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Just got hold of the latest issue of the magazine my old alma mater in Spain sends me regularly. A feature about a movie actor, now also a producer, immediately got my attention. First, a magazine that tries to be serious in character would normally not talk about actors and celebrities. Second, though I’ve heard of the story before in a tangential way, I thought it would just have a short shelf life, just a flash in the pan, you know. In short, the article broke my guiding principles. It deserved to be read. And I did. Now, I feel...

Senior Anglican Bishop Reveals He Is Ready To Convert To Roman Catholicism The Rt Rev John Hind, the Bishop of Chichester, has announced he is considering becoming a Roman Catholic in a move that could spark an exodus of clergy. Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent 24 Oct 2009 Bishop Hind said he would be "happy" to be reordained as a Catholic priest and said that divisions in Anglicanism could make it impossible to stay in the church. He is the most senior Anglican to admit that he is prepared to accept the offer from the Pope, who shocked the Church...

I Won't Rule Out Converting To Catholicism, Says Bishop By MAIL ON SUNDAY REPORTER 25th October 2009 Outspoken: Dr Michael Nazir-Ali could set a trend A controversial bishop yesterday became the most high-profile cleric to hint he might convert to the Roman Catholic Church following the Pope’s offer to disaffected Anglicans. The former Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, an outspoken figure in the Church of England, said: ‘I won’t rule it out or rule it in. I wait with interest to see what the details of the offer are.’ Any suggestion that Dr Nazir-Ali, who retired in September, could...

He used to perform abortions. Then he returned to his Catholic faith. Now, Dr. John Bruchalski's mission is to help spread the message of Divine Mercy through his medical practice. His powerful conversion story is why planners for the upcoming North American Congress on Mercy have invited him to give his witness for the historic Nov. 14-15 event. First, he founded the Tepeyac Family Center in 1994. The obstetrical and gynecological facility in Fairfax, Va., combines the best of modern medicine with the healing presence of Jesus Christ. Then, in 2000, he founded Divine Mercy Care, a non-profit organization performing...

Glenn Beck leans forward on his elbows. His voice hushes. His eyes grow red at the corners. He presses his lips together and clears his throat. He cannot speak. The tears fall, and just for a moment the brashest voice in American conservatism today falls silent. This is what happens when Beck tells the story of his 1999 conversion to Mormonism. “I was friendless, working in the smallest radio market I had ever worked in... a hopeless alcoholic, abusing drugs every day,” Beck said in an interview taped last fall. “I was trying to find a job and nobody would...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A conference call by an Ohio teenager, who ran away to Orlando after she says her father threatened to kill her over her religious conversion, has surfaced online, and it has the Department of Children and Families asking questions. Nine minutes of the 17-minute call was posted to YouTube. In the call, Rifqa Bary can be heard praying – at times becoming unintelligible. The call begins with the teenager telling her story of converting to Christianity and fleeing from Ohio to Central Florida in July to escape her Muslim parents, saying her father made threats on her...

A Florida judge declined today to decide whether a 17-year-old girl should be sent home to her Muslim parents in Ohio or allowed to stay in Florida with a couple of Christian pastors. Circuit Judge Daniel Dawson instead urged the lawyers, the girl, her parents and the pastors to settle the custody issue in mediation. In the meantime, Fathima Rifqa Bary was ordered to remain under the jurisdiction of Florida's Department of Children and Families. The teenager, who goes by the name of Rifqa, has told Florida authorities that she fled her home in July because she had secretly converted...

Rifqa Bary, the teenage girl who converted to Christianity from Islam and then fled for her life after her father threatened to kill her, faces daunting obstacles in her quest to be free. As a high-profile apostate, she is Islamists' highest value target right now. And on top of that, she faces a Leftist media that is complicit with those who want to see her dead or institutionalized. Witness the outrageous treatment that Newsweek gave to her story in its September 9 issue, and especially to Jamal Jivanjee, Rifqa's friend and confidante. Newsweek reporter Arian Campo-Flores, said Jivanjee, asked him...

Christian Convert, beaten, raped and India Will Deport her to Iran to Face possible Death unless case can be reopened by petition. Exclusive: RightSideNews Interviews Marzieh Hosseinpoor Imagine, if you can, being Iranian, being a young woman, being an educated young woman. Now imagine being that educated young woman, working to complete a higher degree in her education and conducting research in order to do so. Got the picture? Good, now add to that picture, that this woman's area of research is related to something so taboo, considered so unseemly by the Islamic regime, if discovered, as to be an...

