Please share conversion stories--converts from Orthodoxy

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Kirovsakya said:
… Orthodoxy has many converts from Western Christian denominations, including the RCC. Once exposed to the fullness and authenticity of Holy Orthodoxy - regardless their former confession of faith - few have any interest in backsliding.

'Sakya.
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Is that a personal perception or do you have any data that can support your statement?
 
Matthew_Holford said:
Is that a personal perception or do you have any data that can support your statement?
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Yes, that’s a personal perception based on a number of face-to-face discussion with folks who have converted to Orthodoxy from Western Christian churches in the past several years. I am not a social-science researcher.

Naturally, your mileage may vary according to geographic region. If you need data for your city, you may wish to conduct interviews at your local Orthodox parish. Many pastors would be pleased to introduce you to recent converts among his parishioners.

'Sakya.
 
Kirovsakya said:
Yes, that’s a personal perception based on a number of face-to-face discussion with folks who have converted to Orthodoxy from Western Christian churches in the past several years. I am not a social-science researcher.

Naturally, your mileage may vary according to geographic region. If you need data for our city, you may wish to conduct interviews at your local Orthodox parish. Many pastors would be pleased to introduce you to recent converts among his parishioners.

'Sakya.
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You would not need to be a social science researcher. For all I know there may be various statistics published by Orthodox churches giving data about the number of Christians who transfer to an Orthodox church. Without such data I don’t think a claim can be made, as inferred by some of your posts, that there is a significant number of people who become Orthodox.

I have no doubt there are non-Orthodox Christians who become Orthodox and who then remain Orthodox for the rest of their lives. If you want to claim that this happens in large numbers some reference to support it would be appropriate.
 
Matthew_Holford said:
I have no doubt there are non-Orthodox Christians who become Orthodox and who then remain Orthodox for the rest of their lives. If you want to claim that this happens in large numbers some reference to support it would be appropriate.
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While I don’t have the source handy for you, and having recently come home from work have no intention of getting it, in the OCA and Antiochan Churches (second and third largest Orthodox Churches in North America), more than half the clergy converted to Orthodoxy at some point. This is quite indicative that there are significant numbers who convert.

Although I’m not sure either why you doubt something like this, or how you’ve come to question it in a thread that you admit should be put back on topic.
Although I don’t see the point of the OP’s question either, so maybe it’s just me.
 
Volodymyr said:
Conversion

I hope this is not a source of confusion. But I have recently been reading of the conversion of Benedictine Father Gabriil Bunge from Roman Catholic church where he was apparent a well known author and theologian of patristical writings to Holy Orthodoxy.

Fr. Gabriel Bunge – Benedictine monk, well-respected patristic scholar, and author of the book Earthen Vessels: The Practice of Personal Prayer According to the Patristic Tradition was a Benedictine monk in Switzerland who had been living the eremitical life since 1980. As a Patristics scholar, he has contributed many articles and books to numerous spiritual and monastic journals.
On August 27, 2010 Fr. Gabriel converted to Orthodoxy in the presence of Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk and Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia during an All-Night Vigil at the Church of the ”Joy of All Who Sorrow” Icon in Bolshaya Ordynka Street in Moscow.
Metropolitan Hilarion said to him, ”You have been a Catholic, but an Orthodox deep in your heart. Today, before the All-Night Vigil, you have become Orthodox, thus naturally completing a long spiritual path.

I have translated his explanation for such

Already in Greece, being a Catholic, I understood that precisely West fell from the East and not the other way. That moment was for me indescriabable. It required time to understand and accept it. I cannot condemn anybody or judge, no. This concerns a whole large historical process and we cannot speak that this one is guilty, and also that one. But a fact is a fact. What we call Western Christianity came to birth as a chain of breaks with the East - The Grigorianska Reform, then the actual separation of the Churches in 11 century, then the Reformation in the XV century and finally the 2nd Vatikan council already in the 20th century. This is of course a very rough sketch but in the whole, it seems to me to be faithful.
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Irrelevant. It is not what the OP is asking for.
 
Matthew_Holford said:
You would not need to be a social science researcher. For all I know there may be various statistics published by Orthodox churches giving data about the number of Christians who transfer to an Orthodox church. Without such data I don’t think a claim can be made, as inferred by some of your posts, that there is a significant number of people who become Orthodox.

