Has anyone converted to Catholic from Protestant?

[allmc2008]

I am wondering. First I am in a Disciple of Christ denomination and Second I recently went to a friends memorial service and it was held at a catholic church. For a long time I was loosing faith and I was never more moved spiritually. I researched the Catholic church and enjoyed what I read. I don't agree 100% with everything on there political points but I found a lot of other things moving.

Anyway, has anyone ever made a conversion like that?? What should I expect? I am still thinking about it so I am not taking classes yet.

Thanks!!!

[Cat]

Interesting topic. I have never converted from one to the other per se... but I grew up with a Catholic mother and Protestant (slash borderline agnostic -- he wasn't very religious at all) father. I was never baptized, mainly because my father's family looked poorly upon Catholics at the time. I'm not sure for what reason, maybe it's because my mom is not American (she's French) and they sort of looked down on that. So from a young age I sort of felt a little protective and defensive of my mom and maybe of her faith, too.

I went to an Episcopalian school where, unfortunately, religion came across as something very remote and formal and sermonising. This was a time when religion was still kind of musty and old-fashioned. I also took Catholic catechism lessons after school with a couple other girls, and the teacher there was a nutcase who one day told us we were all bad girls who were going to hell. We must have been 8 or 9! Luckily my mom pulled me out of that class immediately as that did not fit at all with her concept of faith.

So for a while there I grew up a little afraid of any religion! And I felt torn with guilt over whether I really was heading for hell. So I stepped away from any church-going or religious questions. It was not until I turned 17-18 that I went to Catholic church with a friend and her family. The church was filled with families and people of all ages. Little kids were playing in the aisle, individuals were coming in throughout the service. It seemed very warm and welcoming and the priest talked in positive terms about being part of a community and loving people. Little by little, I started to turn towards the Catholic church for that very reason -- its spirit of community. Its focus on education. Not saying Protestant religions do not have that focus, of course they do, but sometimes it's a matter of preference -- and circumstance. Where you live, who you hang out with.

I am still unbaptized, mainly because of time (!) -- you have to study and prepare for it. I am also not a church-goer every Sunday, just once in a while. There are still areas that I do not agree with the Church. I still have my questions. But I do know that I no longer feel dread walking into a church, just peace. My advice to you is to research this a bit more to see if Catholicism is for you. What is good for one person may not be right for another. Ask friends what they think of the church and its teachings. And look into the actual church you might go to if you changed religions. What are the priests like? What do they talk about in their homilies? Are they welcoming? Do they get you thinking? What is the community who attend that church like? What activities are there?

Only you can 'feel' what feels good to you and what may attract you to a religion or turn you off from it. Take your time. It may be that after a little digging, what you find out about Catholicism reaffirms your connection with your Protestant faith! And that's fine.

[Wales2004]

You mention a memorial service but have you attended an actual mass since then?

Although I love most of what I refer to as the "rituals" in the order of service, I am unlikely to ever convert to Catholicism as I've said in another thread. One I didn't mention before is the Confessional. While this booth makes a great movie scene and it seems like fun to "anonymously" confess one's sins, saying Hail Mary and counting off a rosary bead doesn't work for me. I don't need an intercessory to speak to God for me when I'm perfectly capable of doing it myself. Nor would I ever place any man above myself.

But that's me and this is a highly personal decision.

[Cheap21]

I'm Catholic but haven't gone to confession in years and it was bc I found out that a priest who is a close family friend was secretly sleeping with my younger sister's teenage best friend and his brother who also happened to be a priest was helping to cover it up. From that moment on, I was like why confess my sins to someone who is just as bad if not worse than myself? I'll talk directly to God with that

[chicklitsandfantasies]

I don't go to confession either. A few years ago in our diocese we found out that one of the priests had been sleeping with and underage female.

[Cat]

That's like something on a soap -- if, say, Days dared to go there.

Seriously, though, that must have been very traumatic for your sister's best friend. I hope he got found out and prosecuted.

And yes, the Catholic church has a LONG history of covering its ass/turning a blind eye to some serious infractions. I haven't been to confession in years, either. I would get anxiety about it as a kid, lol.

[Eric83]

I had to take a step back from church. One pastor ended being accused of sleeping with the young men at the church and the other randomly calls all the men together on a Saturday night and tells them he is leaving for a bigger church. He wasn't even man enough to announce it to the whole church.