How to tell parents of becoming Catholic?

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Hi everyone. So, I have been considering becoming a Catholic for a while now, and so I will no longer be Protestant.

Anyways, my a. father is extremely Baptist. He says that as a child, he was grown up as a Baptist, and still is today. We are actually about to go to Church this morning… and yes, it is a Baptist Church.

So, when I move… I will become a Catholic, and so I was wondering… how would I tell him, and my a. mother?

I actually asked my a. mother, several months ago, what she thought of Catholic? She replied back saying it was different and they believe in different things and it was “weird” according to her.

They are also, in someways, judgmental… and so if I told them, they both would probably get very angry with me.

I feel like this is the correct and right path for me to follow… and I have these feelings of my future and that I will be Catholic… and my children will be Catholic… and we would talk about Christ, and etc.

I may not see the A. Family anymore, but I would still like to tell them the decision I have made, and I would like to know how I can tell the Adoptive Parents, because the Biological Family (I have not seen since I was a baby) I am not sure if they are Catholic or not … because the main religion there is Roman Catholic… and they are very religious about it in the country of Guatemala, which is where I am moving to as an adult, and etc.

Anyways, thank you for anyone that replies.

God Bless You.
 
I think one thing that’s hard for parents is the feeling that their children are rejecting them and rejecting their values. I’d suggest that when you talk with your parents you let them know how much you appreciate the way you were brought up, that they raised you in a Christian home, taught you Christian values, exposed you to prayer and to Scripture. And you’re not rejecting them or any of those ideas in your background. Even if you’ll be expressing your faith differently, you’ll still be bonded in Christ.
 
I would also suggest including that you feel God is calling you to the Catholic faith. It seems like some Protestants are more comfortable with that sort of idea than people just suddenly deciding to do something so different.
 
I don’t know how helpful this is given the question, and given that your family relationship sounds to be in better shape than was mine, but my conversion decision was a cumulative process. My parents both grew up Methodist, and my mom became part of the Jesus People movement of the early 70s and gravitated towards evangelical protestantism from that point forward. I was no fan of attending the 2-hour ‘singing and shouting’ services that she favored when my dad decided on golf rather than church on Sunday morning. But anyway… their decision to pull me out of the public school system in favor of the only Catholic high school in our area, marked the beginning of my conversion. It was there that I learned the objective historical truth about Jesus’ only commissioned Church, and it pretty much answered the question for me on how I would proceed as a Christian, having discovered the Gospel truth. Even though I attended Mass only during school events, I considered myself Catholic by association. I never announced my true feelings or intent to my parents, thinking they would see me as having fallen into some ethnic gang of sorts (did I mention they were Southern as well?) so I kept my intentions a secret until heading off to the US Navy, where I declared my religious affiliation as Roman Catholic.
So when did my parents find out? The moment they saw my dog-tags. There was some bewilderment on their part, but seeing as how I was now an emancipated adult, they greeted the news more with sullen resignation than outright objections. It was never discussed again while my father was still alive.
The particulars of going from ‘Catholic by association’ to ‘Catholic by sacramental conversion’ is another story for another day, but it’s a doozie! 😃

Peace-
 
In the end, be honest.

When they ask you questions, be honest about why you want to be Catholic.

I waited to tell my dad and, by the point, I told him he seemed to accept its inevitability. I had married a Catholic.

His roommate has a bigger problem with me being Catholic than my dad does. However, I try to focus on what we share in common, not the differences. In the end, we are all trying to get to heaven and worship Jesus the best way that we know how.

Good luck.
 
Thank you everyone. I just wish there was a better way of telling them. Especially when they will try to argue and they say that the “Baptist way is better and true.” 🤷
 
Well, “it was different and they believe in different things and it was “weird” according to her” is hardly the worst thing an uninformed outsider could say about the Catholic Church. It does not sound particularly judgmental, coming from someone who has no interest whatsoever in ever becoming Catholic.