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But they don’t. It costs between $12,500 to $22,500 to convert a gasoline-powered car to natural gas in an autoshop. That old gas hog just can’t be greened up for cheap. Now. But it could be. Natural gas conversions don’t not have to cost that much: there is no technological problem driving what it truly needs to cost for auto mechanics to make a living at it. The true cost is only a few hundred dollars in parts and labor. The reason for this incredible difference is exceedingly interesting, as Robert Rapier notes in a well researched piece over at...

The leader of Gospel for Asia has gladly welcomed the Indian Central Government’s plans to stand in the way of anti-conversion bills that are currently making their way through different state governments. "It's absolutely encouraging to see the government is upholding the Constitution and its secular values of freedom of choice and liberty for the people," said GFA President Dr. K.P. Yohannan. According to NDTV, India’s largest private TV broadcaster, Home Affairs Minister P. Chidambaram has decided to take a firm stand against anti-conversion bills, which critics fear will be abused to punish Christian missionaries. Christians argue that such bills...

Florence, Oregon, Jun 17, 2009 / 08:17 am (CNA).- He grew up an evangelical Protestant in Oregon, suspicious of Marian theology. Now he’s a Catholic priest and a physicist. Dominican Father Raphael Mary Salzillo was ordained last month in San Francisco and will take up an assignment at the University of Washington Newman Center and Blessed Sacrament Parish in Seattle.Born Wesley Salzillo in 1976, he grew up in Florence, a small coastal town. The family converted to Catholicism in the early 1990s."My family raised me with a strong Christian faith and a very clear sense that Christ should be...

The All Saints Convent chapel at Catonsville. NLM is reporting this morning that the Anglican All Saints Sisters of the Poor in Catonsville, Maryland have announced their intention to be received into the Caholic Church on September 3. These are wonderful women and this is wonderful news. As an Anglican, I made two retreats with the sisters when the men's order I was an associate of held it's chapter at Catonsville and I've visited one or two other times. One of their sisters was assigned to St. Anna's, the small house they maintain in Philadelphia, and I knew her...

I am writing to make the announcement that I am becoming a Roman Catholic along with my wife Rhea and our six children. I realise that this decision is going to make some really happy, some very sad and others possibily angry. But, I have made the decision with the deepest sense of integrity and by conscience. I would like to share a bit of my faith journey though there are many gaps here, it is descriptive of my heart over the past few months. This is not particularly an academic account of what I have done in my...

In a letter written from a Turkish prison, Mehmet Ali Agca, author of the failed attempt against Pope John Paul II in 1981, claims to have renounced Islam and embraced the Catholic faith. Italian weekly Diva e people donna published the letter, French journal 7s7 reports. "I am looking for an Italian woman, who wants to correspond with me. Obviously (I hope) she is Catholic because from May 13 2007, I decided to renounce the Muslim faith and becoming a member of the Roman Catholic Church," Agca writes. "I have decided to return peacefully to the (St Peter's) square and...

Muslim Morocco expels 5 Christian missionaries (03-29-2009)‎ RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Authorities have expelled five Christian missionaries from Morocco on the grounds that they were illegally inciting Muslims to convert ... http://www.dailyreligious.com/archives/26942

Army specialist Terry Holdbrooks had been a guard at Guantánamo for about six months the night he had his life-altering conversation with detainee 590, a Moroccan also known as "the General." This was early 2004, about halfway through Holdbrooks's stint at Guantánamo with the 463rd Military Police Company. Until then, he'd spent most of his day shifts just doing his duty. He'd escort prisoners to interrogations or walk up and down the cellblock making sure they weren't passing notes. But the midnight shifts were slow. "The only thing you really had to do was mop the center floor," he says....

1 Peter 1:3-9 (King James Version) 3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 5Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 7That the trial of your...

Pope Benedict XVI / St. John Climacus Vatican City, Feb 11, 2009 / 11:44 am (CNA).- After 20 catecheses devoted to St. Paul, Pope Benedict XVI returned to his teachings on the great Christian writers of both East and West, reflecting on St. John Climacus. The Holy Father held up St. John Climacus, whose name means "ladder," and whose greatest work is titled “Ladder of Paradise,” as a reminder of the need for “continual conversion and purification with the help of the Holy Spirit.”Speaking to 8,000 people in Paul VI Hall today, the Pope explained that in the first...

A foster mother has been struck off the register for allowing a Muslim girl in her care to convert to Christianity.  The woman, who has looked after more than 80 children in the past ten years, is considering suing the council over the decision.  Although she is a practising Anglican, she said she had put no pressure on the girl who was baptised last year at the age of 16.She said social workers had also raised no objections to her own attendance at church.  But officials insist she failed in her duty to preserve the girl's religion and should...

