The longer I elaborated on my decision, the more enthusiastic I became. I still had a few doubts, such as some Marian doctrines and all my years of reading Inquisition myths, but I had come a long way from the idealistic freshman hoping to win my school over to the Jesus I grew up with!

I was drawn to Catholicism through the sacraments and godly lives of my Catholic friends, but in the end, my decision was mostly based on dogma. Once I stopped reading the Bible through a lens of evangelical fundamentalism and read what was actually on the page, my life was changed forever! Although I grow stronger in my faith every day, I have a long way to go. I cannot attend RCIA until I leave for college in two years and my parents are still a bit skeptical. (I haven’t even told my grandparents! ) Until I can truly come home I will continue to trust in the Lord and thank him for showing me his truth and his Church!

Welcome to CAF
Thank you for your awesome story.
And may the Holy Spirit continue to guide you

jesus g

 

[Peebo]

As a former Pentecostal who was taught to believe in a literal interpretation of scripture I found that only applied when it was in line with their interpretation of scripture…I could never get a clear answer about the question of authority which Jesus clearly gave to Peter to lead his church…suddenly it wasn’t a literal interpretation…same with the question of the Eucharist…the body and blood of our savior…it wasn’t literal but symbolic…those were the two main reasons I couldn’t continue as a Pentecostal…or any Protestant faith…my epiphany came when I was discussing the question of the Eucharist with a Catholic friend…I was trying to figure out why it wasn’t symbolic…didn’t Jesus say “this is my body…this is my blood…do this in MEMORY of me”…my friend quietly said to me…no…Jesus said…“THIS is my body…THIS is my blood…do THIS in memory of me”…that was like a light bulb being switched on…from that moment on I knew that God was leading me to the one true holy Catholic and apostolic church…and everything since then has just opened up the beauty and fullness of the Catholic faith…that was April 18, 1992…praise God.

 

[DavidFilmer]

I was formerly a “traditional” Anglican. Most people who identify themselves as such believe pretty much all that the Catholic Church believes (though maybe not as de Fide) with the exception of the universal jurisdiction of the Pope. Perhaps traditional Anglicans ought to be called Anglo-Orthodox - the Western version of Greek Orthodoxy.

There are few Anglican apologists. I read Karl Keating’s “Catholicism and Fundamentalism” because I lived in North Carolina, which is the least Catholic state in the Union, and fundamentalist beliefs are widely held. I skipped the chapter on the Papacy because it was not relevant to my efforts to defend the Anglican faith from fundamentalists. A traditional Anglican could agree with every chapter EXCEPT the Papacy, so I saw no need to read that chapter.

But Keating’s book did introduce me to the Early Church Fathers. As an Anglican, I had been taught that we were in agreement with the Early Fathers and the seven (recognized) Ecumenical Councils that preceded the Great Schism of 1024 AD. I accepted this claim at face value, without actually doing any research to verify the claim (this was long before the age of the internet, or even the precursor Prodigy, when such research required expensive investments in tedious books).

But Keating referred me to a not-very-expensive three-volume set of summaries of Early Church Fathers - namely The Faith of the Early Fathers, by William A. Jurgens (two volumes of which happen to be on my desk, about 16 inches away at this moment). These books have a “doctrinal index” which cannot be equaled (even today) by any internet resource. And it opened my eyes to the truth of the Early Church - it was Catholic. Roman Catholic.

I converted to the Catholic Church because I became convinced it was the One True Church established by Jesus Christ. I was a reluctant convert - I loved my Anglican parish and the many people whom I loved (and still love). I preferred the Anglican order of worship, which I thought was more reverent than the Catholic Novus Ordo (but the recent Mass revisions have brought the two more closely in line). I was still unconvinced about the Marian dogmas (Immaculate Conception and Assumption) but was willing to accept both upon the authority of the Church (which is all that is required).

 

[confusedgirl]

I just signed up for RCIA so I haven’t converted yet but I’ve been wanting to convert for a long time and I can’t p(name removed by moderator)oint and exact reason but one thing that draws me in is the Eucharist. Many non catholics believe that the Eucharist is just a representation of the body of Christ but I always felt there was more to it. When I was told it was the body of Christ I had no problem believing it. I went to church with my mom and when I saw they had communion at Easter I got so excited that I got baptized just so I can have it. Then I realized it was just Ritz and grape juice and that I knew was the representation. It was different at mass the way it was blessed the way it was held I knew if I wanted it I had to get baptized in thr correct church. To be able to recieve Christ every day at mass is amazing to me. The faith and the feeling of closeness to Jesus drew me in as well. I also did a lot of reading and fell in love with the saints and their stories and all of the history and I knew that God was showing me my true home. I promise right after Easter Vigil I will no longer be in training
God bless and may peace be with you

 

[jesuspsr]

I just signed up for RCIA so I haven’t converted yet but I’ve been wanting to convert for a long time and I can’t p(name removed by moderator)oint and exact reason but one thing that draws me in is the Eucharist. Many non catholics believe that the Eucharist is just a representation of the body of Christ but I always felt there was more to it. When I was told it was the body of Christ I had no problem believing it. I went to church with my mom and when I saw they had communion at Easter I got so excited that I got baptized just so I can have it. Then I realized it was just Ritz and grape juice and that I knew was the representation. It was different at mass the way it was blessed the way it was held I knew if I wanted it I had to get baptized in thr correct church. To be able to recieve Christ every day at mass is amazing to me. The faith and the feeling of closeness to Jesus drew me in as well. I also did a lot of reading and fell in love with the saints and their stories and all of the history and I knew that God was showing me my true home. I promise right after Easter Vigil I will no longer be in training
God bless and may peace be with you

Welcome and may the Holy Spirit continue to guide you

jesus g

 

[michaelhager]

I just signed up for RCIA so I haven’t converted yet but I’ve been wanting to convert for a long time and I can’t p(name removed by moderator)oint and exact reason but one thing that draws me in is the Eucharist. Many non catholics believe that the Eucharist is just a representation of the body of Christ but I always felt there was more to it. When I was told it was the body of Christ I had no problem believing it. I went to church with my mom and when I saw they had communion at Easter I got so excited that I got baptized just so I can have it. Then I realized it was just Ritz and grape juice and that I knew was the representation. It was different at mass the way it was blessed the way it was held I knew if I wanted it I had to get baptized in thr correct church. To be able to recieve Christ every day at mass is amazing to me. The faith and the feeling of closeness to Jesus drew me in as well. I also did a lot of reading and fell in love with the saints and their stories and all of the history and I knew that God was showing me my true home. I promise right after Easter Vigil I will no longer be in training
God bless and may peace be with you

I went through RCIA in 2009 and 2010 and was confirmed at Easter Vigil of 2010. But you have made one small error in your statement… because once you are converted, it is just the beginning of a lifetime of training! Welcome to the original church of our Lord Jesus Christ! And NEVER stop learning! God bless you!