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CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTORY: A NEW RELIGION The Catholic faith used to be called the Old Religion; but at the present moment it has a recognized place among the New Religions. This has nothing to do with its truth or falsehood; but it is a fact that has a great deal to do with the understanding of the modern world. It would be very undesirable that modern men should accept Catholicism merely as a novelty; but it is a novelty. It does act upon its existing environment with the peculiar force and freshness of a novelty. Even those who denounce it...

Why Did You Choose “Catholic?” January 27th, 2012 by George WeigelWhy do adults become Catholics? There are as many reasons for “converting” as there are converts. Evelyn Waugh became a Catholic with, by his own admission, “little emotion but clear conviction”: this was the truth; one ought to adhere to it. Cardinal Avery Dulles wrote that his journey into the Catholic Church began when, as an unbelieving Harvard undergraduate detached from his family’s staunch Presbyterianism, he noticed a leaf shimmering with raindrops while taking a walk along the Charles River in Cambridge, Mass.; such beauty could not be accidental, he...

... As the July 9 division of Sudan nears, the government in Khartoum is scrambling to crush any rebellious chunks of the territory that will remain its own. Its forces have been relentlessly pounding the Nuba Mountains from Russian-made Antonov bombers for weeks, demanding that tens of thousands of rebel fighters dug in here disarm and drop their insistence on more autonomy for the distinctive Nuba people. Hundreds of civilians have been killed, including many children. Bombs have been dropped on huts, on farmers in the field, on girls fetching water together, slicing them in half with buckets in their...

"It is the duty of every Muslim to kill those who leave Islam." This statement was made on Radio Sweden recently when an Imam from Rinkeby (Stockholm) was allowed to speak about how people should act against Somalis who convert to Christianity. The program with the death threats against converts was broadcast by the Somali department of Radio Sweden and was a follow-up on a previous segment about a group of Christian Somalis who came to Rinkeby Square to evangelize. They also got to talk about it in the radio report. "I was there when they preached about Christianity. I...

Days ago in Egypt, throngs of Muslims (henceforth, "Islamists"), estimated at 3,000, fired guns and rifles and hurled Molotov cocktails at Coptic churches, homes, and businesses in the Imbaba region near Cairo: twelve Christians were killed -- some shot by snipers atop rooftops — 232 injured; three churches were set aflame to cries of "Allahu Akbar," while Coptic homes were looted and torched. ...

Diocese of Orange will baptize record number at today's Easter Vigil - Anaheim Roman Catholic |   The Catholic Church is alive and well in Orange County.More than 800 people will be baptized and nearly 650 baptized candidates will be received into full communion with the Catholic Church during Easter Vigil ceremonies throughout the Diocese of Orange tonight."We are blessed as a Diocese to baptize so many new Catholics on this Holy Saturday. It is inspiring as a Bishop to welcome a record number of new Catholics into our church. This ceremony is the climax of the liturgical year...

Diocese to Welcome 1,200 New Catholics at Easter Vigil Masses Approximately 1,200 men and women in the Diocese of Raleigh will become members of the Catholic Church at Easter Vigil Masses celebrated in parishes throughout the Diocese. Just under 500 “Elect” will receive the Sacraments of Initiation: Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation. Some 700 “Candidates’, who were baptized in other Christian traditions, will be brought into full Communion with the Church through a profession of faith and by receiving the Sacraments of Eucharist and Confirmation.The Elect and Candidates will be completing the formation process known as the Rite of Christian Initiation...

The Steady Stream Home Marcus Grodi For the first forty years of my life, I never considered the possibility of becoming a Catholic. No Catholic ever talked to me about the faith and it never crossed my mind that there was any reason whatsoever to even consider the Catholic Church. In those forty years, I had freely processed from the Lutheran church of my youth, over to the Congregational church of my adult "born again" reawakening, and on into the Presbyterian church of my pastoral ministry. We even considered moving on into other Protestant churches as we struggled with...

RCIA-ROUNDUP Apr-22-2011  Dioceses around US welcome new Catholics at Easter By Catholic News Service FORESTVILLE, Md. (CNS) -- Five days before the Easter Vigil, siblings Isaac, Olivia, Rosette and Adejia Gray were a little nervous as they talked about becoming Catholic. "There's going to be a big crowd," said seventh-grader Adejia. Her younger second-grade sibling Isaac nodded. Sixth grader-Rosette said, "Everybody's going to be staring at you." "I forget the position of the hands," said third-grader Olivia, about how to receive her first Communion. "You don't worry about a thing. You stick with Father," said Father Everett Pearson as he...

