Who has Converted from Another Religion to Catholic?

Question

People converting to Catholic, got to be rare. Usually your born into it it seems. Has anybody actually choosen to be a Catholic? If so why?

Answer 1

No it is rather common. Catholicism is growing quickly and conversions are huge especially from Protestant denominations. There have also been a lot of conversions lately from Evangelical Christianity either into Catholicism or its sister Orthodoxy. In fact an entire evangelical community, pastor and all, converted to Orthodoxy a few years ago. In a parish I was in they had around a dozen coversions and one year around twenty conversions each year.

In my own parish we are having space problems from conversions.

I chose to be Catholic. I was converted as a teen by a fundamentalist pastor, however his answers seemed shallow so I read the reformers both Luther and Calvin. It was Luther's writings that convinced me to be Catholic. If you take out that Luther became angry as time went on, he desparately loved the Catholic Church. All of the abuses of the time were gone and the Church he loved was what is happening now. Even Lutherans recognize this and the Evangelical Lutheran Church is seeking formal union with the Church of Rome. Everyone has come a long way in 500 years.

My wife was Anabaptist but became Catholic. I was concerned it was about me, but she converted for her own reasons. If you are really curious I suggest you read "Rome Sweet Home," by the Hahns. http://www.amazon.com/Rome-Sweet-Home-Journey-Catholicism/dp/0898704782

Both were Protestant scripture scholars. They describe their journey to Catholicism. He was an ardent anti-Catholic and so speaks from the view of those who are adamantly against what they think the Catholic Church believes. In his scholarly investigations he accidently picked up a Catholic book on scripture. As he and other scripture scholars began reading it and other books, they gradually realized that the Catholic Church is the bible based Church and everyone else is just a shadow of what the Church really is. The crisis for scholars is intellectual honesty. It is one thing to be an undeducated fundamentalist pastor it is another to be able to read the bible in its original languages and understand the context and meaning deeply. The former simply can claim ignorance, the latter cannot.

Scholars must be honest to the truth and to the data in front of them. The churches are working their way home, but most of them slowly.

Answer 2

You are incorrect in thinking that conversion is rare. The catholic church is growing in leaps and bounds, especially in the lower hemisphere.

After doing a lot of research on my own, I became a Catholic. Since I already believed in Jesus, I wanted to find the "most Christian church." I chose Catholic because it is the original Christian church.

As a little background to this, Jesus created the first Pope when He said to Peter:

"I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it." - Matthew 16:18.

Peter was therefore the first Pope, or Holy Father and each successor Pope was chosen until today. There is actually a trace of all the Pope's (Holy Fathers) in the church back to Peter.

I like the church, and since it is the original source, I can trust more in how the Bible is interpreted and what Christ wanted for His church on earth. Also I like that I can go to any country or state and visit a Catholic church and I will get the same mass no matter where I am. But most of all, I like the Eucharist which is eating the bread and drinking the blood (wine) of Christ at every mass.

The Catholic church was also given authority on earth when Jesus said to Peter:

Matthew 16:19
"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."

Of course Protestants broke from the church about 500 years ago and now there are literally hundreds of Christian churches. Now, I would be the last one to criticize other Christian churches because the thing that matters the most is a faith in Christ and living a Christian life which is hard to do. But the good news is that Jesus is about peace and love and forgives sinners.

Answer 3

Of course people convert to Catholicism. I am in the process of converting to Catholicism from Seventh-Day Adventism. Why am I doing it? Simple, I find that the Roman Catholic church is a better fit for me. We are all entitled to find the path that works best for us.

Answer 4

Actually tens of thousands of adults are joining the Catholic Church.

In 2004 alone there were 80,817 adult baptisms. And an additional 73,684 baptized adults were received into full communion with the Church.

And that's only in the United States.

I personally know a couple of dozen converts including our pastor.

With love in Christ.

Answer 5

I converted to Catholicism.

I was raised Protestant. My mother was Presbyterian..... my father was E.U.B. My Grandmother and Great Aunt were Sunday school teachers.

I learned alot as a child and now have found my faith in the Catholic Church.

Answer 6

I converted to Catholicism when I was in college, about COUGH GAG HACK years ago. (That always seems to happen when the subject of age comes up. . .sorry about that.) ;-)

In my case, it was a foregone conclusion. My parents were Methodists, but our neighbors were Catholic. I loved everything about their faith and determined that I was going to join the Church as soon as I was on my own.

And here, all these CHOAK SNORT GASP years later, I still love being a Catholic. I love the beauty of the Mass, feeling the Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and the solidarity of being with like-minded believers.

To me, Catholicism is a source of strength, comfort, joy, and peace.

Answer 7

i'm a United Methodist that desires to transform to a Catholic! My fiance is Catholic, and that i prefer to be the comparable faith as him. United Methodist is an extraordinarily large, laid lower back and relaxing faith to be a participant of, so i'm extremely nervous to grow to be a Catholic...they kneel and take Communion each mass? besides he says you will possibly maximum probable have the skill to maintain your godparents.

Answer 8

There is abundance of such converted to christians in india.And mostly people actually call them and they also call themselves as,converted.Not a rare thing in india.i was in a convent/missionary school,and all my teachers mostly from south india were converted christians.And most nurses in india are all converted christians too.

Answer 9

Why is this on your agenda? To keep putting down the Catholic Religion? Do you not follow the guidelines of this community? Why do you ask a question that does nothing but foster animosity towards another Christian? Do you actually call yourself a Christian while you do such a thing? You tempt others to do this too.

Answer 10

i chose Catholicism because i never hear hatred and bashing and malicious remarks being said against other people's faith. i don't have any religion by the way, and i really want to be a Catholic. i feel very safe and peaceful with them. they are not judgmental and condemning either. i just love that religion. it fascinates me a lot.