I have no doubt there are non-Orthodox Christians who become Orthodox and who then remain Orthodox for the rest of their lives. If you want to claim that this happens in large numbers some reference to support it would be appropriate.
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I don’t really know where to find published statistics on all this. I merely reported what I was told by a handful of ordinary lay faithful who have recently converted to Orthodoxy from Western Christian churches. .

No need to take my word for anything. Orthodoxy has a longer history in the British Isles than it does here in the Colonies. So conduct your own survey, summarize your findings, and report them here if you want.

Better yet, find some of those elusive folks who have converted from East to West, as was requested by the OP.

'Sakya
 
Nine_Two said:
While I don’t have the source handy for you, and having recently come home from work have no intention of getting it, in the OCA and Antiochan Churches (second and third largest Orthodox Churches in North America), more than half the clergy converted to Orthodoxy at some point. This is quite indicative that there are significant numbers who convert.

Although I’m not sure either why you doubt something like this, or how you’ve come to question it in a thread that you admit should be put back on topic.
Although I don’t see the point of the OP’s question either, so maybe it’s just me.
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The OCA parish I visit has a former Anglican priest as their priest. 80% of their congregation are converts from different backgrounds, but many are Protestants and there are a few RCs. I don’t know if they have any who slid back to their former faith or moved to Catholicism. But it is a strong and spiritual parish, I doubt anyone would convert out of Orthodoxy from that parish as long as the said priest is there. He’s an excellent priest and highly regarded.
 
Nine_Two said:
While I don’t have the source handy for you, and having recently come home from work have no intention of getting it, in the OCA and Antiochan Churches (second and third largest Orthodox Churches in North America), more than half the clergy converted to Orthodoxy at some point. This is quite indicative that there are significant numbers who convert.
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Without the data I cannot see the point to this. The two cited churches may be the largest Orthodox churches in North America. That does not indicate they are huge. The numbers might be significant depending on the number of priests. The point I am making is not that people do not transfer to the Orthodox churches. I am not saying those who transfer do not stay. A post was made that inferred that the number of people transferring to Orthodoxy is large. All I’m asking for is any statistic that supports that statement rather than it being just a personal perception.
Nine_Two said:
Although I’m not sure either why you doubt something like this, or how you’ve come to question it in a thread that you admit should be put back on topic.
Although I don’t see the point of the OP’s question either, so maybe it’s just me.
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I do not doubt it. I am asking for data to support what is a relatively bold claim. Yes, the thread should get back on track. But, I don’t think this is completely off track. The poster I am asking to provide some evidence is suggesting we’re not going to hear any conversion stories of Orthodox to Catholic because the flow is in the other direction.
 
Kirovsakya said:
I don’t really know where to find published statistics on all this. I merely reported what I was told by a handful of ordinary lay faithful who have recently converted to Orthodoxy from Western Christian churches. .

No need to take my word for anything. Orthodoxy has a longer history in the British Isles than it does here in the Colonies. So conduct your own survey, summarize your findings, and report them here if you want.

Better yet, find some of those elusive folks who have converted from East to West, as was requested by the OP.

'Sakya
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I do not need to find any data. I am not proposing anything. I cannot present data to support nothing. If you want to make a claim put it into context. How many people move from East to West? I don’t know. How many stay in the West? I don’t know. I have not claimed that people move from Orthodoxy to Catholicism. Do I want them to? No, but that’s another thread.
 
Matthew_Holford said:
I do not doubt it. I am asking for data to support what is a relatively bold claim. Yes, the thread should get back on track. But, I don’t think this is completely off track. The poster I am asking to provide some evidence is suggesting we’re not going to hear any conversion stories of Orthodox to Catholic because the flow is in the other direction.
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They were two different topics. While the information about the reverse of what the OP is asking may be connected, it is not what he wants. It is not for me to say but I guess it would be good to honour the OP’s wish since he started the thread and it is an information that he may be interested in. How this thread has been hijacked I have no idea the wisdom for it but obviously if one is inspired by this thread to tell about the reverse conversion, then start another thread by all means.
 