I would not tell her until I was more certain that I would convert, honestly. She is not going to be of any help in your process of discerning. She will probably be upset, and that won’t help you. You will have to field some arguments, and that is nothing to rush into.

By “may not see the A. Family anymore,” I’m assuming you believe they may cut you off. I would not leap to that conclusion. Play this as it comes. Have an advisor to help you decide when to tell them, to practice how you might tell them, and to be there for you to tell how it went. Your pastor or your RCIA sponsor would be good choices. You don’t want to lose contact with the people who raised you in sacrificial love, not if you don’t have to. If that happens, you’ll need support from people who can look into your eyes and listen to you in person. Give yourself that, and try not to be too pessimistic. You never know what the Holy Spirit may be up to!
 
Good to see you’re still on here and not backing away from conversion. I think I would just tell them on a need to know basis. You can still attend their church but not receive the bread and wine when communion is offered. Begin attending a Catholic Church nearby and make sure to introduce yourself to the priest and parishioners. Ask about RCIA and adult formation classes. After mass, parishioners and priests gave me books, rosaries, hugs, advice, listened intently, and even shared tears of joy with me. Eventually I had the guts to tell my husband and children, then my sister, cousins, mother, my husbands parents, my godmother, and then all of Facebook. By then I was already in RCIA and had been counseled by the adult education director a few times. I had also shared my reasons for attending RCIA, standing up with the entire class watching and listening. I believe it may have been the most powerful conversion story of the RCIA class. Most were there because of a spouse. Some because they had ignored the call for years and couldn’t ignore it anymore. They were tired of running. I got the call suddenly and KNEW I couldn’t ignore it. I have certainly lapsed on being able to follow through on things like daily mass and workouts but Sundays I go to church whether we’re at home or on vacation.

Give your parents the benefit of the doubt. At first they may be hurt that you’ve chosen to pursue the Catholic Church and your biological family so intently, but they may be willing to help you after getting over the initial shock. Is there a friend or sibling you can ask to be with you when you begin to break the news to your parents? Personally I would make sure you have a way out of the house right after, don’t let them argue with you. If they take it well and you want to answer their questions, stay. If it gets ugly, leave.
 
CathConvert2013 said:
Good to see you’re still on here and not backing away from conversion. I think I would just tell them on a need to know basis. You can still attend their church but not receive the bread and wine when communion is offered. Begin attending a Catholic Church nearby and make sure to introduce yourself to the priest and parishioners. Ask about RCIA and adult formation classes. After mass, parishioners and priests gave me books, rosaries, hugs, advice, listened intently, and even shared tears of joy with me. Eventually I had the guts to tell my husband and children, then my sister, cousins, mother, my husbands parents, my godmother, and then all of Facebook. By then I was already in RCIA and had been counseled by the adult education director a few times. I had also shared my reasons for attending RCIA, standing up with the entire class watching and listening. I believe it may have been the most powerful conversion story of the RCIA class. Most were there because of a spouse. Some because they had ignored the call for years and couldn’t ignore it anymore. They were tired of running. I got the call suddenly and KNEW I couldn’t ignore it. I have certainly lapsed on being able to follow through on things like daily mass and workouts but Sundays I go to church whether we’re at home or on vacation.

Give your parents the benefit of the doubt. At first they may be hurt that you’ve chosen to pursue the Catholic Church and your biological family so intently, but they may be willing to help you after getting over the initial shock. Is there a friend or sibling you can ask to be with you when you begin to break the news to your parents? Personally I would make sure you have a way out of the house right after, don’t let them argue with you. If they take it well and you want to answer their questions, stay. If it gets ugly, leave.
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The only person I have told about this conversion is a good friend and she understood completely. Also, I have told my adoptive sister, she was a bit offended at first, but then she realized that it is something important and said I should do what I want to do. So when I do tell them, I will know she is okay with it.
 
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