How Does a Person Become a Catholic? to Seek Ye FirstThere are several ways to become a Catholic. The Catholic Church warmly welcomes new members and tries to provide appropriate spiritual formation according to each person's needs. In general, though, people who are becoming Catholic fall into three categories: infants and young children; people who, whether baptized or unbaptized, have had little or no affiliation with or religious training int the Christian faith; and baptized people who have been active members in other Christian denominations.Infants and Young ChildrenChildren who are born or adopted into Catholic families usually are baptized as...

It seems that the news of our economic crisis in America and the West only gets more serious. The disclosure of the fraudulent behavior of Bernard L Madoff, the former Chairman of NASDAQ, and his investment “Ponzi” scheme is a case in point. Many charities and educational institutions relied heavily on the integrity of his words and the depth of his alleged experience. Unfortunately, he lied and deceived them all with a smile and a wink. Now, some charities are being forced to close their doors. He has admitted that he defrauded clients of over 50 billion dollars. Arrested on...

Commentary Confessions of an ‘Ex-Feminist’ BY Lorraine V. MurrayNovember 23-29, 2008 Issue | Posted 11/18/08 at 10:15 AM   When I tell people I’m an ex-feminist, I get a strange array of responses. Some people look shocked and offended, as if I had declared myself among those who doubt that the world is round. Others get a look of joy upon their faces as if they are thinking, “Oh, how wonderful that someone else feels the same way I do!”I am certainly not opposed to women going to college, nor do I think women should be prohibited from pursuing...

John Maynard Keynes was twitted with changing his mind. He replied, "When the facts change, I change my opinion. What do you do, sir?" My favorite example of a change of mind was Norman Mailer at The Village Voice. Norman took on the role of drama critic, weighing in on the New York premiere of Waiting for Godot. Twentieth century's greatest play. Without bothering to go, Mailer called it a piece of garbage. When he did get around to seeing it, he realized his mistake. He was no longer a Voice columnist, however, so he bought a page in the...

Slavery still stalks the American consciousness, its wounds yet festering in many hearts. If Barack Obama were to set his mind to it, he could heal much of the damage this peculiar institution wrought on our national soul. This great and tragic error that must be given justice. Obama is the best person in the world who can recognize, remember and honor the deaths of 125 million and the enslavement of tens of millions of people. His unique qualifications can be found in his names. Until he was 20 years old, he went by the first name Barry. Then he...

Hollywood, Sep 1, 2008 / 08:51 pm (CNA).- The author of the dark thrillers "Basic Instinct", "Jagged Edge" and "Showgirls" is about to release a book unlike any script he has ever written. It is the story of his spiritual conversion from a party-lifestyle to one devoted to Christ and his family. In his book, "Crossbearer: A Memoir of Faith", the former senior editor of the Rolling Stone, Joe Eszterhas, explains his conversion. Eszterhas grew up in refugee camps in Hungary during World War II before living in the back alleys of Cleveland. It was there that he worked as...

Article published Saturday, August 23, 2008 A HOLLYWOOD PLOT TWIST 'Basic Instinct' author writes book about faith Joe Eszterhas' latest book is a shocker, but not the kind that made him rich and famous. The upcoming release from the man who penned dark thrillers such as Basic Instinct and Jagged Edge tells the story of his spiritual conversion and his newfound devotion to God and family.

HEPWORTH: In the paragraph, "we accept the ministry of the Bishop of Rome" and the quote from Vatican II and from John Paul II's encyclical to the separated churches is sufficient indication that we are accepting contemporary statements of Catholic Doctrine and he explicitly made that statement ex cathedra. Secondly we signed the catechism of the Catholic Church which includes contemporary Catholic teaching on the papacy and we state in the letter we signed that we accepted this as the most perfect statement of Catholic faith in the world at the present time and that it is the faith we...

Mosab Hassan Yousef is an extraordinary young man with an extraordinary story. He was born the son of one of the most influential leaders of the militant Hamas organization in the West Bank and grew up in a strict Islamic family. Now, at 30 years old, he attends an evangelical Christian church, Barabbas Road in San Diego, Calif. He renounced his Muslim faith, left his family behind in Ramallah and is seeking asylum in the United States. The story of how his life unfolded is truly amazing, whether you agree or disagree with his views. Below is a transcript on...

