converts Archives

An apology for needless offense — and how to disagree better
- Commentary
- August 12, 2017
Recently I used the term “convert neurosis” as a metaphor, and then — because we journalists feel compelled to substantiate our assertions with good evidence — listed a number of people as examples. That offended some, and many others on their behalf. For that I want to apologize. I shouldn’t have given names, and I shouldn’t have used the term “neurosis”. Sorry.
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Pope Francis and the convert problem
- Commentary
- August 9, 2017
Some of the biggest critics of Pope Francis are people who joined the Catholic Church from a different faith, or none at all. Is it possible the baggage they brought with them has distorted their hermeneutic, and they are suffering from ‘convert neurosis’?
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5 faith facts about Sam Brownback: Political champion of religious freedom
- Church in the US, Religion News Service
- July 29, 2017
Donald Trump has nominated Sam Brownback, the current governor of Kansas, to be the new ambassador for the Commission for International Religious Freedom. Brownback has a long history with religious freedom including being one of the sponsors who created the commission when he was in the U.S. Senate.
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At ‘mother of all vigils,’ U.S. church welcomes thousands of new Catholics

Thousands of new Catholics joined the Church in the United States during the “mother of vigils” when catechumens receive the sacraments of initiation. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington reported the number of candidates in nearly 60 dioceses.

A convert looks at Pope Francis and Church unity

Christopher White is a convert to the Catholic faith who was drawn by the unity in the Church, with the pope being an important part of that unity. Now he wonders why Catholics who said “the cafeteria is closed” when John Paul II and Benedict XVI were popes, are under Pope Francis not only supporting an open cafeteria, but trying to start a food fight.