Reuben_J said:
They were two different topics.
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What are?
Reuben_J said:
While the information about the reverse of what the OP is asking may be connected, it is not what he wants. It is not for me to say but I guess it would be good to honour the OP’s wish since he started the thread and it is an information that he may be interested in. How this thread has been hijacked I have no idea the wisdom for it but obviously if one is inspired by this thread to tell about the reverse conversion, then start another thread by all means.
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I did not start the discussion of people moving West-East. If you think this needs addressing perhaps you would like to take it up with the poster who began that discusiion.
 
Matthew_Holford said:
What are?

I did not start the discussion of people moving West-East. If you think this needs addressing perhaps you would like to take it up with the poster who began that discusiion.
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Matthew, please…

In post 3, I offered the name of James Likoudis as one high profile person who has publicly renounced Holy Orthodoxy in favor of a Western Christianity. He is outspoken, unrepentant, and entrenched in his current beliefs. I have not verified his credentials nor fact-checked anything he has written or said. And he has said and written plenty.

Unless and until you can supply a genuine Orthodox to RC convert, I invite you to click on Mr. Likoudis’ links and learn what you can of his unusual journey.

'Sakya
 
Kirovsakya said:
Matthew, please…

In post 3, I offered the name of James Likoudis as one high profile person who has publicly renounced Holy Orthodoxy in favor of a Western Christianity. He is outspoken, unrepentant, and entrenched in his current beliefs. I have not verified his credentials nor fact-checked anything he has written or said. And he has said and written plenty.

Unless and until you can supply a genuine Orthodox to RC convert, I invite you to click on Mr. Likoudis’ links and learn what you can of his unusual journey.

'Sakya
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I was not replying to a post you made. Therefore, I do not understand why my post has upset you. May be I am not expressing this well. I will try my best now. You said that there are a significant number of “conversions” to the Orthodox churches. I do not dispute this. I would be very surprised to learn that no one ever transferred to the Orthodox churches. All I ever asked was are there any data to support your claim that there are a lot of transfers. I have not mentioned anything about people transferring to Catholicism. I do not see it as some sort of competition: who can attract more transfers, the Catholics or the Orthodox? I do not understand why you keep insisting on me providing examples of East to West “converts”. I am sure there are some. Would you doubt they happen? I have never made any claim for how many there may be.
 
Ok. Before this gets ugly… there are a couple of Orthodox who intend to profess the Catholic faith in the EC Forum. Just letting you know. 🙂
 
Matthew_Holford said:
What are?

I did not start the discussion of people moving West-East. If you think this needs addressing perhaps you would like to take it up with the poster who began that discusiion.
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Sorry Mathew, I address the wrong person. :o

I thought this thread has been hijacked with useless argument that is irrelevant to what the OP wants and thus being veered to a direction that is obstructing to the purpose of the thread. I note you were the one who asked to get back to the topic. Sorry about that. The topic obviously is about conversion story of Orthodoxy to Catholicism and not vice versa. There are reasons why people starts such thread, and we should be compliant to that or keep our mouths shut.
 
Reuben_J said:
Sorry Mathew, I address the wrong person. :o

I thought this thread has been hijacked with useless argument that is irrelevant to what the OP wants and thus being veered to a direction that is obstructing to the purpose of the thread. I note you were the one who asked to get back to the topic. Sorry about that. The topic obviously is about conversion story of Orthodoxy to Catholicism and not vice versa. There are reasons why people starts such thread, and we should be compliant to that or keep our mouths shut.
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Apology gratefully accepted.🙂

It would appear that no one is going to come forth with the stories requested by the OP.
 
Couple of points:
  1. There are a few Orthodox Christians on CAF who either have decided to transfer to the Catholic Church or are considering doing so
  2. There is a very active “convert” from Oriental Orthodoxy (Coptic) on this board - many of us know him - I’ll let him decide if he chooses to contribute to this thread
  3. As per Catholic canon law, Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Christians are automatically enlisted in the Eastern Catholic Church that best reflects the tradition of the “convert’s” original Orthodox Church…so we really aren’t talking about an East to West journey. Of course, some individuals could request to be received into the Latin Church, but there would be a lot of paperwork involved, and such a move would not be encouraged by Rome.
 
katcecelia said:
I’m not a convert, but since no one has replied yet… I suggest you go to www.chnetwork.org
it’s the coming home network and they have many stories and even sort them by what people are converting from. 🙂
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Interesting enough, even here there are no stories from Orthodox to Catholicism, but there are 6 Jewish → Catholic converts, which is what the OP was looking for.
 
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