The life of an Afghan Christian By Bill Connor Wednesday, July 16, 2008 During a two-week combat operation in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, I had the honor of befriending an Afghan Christian. As you will discover in his story, being a Christian in Afghanistan is quite dangerous and hard. To protect his identity I will call this man “Paul” to limit what he already faces on account of his faith. Interestingly, when I first arrived in Southern Afghanistan, some Afghan Muslims told me there were no Afghan Christians. That they sincerely believed this was quite telling about the numbers of Afghan...

<p>'Conversion' to Islam means they cannot be 'restored to their family of origin'</p> <p>A Pakistani judge has ruled two young girls from a Christian family who were reported kidnapped cannot be "restored to their family of origin' because they "converted" to Islam.</p>

Conversions to Judaism among African-Americans are growing in a way that could affect the presidential election. Atlanta - Like many of the growing numbers of Protestant blacks in America and Africa converting to Judaism, Elisheva Chaim grew up believing she had a "Jewish soul." As a black woman and a Baptist in the South, that was a peculiar, somewhat troubling realization. But when she turned her doubts about Christianity into a search for answers, the truth became evident: She had to go deeper than the Old Testament. She had to convert. "It's odd to see black people convert to Judaism,...

A cross-dressing Nazi racist has converted to ISLAM in jail because he's terrified of being killed in a revenge attack. Hitler fanatic Martyn Gilleard, 31, was caged for 16 years last month for possessing 39,000 sick child porn images - and making four nail bombs. The pervert, who kept pictures of himself in women's underwear, planned to target mosques or places where black and Asian people gathered. But now he has seen an imam at Wakefield Prison in West Yorkshire and says he has become a Muslim. A prison source said: "Gilleard was kicked into touch by far-right parties for...

There were two recent news items which had to do with Islam. The first seemed to indicate that Islam is in the ascendency, while the second gave a slightly different perspective. The first story involved a statement from the Vatican which said that for the first time, Muslims now outnumber Catholics. Muslims make up 19.2 per cent of the world’s population, compared to Catholics who make up 17.2 per cent. This is mainly due to demographics: Muslims tend to still have large families, while Catholics are having much smaller families. Of course if all Christians are considered together, they make...

After graduating from college, Lois left the US for another country. She was going to see that Dan was converted to Christ, no matter what. He had dated her off and on, arriving from his home abroad to her place for a day or two’s visit. He told her he loved her. She loved him. But she was a Christian. He was adamant in not being a Christian. She would see him saved. Yes, she would. It would be her mission. So she left her parents, home church and all that was familiar. At first she had nowhere to “camp...

he London Telegraph learned on Saturday evening that some senior conservative Church of England bishops have been in Rome holding secret meetings with members of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. The Telegraph knows the identities of the bishops but has agreed to hold them in anonymity. Following the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) in Jerusalem and with the Lambeth Conference soon to be held, the content of the talks is assumed to be focused on the departures from orthodox Christianity within the Anglican Communion. Right now the Church of England is holding its General Synod where women’s...

During each program, “A Muslim Journey to Hope” presents the true stories of people who have had a life-changing experience. Each story is true, and each story is different. Yet they are as different as the lives of each person: Women and men. Young and old. Rich and poor. From many countries in the world. But each story tells how each of these people has found hope. Link is to Testimony #47 at muslimjourneytohope dot com by a man simply identified as “Afshin”. body of comment An Authentic Encounter with Jesus

Jeff had so many Operating Under the Influence breakings of the law that he spent too many years of his young life behind bars. “I’m the black sheep of the family,” he said one Friday evening when I visited him in jail. Many of my Friday evenings were spent in that ugly visitors’ room. But it was worth it. At least that’s what Jeff told me. He had no other ones to call on him except one young woman, Yonna. “The rest of my family made something of themselves, but the bottle got to me over and over again.” However,...

Motorcycle. Massages. Pimp. Husband. Sons. Travel. It went on and on for years — ten years, in fact. Sarah and her husband, Dick, went all over the country on the back of their motorcycle. He the pimp. She servicing various men here and there. Then were born to them two sons. Yet they continued moving around from one place to another. Dick was lazy. Though he had a college degree, he did not want to report to work anywhere. There was no 9-to-5 job in his future. Dick depended on Sarah to provide the income. She was steady at it....

Glenn was faced with 20 years in prison. I met him while on staff at the jail. I noted Glenn carrying a Bible to his stint at the laundry. “Why are you reading that?” I asked as the devil’s advocate, having never conversed with Glenn prior. “Because it helps me,” he said low-key. “Good,” I responded, then went my way. On another day, I asked Glenn the same question. Still on another day. Then I finally whispered to him: “I am like you—a believer.” That opened up our friendship that has lasted now for years. “Though faced with 20 years...

