Are converts a troubling movement?
At Commonweal, Massimo Faggioli said that there is a “convert movement” which has “something in common with other ecclesial movements in the recent past, such as Opus Dei, Focolare or Sant’Egidio.”
These converts, Faggioli argued, are overly critical and have an unusually large public profile. He described them as “a largely conservative group of converts that seems to have disproportionate representation and voice in comparison to the larger number of recent converts to Catholicism.”
Faggioli added that such converts are “finding an easier welcome into a Church that they then go and criticise.”
Why converts are nothing special
But at Catholic World Report, Carl Olson – a former fundamentalist Protestant – said that singling out converts can be misleading: “I hope that no one who was born into a Catholic family and baptised as an infant thinks he has somehow ‘arrived’ because of his particular origins, or because she was confirmed at the age of 17, or even because he goes to Mass every Sunday.”
Olson said that conversion was an ongoing process for all Catholics. “I never thought, and never will think, that in entering the Catholic Church two decades ago, I somehow ‘arrived’ and was set for life. On the contrary, in becoming Catholic I accepted the fact – the fact – that I must work out my salvation, by God’s grace, with fear and trembling, just as another convert, the Apostle Paul, mentioned to the first Christians at Philippi.”
The sacrifices of becoming Catholic
At cruxnow.com, Fr Dwight Longenecker said that the “immense price” many converts paid should not be overlooked.
For clergy in particular, becoming Catholic is a difficult step. “These are men and women with advanced degrees in every imaginable subject, who take whatever job they can get to feed their family. They take a step of faith to follow Christ’s call to join his Church through amazing sacrifices that very few cradle Catholics would ever begin to contemplate. Their courage and commitment should not be ignored.”
What Faggioli’s piece missed, according to Fr Longenecker, was “the core reason why we converted”. For converts like himself, it wasn’t discontent with their previous denomination which made them Catholic, it was something much more positive.
“There is a bottom line,” Fr Longenecker wrote. “We did not convert because we were miserable in our former Church. Soon after I became a Catholic, someone asked, ‘Well, now that you’re Catholic do you like the Catholic Church?’ I replied, “No. If I were joining a Church I liked, I’d still be an Anglican. I didn’t join the Catholic Church because I liked it. I joined it because it is the true Church.’”
✣Meanwhile…
✣ A Welsh pub that turned away a group of seminarians after mistaking them for a stag party has named a beer in their honour.
The City Arms pub in Cardiff has rebranded “The Rev James”, a popular ale on its menu, as the “Thirsty Priests”.
“We wanted to do something as a ‘thank you’ to the priests for taking the misunderstanding in such good spirits,” said Tim Lewis, PR manager for Brains, the pub’s owners, according to Wales Online.
With the slogan “saving souls and satisfying thirsts”, the “Thirsty Priests” was added to the taps last weekend.
✣ Brighton and Hove Albion right-back Bruno has revealed that he went on a mini-pilgrimage this summer – to give thanks for the team’s promotion to the Premier League.
Bruno (who goes by his first name only) told the Argus that he made a pledge in January that “if we got promoted I would go to there” – “there” being the mountain of Montserrat, near Barcelona in Bruno’s region of Catalonia. It is regarded as the region’s most important spiritual retreat.
“It was three hours walking up to the mountain but it was nice,” he said. “I got there, had a drink of water and I went to the church. I’m a Catholic person. I went to say thank you for what we achieved.”
✣The week in quotations
Christianity isn’t part of your life-support system, like the gym or therapy Fr Timothy Radcliffe Talk in Melbourne
The continued displacement of Christians is … a plague of the Earth’s civilisation Council of the Eastern Patriarchs Statement
Romero was not a superman. He was afraid of dying Archbishop Paglia Homily for the Blessed’s centenary Mass
Pope Francis loves China Bishop Sorondo Global Times
✣Statistic of the week
£23k The median salary for a diocesan priest in the United States – in US currency it is $29,600 Source: CARA
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