List of people who converted to Catholicism

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This page lists historic individuals who at some point in their lives, sometimes on their deathbeds, formally adopted the Catholic faith without having been born into it. Individuals who were baptized Catholics, but who as an adult practiced a non-Catholic faith (such as evangelical Protestant), then returned to the Roman Catholic Church are technically "reverts" and are so noted where known. As those who converted to Christianity before 1054 may have been either Orthodox, Catholic, or a mixture of both in leanings they should not be listed without sufficient justification.

Contents

[edit] The List

[edit] A-F

  • Approximately 400 Anglican priests in the UK, along with some politicians such as Ann Widdecombe and John Gummer who objected in 1993 to the ordination of women to the priesthood in the Church of England (see Graham Leonard, below).

[edit] G-L

[edit] M-Z

[edit] Converts who later left Catholicism

  • Rod Dreher - Conservative "Crunchy Con" columnist who converted to Catholicism from Methodism and then later converted to Eastern Orthodoxy.
  • Ammon Hennacy: Christian anarchist and activist who was Roman Catholic from 1952 to 1965. His essay On Leaving the Catholic Church concerns his formal renunciation of the religion.[44]
  • David Kirk: Mississippi-born and reared (as a Baptist) civil rights activist who became a (Melkite) Catholic priest, but late in life converted to Eastern Orthodox Christianity
  • Halldór Laxness: Icelandic writer who converted to Catholicism in 1923[45], but later became disillusioned with it.[46]
  • Robert Lowell: American poet who converted to Catholicism in 1940 but left the church after only a few years.[citation needed]
  • Walter M. Miller, Jr. - Science fiction author who converted in 1947 and is noted for the Catholic-themed A Canticle for Leibowitz, which is praised on the website of the Eternal Word Television Network[47], but later said being referred to as a Catholic was "embarrassing"[citation needed].
  • Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Franco-Swiss philosopher, writer and political theorist who converted to Catholicism as a young man but later reverted to Calvinism in 1754.[48]

[edit] References

  1. ^ BBC
  2. ^ Gennadius Library
  3. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia
  4. ^ The Guardian
  5. ^ BBC Profile
  6. ^ Guardian Unlimited Books: "I wanted it for hellfire and candles. I was married in a Catholic church and I prefer going to a Catholic service, but it changed, like everything else. Even in the Catholic church now they tell you to turn round and shake hands." She looks aghast.
  7. ^ http://www.francisbeckwith.com
  8. ^ Notre Dame
  9. ^ BBC NEWS | UK | Tony Blair joins Catholic Church
  10. ^ Contemporary Catholic Converts Tell Their Stories
  11. ^ Shropshire bio
  12. ^ The Tablet
  13. ^ Boston Globe: McCloskey personally baptized Judge Robert Bork, political pundits Robert Novak and Lawrence Kudlow, publisher Alfred Regnery, financier Lewis Lehrman, and U.S. Republican Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas
  14. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia
  15. ^ PBS
  16. ^ Time Magazine: Bush recently made perhaps the ultimate leap for the son of the ultimate Wasp: he converted to Catholicism.
  17. ^ Washington University St. Louis: He became a Roman Catholic in 1935 and fought for Franco in Spain.
  18. ^ Royalty site
  19. ^ [1]: "She accepted him when he reverted to Anglicanism but canceled their wedding plans when he "went over to" Rome for a second time. Collinson's parents disowned him, and he was reduced to begging from his friends in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood."
  20. ^ Gifford Lectures
  21. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia
  22. ^ Columbia.edu
  23. ^ Biography at Catholic Worker's site
  24. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia
  25. ^ The Guardian
  26. ^ Madonna House
  27. ^ Kirjasto
  28. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia
  29. ^ Catholic University of America
  30. ^ Crisis Magazine
  31. ^ The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  32. ^ Black Elk Speaks: Black Elk saw in Catholicism a way for his people to practice religion within the confines of the United States laws, and "at the same time, he was able to fulfill the traditional role of a Lakota leader, poor himself, but ever generous to his people"
  33. ^ Prodigious Thrust: A Memoir of Catholic Conversion by William Everson ISBN 1-57423-007-7
  34. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia
  35. ^ 1911 Encyclopedia
  36. ^ The Guardian
  37. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia
  38. ^ William F. Buckley, Jr., "Howard Hunt, R.I.P" National Review, March 5, 2007: "Howard Hunt was my boss, and our friendship was such that soon after I quit the agency and returned to Connecticut, he and his wife advised me that they were joining the Catholic Church and asked if I would serve as godfather to their two daughters, which assignment I gladly accepted, continuing in close touch with them."
  39. ^ The Standard
  40. ^ The Tablet
  41. ^ McTutor
  42. ^ Ignatius Insight: Adrienne von Speyr
  43. ^ "Parents eyes"
  44. ^ Catholic Worker
  45. ^ Nobel Prize bio
  46. ^ "Books and Writers"
  47. ^ EWTN
  48. ^ Encyclopedia Britannica: Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

[edit] External links

  • [2] Historic Catholic Converts to Catholicism Produced by EWTN hosted by Fr. Charles Connor - Real Audio

[edit] See also

[edit] Main articles

[edit] Catholic related lists

[edit] Conversion related lists