President Bush may follow in the footsteps of his brother Jeb and convert to Catholicism, several European papers are reporting. In the wake of the president’s visit to see Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican, Italian newspapers, citing Vatican sources, said Bush was open to the idea of converting to Catholicism. The Italian newspaper Il Foglio referred to such talk about Bush’s possible conversion and stated that “anything is possible, especially for someone reborn like Bush.� Noting that Tony Blair converted to Catholicism after leaving office as Britain’s prime minister last year, the paper also stated that “if anything happens,...

Biography of Tom Cabeen My parents were baptized as Jehovah’s Witnesses in the spring of 1954, shortly after my fourth birthday. My father, a old-fashioned cattle rancher and cowboy, had grown up mostly without church of any kind. My mother had been a nominal Methodist, but did not attend church very regularly. They were attracted to the Watchtower version of Christianity and embraced their beliefs very enthusiastically. Within two years, believing the end of the world (Armageddon) to be imminent, they sold their new home in Phoenix, Arizona and volunteered to move “where the need is great.” In 1956,...

A TRIUMPH AND A TRAGEDY James Akin I broke off a piece of the popsicle in my hand and placed it carefully in the mouth of my dying wife. Renee lay on her back, restless in the hospital bed, suffering from an advanced case of colon cancer which we had discovered a little more than a month before. She ate several more pieces of popsicle as I broke them off for her, then said she could eat no more, so I let her rest. When our parish priest arrived, he and I went into a conference room down the...

Editor's Note: Today over one billion persons — about one-sixth of the world's population — are followers of Islam, a religious movement, which began in the early seventh century. While found living virtually everywhere in the world, Muslims are concentrated in a belt of countries on both sides of the equator, stretching from Morocco to the Philippine Islands. These countries — notes historian Geoffrey Parrinder in World Religions: From Ancient History to the Present — "occupy territory of great historical and strategic significances, as they lie across the most important lines of trade and communications between the Old World and...

Archbishop Sheen emphasizes the role of Our Lady of Fatima with regard to the Muslims Welcome back to “What’s New” on the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen website. In our last feature, we presented evidence of an extraordinary prophetic statement by Archbishop Sheen. (If you missed it, see the Archives.) This present feature presents his insight regarding the part Our Lady of Fatima would play in the conversion of the Muslim people. At a special “Peace Congress” in Lisbon, Portugal in 1951, Archbishop Sheen offered a new and very striking observation: “Our Lady has been chosen to be known by the...

As best as I can determine, my same-sex attraction began in reaction to my father, who was a violent alcoholic. He often drank, came home to throw things around the house and abuse my mother in addition to threatening me and my brother. I thought he hated us. Consequently, I didn’t want to be anything like him. In my sorrow, I started looking for the love of my father in thearms of other men. At age 17, a predator took advantage of me under the teacher/pupil dynamic and I became completely mixed up about human sexuality. Over the years, one...

The relationship between Muslims and Christians received added attention this past Easter when Pope Benedict XVI publicly baptized Magdi Allam, the most prominent Muslim journalist in Italy.  Allam knew that publicly renouncing his Islamic faith would bring attempts on his life from angered Muslims, but expressed conviction that his newfound faith would sustain him through any difficulties. "You asked me whether I fear for my life, in the awareness that conversion to Christianity will certainly procure for me yet another and much more grave death sentence for apostasy. You are perfectly right. I know what I am headed for but...

February 16, 2004 - Reported in Spirit Daily.com online newspaper. "In 1992 my life changed dramatically," says Father Donald Calloway. "I had a profound conversion experience after reaching rock bottom."Rock bottom indeed! Now a 31-year-old priest who serves as assistant rector at the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Father Calloway had been a runaway youngster who was immersed in everything from drug abuse to theft."I had gone through all a boy could do up to the age of twenty," he says. "My mother had been married three times and we had no religion. The family...

What should our reaction be when others pray for our conversion?  There recently was a story about a German Jewish leader, Charlotte Knobloch, who criticized Pope Benedict XVI for allowing a traditional Easter prayer that calls for the conversion of the Jewish people.  Her reaction raises an interesting issue, as praying for conversion isn't unique to Catholics any more that taking offense to it is unique to Jews.  And to start this topic off, I'd like to pose a question: Who do you think would be more likely to take umbrage at being the object of such a supplication,...