Easter vigil will welcome new Catholics       April 21, 2011ARCHDIOCESE — A young adult raised in communist Cuba, an African woman who grew up as a Muslim, a U.S. Marine being deployed in June, and a former abortion clinic administrator, along with tens of thousands others around the country, are joining the Catholic Church in the United States at Easter. José Pujols, is one of the 148 elect in the Diocese of Paterson, N.J., who will receive the sacraments of initiation at the Easter Vigil. Growing up in Cuba, he never felt a part of a church....

Parents screamed in anguish and clung to coffins Friday as families began burying 12 children gunned down in the halls of their elementary school. A black police helicopter dropped white rose petals over mourners and a nation was left struggling for answers. snip A few details began to emerge about Oliveira: that he was a good student with a history of psychological problems who attended the Tasso school; that he showed a fascination with the 9/11 attacks in the U.S.; and that he spent a lot of time on his computer watching videos about how to fire weapons. snip The...

The Church of Sweden has advised pastors to avoid christening asylum seekers that have converted to Christianity due to the risk of reprisals in the case of repatriation, reported news agency TT. One of the reasons for the recommendation is because it can cause danger and increase risks if a person who has converted to Christianity is later sent back to their home country. Another reason is that the motive for the christening can be questioned by some who suggest that asylum seekers convert to Christianity to increase their chances of staying in Sweden. The issue is being addressed in...

Communists Ban Christmas Mass in Vietnam Editor: too bad our Bishops don't make our Communists this angry and fearful. Vietnam...[kreuz/AsiaNews] Bishop Michel Hoang Ðúc Oahn (72) from Kontum in the central highlands of Vietnam may not celebrate Christmas Mass. This was reported by the Old Liberal news agency 'AsiaNews'. The ban came from the district's Communist authority. That mountain people from the Diocese wanted to participate at that Mass, alerted the comrades to the celebration. Initially, there was no opposition: the ban came first on Christmas day when 'AsiaNews" mentioned that Msgr Hoang Ðúc Oanh is famous for many conversions....

Giving the Catholic Church a Chance Behind Bars Originally published in the National Catholic Register, November 3-9, 2002, by Joseph Pronechen, Register CorrespondentFairfax, Va. – Behind prison bars, inmates looking to change their lives are confronted with everything from anti-Catholic sects to isolation. But some can also find their way to Catholicism through the apostolate First Century Christian Ministries.In addition to the sacraments, “every Catholic prisoner interested should have access to…a good, solid Catholic Bible and good, solid orthodox Catholic material,” said Joseph Strada, chairman of First Century Christian Ministries board. A former career U.S. naval officer with a doctorate...

The RCIA Process The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) is the process of discerning and ritualizing stages of gradual conversion. Initiation of adults belongs to all the baptized. The process is about a relationship over time with both God and the Catholic community. It is the Church's method of a faith journey of conversion.The process has no time frame. Conversion occurs on God's time; not our time. The RCIA conversion process consists of four periods. The amount of time spent in each phase is dependent on individual needs and feelings. The Period of Evangelization or PrecatechumenateThe Period...

Tony Blair’s sister-in-law announced her conversion to Islam last weekend. Journalist Lauren Booth embraced the faith after what she describes as a ‘holy experience’ in Iran. She is just one of a growing number of modern British career women to do so. Here, writer EVE AHMED, who was raised as a Muslim before rejecting the faith, explores the reasons why.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s sister-in-law, Lauren Booth, has converted to Islam after a trip to Iran. The 43-year-old broadcast journalist, who works for Iran’s English-language Press TV, said she had a “holy experience” while visiting the Fatima al-Masumeh shrine in the city of Qom, a “shot of spiritual morphine.” Upon her return to Britain, she told British publication The Mail in an interview published Sunday that she decided to immediately convert to Islam. “Now I don’t eat pork and I read the Koran every day. I’m on page 60,” she told the publication. “I also haven’t had a...

Is it possible that the Bronx Four operated alone, without any connection to foreign terrorists. In an elaborate sting operation, four African-American Muslim men were arrested Wednesday night in New York City for attempting to bomb two synagogues in the Bronx and for conspiring to shoot down military planes at an Air National Guard base in Newburgh, NY. James Cromitie, David Williams, Onta Williams and Laguerre Payen were friends who had met while serving time in prison and it was there that they converted to Islam. The bombs in their possession were fake; supplied to them by an FBI informant...

