Converts: when did you start discussing becoming Catholic?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Just_wondering
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
J

Just_wondering

Guest
I’m just curious to know when other converts started telling people about their journey toward Catholicism. So far I haven’t told anybody in real life - I haven’t even told my boyfriend the extent to which I’m thinking about it. I’m finding it really difficult to talk about. I don’t want to bring it up to my non-religious friends because I don’t know enough about the Faith to defend it yet. And I haven’t spoken to my religious friends about it because I was quite vocal about not having a religion. :o

I did tell my boyfriend today that I bought a rosary. He was very pleased! I don’t know why I was embarrassed to tell him - I was a little worried that he’d think I was converting only for him, not for the right reasons. Nobody else knows, except my CAF friends and some people in my online courses who haven’t met me in real life. A couple of my real life friends are very vocally anti-Christian and anti-Catholic specifically. I still don’t know when or how I’ll tell them.

Did you tell people that you were converting? At what point in the conversion process did you start talking about it? How did you bring it up?
 
When I converted at age ten, I told my parents about a year or so later that I wanted to become a Catholic. Granted, they were both Catholic, but very very very progressive Catholics; they really didn’t like religion, and that’s why I was scaried to tell them; I thought they’d yell at me and scream and hit me. Turns out they just looked surprised and asked me why. I said I couldn’t tell them why because they wouldn’t understand. They understood that I wouldn’t tell them why and now I am Catholic. 🙂
 
I had been thinking/reading/praying about becoming Catholic for about 2 years but I didn’t officially “come out of the closet” until I was 1/2 way through the RCIA program and I knew I would go through with it.

God bless you as you make your way…
 
There are very few people I explicitly told. Most of my friends from my old church just knew that I had started attending Catholic Masses. I didn’t tell my parents until after the Easter Vigil (it wasn’t hard to keep it quiet, as I was stationed several states away from where they live). The reason I kept it from them (most particularly my father) is simply that I didn’t want to get into a huge debate about it with my dad. I wanted to enjoy the process and not have it questioned by those I loved. Fortunately my RCIA teachers/team leaders were excellent and very supportive, so I didn’t lack mentors during my journey home.
 
I told my family six weeks into RCIA. At that point I was burtsting at the seams. People will see your joy and it will make it easier to tell them. In the meantime enjoy sitting on your new found knowledge like a momma bird on her egg. The truth will hatch soon enough.
 
Age 14, then slowly lost interest, then mulled it over again as an adult, then decided not to, then a year ago today suddenly felt strongly attracted and started talking to at least one friend about it immediately.
 
Hello,

I still haven’t really told a lot of people. Thinking about it, I can count exactly four people that I know for certain know that I am converting. My mother and three of my friends. I think that my stepfather knows, but I haven’t specifically told him, so I’m not going to count him for sure.

My mother’s just thrilled that I’m not going around telling people that I’m a witch any more, and thinks of the Catholic church as the lesser of two evils. I haven’t told my one grandmother because she’s a very staunch MS Lutheran, and I’m going to have to ease her into it. My step-grandparents don’t know that I’m converting because when I told them that I wasn’t going to be attending the Mennonite church with them anymore and was going to be attending Masses at the local Catholic church (and this was before I’d decided in my mind that conversion was the right thing) my step-grandmother stopped speaking to me and basically acts as though I don’t exist. The majority of my friends are not religious in any way, so it just really hasn’t come up.

Of course I haven’t started RCIA yet, it doesn’t start up again until September here, so as time goes on more people will find out.

-Amber
 
I didn’t really tell anybody either… my boyfriend (at that time, now my DH :)) and his family knew because they were the ones who introduced me to the Church, and my parents and sister knew that I was interested. My dad had a fit when he found out that I was attending Mass, so I didn’t tell him about my conversion until after it was done, and I told my mom when I invited her to Mass to see me receive my First Communion. I’ve lost touch with many of the friends that I had before, but any that I do keep in contact with have just figured it out. 😛
 
Nickkname said:
When I converted at age ten, I told my parents about a year or so later that I wanted to become a Catholic. Granted, they were both Catholic, but very very very progressive Catholics; they really didn’t like religion, and that’s why I was scaried to tell them; I thought they’d yell at me and scream and hit me.
Click to expand...
Mine yelled and screamed… :whistle: (My mom was baptised Catholic, but raised Lutheran, and my dad was Catholic until he married my mom)

I first told them 10 years ago, which didn’t go over too well, then 2 years ago, which also didn’t go over well, but not as bad. I was finally able to go to RCIA classes last year.
 
I told most of my family when I invited them to my baptism and confirmation. However a lot of my friends don’t know and are often shocked when I say oh I can’t go out to dinner as I have mass then. I understand the previous poster worry about telling her boyfriend I never want my boyfriend to think I was becoming Catholic for him and I had to explain to my mum that it wasn’t about him I was becoming Catholic because I realised that God was real and therefore it only made sense to become Catholic
 
I told my parents when I first started seriously considering it. The rest of the family was informed when I was halfway through RCIA and certain I was going to go through with it. My parents were thrilled, but I have received varying reactions from everyone else. My brother’s Presbyterian wife and kids seem unsure whether I am even a Christian. My husband’s family is made up of about half ex-Catholics and they’re all rolling their eyes.
 
Studied in secret for about a year and a half and finally told some people. The reactions were somewhere between neutral and negative because I went to a non-Catholic Christian High School with only a few nominal Catholics who did not understand why I was doing it either. I also had been going to a very good non-denominational Church for years with my parents who are strong Christians as well. In the end its up to you to decide when you feel ready, which should be when you feel the time is right to say something. It was scary for me because my family and friends are still confused over it and I lost a lot of friends and my parents wont let me talk about it with them ever, but its worth it to get it out.
 
I started telling people I was converting to Catholicism during the process leading up to my confirmation. My wife and her parents were the only ones who knew the particulars.

My mother is anti-catholic, but was satisfied with my conversion, as long as I was serious about living my faith. I was most concerned about telling my father’s opinion, he was raised Catholic and isn’t anymore. He felt it was better for the future of my family for us to have a shared faith.
 
Most of my friends and family were aware that I was interested in the subject of Catholicism, but when I finally made the decision to convert, at the end of November of 2000, I only told my husband.

I got a meeting with a priest on December 20th, and was accepted into RCIA at that time. I was told that I had to be out of my Protestant lifestyle by January 10th at the latest, or else I could forget about coming to RCIA, so I worked on trying to get other people to take over my ministries between December 20th and January 10th. (This failed. I had to decide then that it didn’t matter.)

I left a letter for my Protestant pastor on January 7th to explain that I wasn’t coming back, and also to explain where I was at with each of my projects, so that others could take them over in my absence. Unknown to me, my husband mentioned to my mother that I was leaving the Church that same day. (I took off early to get to Sunday Mass, so I missed the family conversation.)

Anyhow, the next day, I got a call from my mother demanding an explanation, so I agreed to meet with her on January 11, so that I’d have a chance to start RCIA on the 10th, and find out what my timeline was going to be. (I didn’t actually find out that I was going to be received into the Church that same Easter until the beginning of Lent when I was invited to receive the Rite of Calling Candidates to Lenten Renewal from the Bishop at the Cathedral - up until that point, I had assumed that I would be received into the Church the following Easter, so that’s pretty much what I was telling people.

I started telling other family members and friends shortly after that, except for my fundamentalist friends, which, looking back, wasn’t very fair to them. I should have told them from the start; it would have saved a lot of awkwardness.

But I am forbidden from telling my mother’s relatives about my conversion, which essentially means that I can’t speak to them at all, since they are very enthusiastic about their church involvement, and always want to know about other people’s, as well.
 
I’m really finding this discussion interesting. I thought I was unusual for not really telling anybody about converting yet. Now I realize that almost every convert seems to go through this.

I don’t really know how everybody is going to react when I tell them. My parents aren’t religious, but they used to be Catholic. They stopped going because they didn’t believe. My mother says she’d like to believe, but she just can’t, so she doesn’t. I don’t know whether she’ll be pleased that I can, or just puzzled.

My boyfriend is very happy that I’m considering converting. He very seriously informed me that I should carry my rosary with me at all times, and asked me to pray for him. Aww…
 
I didn’t really start telling anyone until I was sure. About the only person who may have had much of a hint was my old pastor because I was asking lots of questions.

I told my close friends about the time I started RCIA. About the same time I told a number of people at my old church, stepping down from teaching and that sort of thing. It all turned out pretty well. They were a bit confused, but very supportive.

I don’t remember exactly when I told my parents, it was around the same time I’m sure, but they aren’t even Christians, so that wasn’t a huge thing.

Since then various people at my old church have heard either from me as I’ve gone back to visit or from my friends.
 
I / we were in a small town in South Dakota. One Sunday at the Baptist Church (where we were), the pastor preached on something was unscriptual - the Holy Spirit quickly slammed the door on him / them. I say I would not be around for my worship leader (song leader) and stepped down from the committee I was on - and was gone. I had an idea where I was going - but didn’t express it. The next Sunday, I was at Mass (hoping nobody I knew would see me - hard to do in a town of 6,000 people - and as a college professor). The campus Catholic group was headed by a nun, and I stopped and talked to her, got signed up for RCIA - didn’t tell anybody - other than those that saw me at Mass. My parents and family were a thousand miles away and didn’t know for 3 years. My wife had been a cradle Catholic, that I convinced to ‘compromise’ and joined me in Protestant Churches for 23 years. (She returned by going to Confession shortly before I was received into the Church).
 
As I am only in the early days of considering conversion, I have talked to just my husband and my mother, both of whom have been surprisingly encouraging.

I am a bit apprehensive as I am going back to my Quaker Meeting tomorrow ( my turn on the coffee rota ) and I know people will ask where I have been this past few weeks. I’m not sure exactly what to say, right now I think I will just say I have been visiting my local church ( which is true ) and leave it at that.
 
SusanAnn said:
As I am only in the early days of considering conversion, I have talked to just my husband and my mother, both of whom have been surprisingly encouraging.

I am a bit apprehensive as I am going back to my Quaker Meeting tomorrow ( my turn on the coffee rota ) and I know people will ask where I have been this past few weeks. I’m not sure exactly what to say, right now I think I will just say I have been visiting my local church ( which is true ) and leave it at that.
Click to expand...
It would be a good idea to entrust yourself to the Virgin Mary, that she may show you the way. 😉
 
bwhite06517 said:
I / we were in a small town in South Dakota. One Sunday at the Baptist Church (where we were), the pastor preached on something was unscriptual - the Holy Spirit quickly slammed the door on him / them. I say I would not be around for my worship leader (song leader) and stepped down from the committee I was on - and was gone.
Click to expand...
Are you saying you were sitting there happily wehn he said something that was wwrong and you stood up and announced your departure and walked out? If so, that’s cool. I would love that kind of guts.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top