Friday, August 06, 2010 Magazine: Growing Trend--Evangelicals ‘Crossing the Tiber’ to Catholicism The magazine Religion Dispatches has a new piece up by Jonathan Fitzgerald, entitled, "Evangelicals ‘Crossing the Tiber’ to Catholicism: Under the radar of most observers a trend is emerging of evangelicals converting to Catholicism." As he points out, there are an increasing number Evangelicals coming into the Catholic Church. In fact, while my wife and I were at Fuller we witnessed this phenomenon firsthand. Indeed, students would come up and ask us if they could follow us to daily Mass (which was celebrated at a Catholic Church down...

Lola Falana talks about being crippled, on suffering, on Medjugorje and the true Church.

Evangelical Protestants are taught to recruit Catholics by exploiting their lack of Bible knowledge, but use Scripture out of context to make Catholic beliefs look flawed. This is the claim of Catholic apologist Steve Ray, in Perth from the United States of America earlier this month as part of a national tour. Mr Ray used to take on this role. “We were trained to evangelise Catholics – we believed you are not saved, that you are going to hell as you follow the Pope instead of Jesus, you pray to Mary instead of God, you have tradition instead of Scripture,...

www.catholicnewsagency.com Dutch soccer player who scored winning goal against Brazil is Catholic convert Dutch soccer player Wesley Sneijder. Buenos Aires, Argentina, Jul 6, 2010 / 12:14 pm (CNA).- The Argentinean daily La Nacion featured a story this week on the Dutch soccer player Wesley Sneijder, who scored the winning goal against Brazil in the World Cup quarter finals last week. The article revealed his conversion and baptism, which took place shortly before he traveled to South Africa for the tournament.In an article entitled, “The Spiritual Goal of a Dutch Soccer Star,” journalist Mariano de Vedia said Sneijder arrived at...

New Catholics a sign of Easter blessing for churchBy Ed Langlois Surrounded by parishioners, Fr. David Jaspers lights the Easter candle during the Easter vigil at St. Joseph, Salem.Sentinel photo by Gerry Lewin As the sun set April 3, Christians celebrated the resurrection of Jesus. It’s no coincidence that this was the night when the Catholic Church across Oregon welcomed about 900 new members — people revived via baptism and the other sacraments of initiation. At the same time, the arrival of new Catholics breathes vitality into the church as a whole.One of those freshly initiated believers withstood fierce pressure,...

Former Protestant Pastor Helps Shepherd Catholic Converts Marcus Grodi's Coming Home Network Focuses on Inquiring Clergy ZANESVILLE, Ohio, OCT. 8, 2003 (Zenit.org).- Every year, about 100 clergy from dozens of denominations make a step toward the Catholic Church by contacting the Coming Home Network International. The network, which has 800-some clergy members who have converted or are still discerning their conversion, connects those inquirers with others from the same background who have converted to Catholicism, and provides them with prayerful, moral and sometimes financial support. Marcus Grodi, who was a Congregationalist and Presbyterian pastor before coming into the Catholic Church...

Coming Home Network: a Catholic apostolate for converts Marcus Grodi The following quote from a Protestant minister on the "journey home" to the Catholic Church best describes the reason the Coming Home Network International exists:"I am a Protestant minister with a family of five. However, after many years of searching, study, prayer, and at times painful disagreement, my wife and I now know that I must resign from my pastorate so that our family can come home to the Catholic Church. We are not scared. We have been completely broken down and now have nothing to do but trust Him....

Iran (MNN) ― It is with great joy that Open Doors confirms the release of Maryam Rostampour, 27, and Marzieh Amirizadeh, 30, today. For around nine months, the two Iranian Christian women have been held in the notorious Evin prison in Tehran. Maryam Rostampour and Marzieh Amirizadeh Esmaeilabad, two Christian converts from Islam, were released from Evin Prison in Tehran on Wednesday. Iran (MNN) ― It is with great joy that Open Doors confirms the release of Maryam Rostampour, 27, and Marzieh Amirizadeh, 30, today. For around nine months, the two Iranian Christian women have been held in the notorious...

FBI agents hoping to break up an alleged interstate crime ring dealing in arson, fraud and possibly stolen vehicles, ended up in a gunfight at a Detroit-area warehouse, after which a suspect lay dead. The FBI sought to arrest Luqman Ameen Abdullah, a.k.a. Christopher Thomas, 53, who a criminal complaint said was the imam of a radical fundamentalist Sunni group called Masjid Al-Haqq that seeks to establish a sovereign Islamic state inside the United States... Abdullah and 10 others were charged today in a criminal complaint with conspiracy and theft of interstate shipments, mail fraud to obtain the proceeds of...

DETROIT–A man described as a leader of a radical Sunni Islam group in the U.S. was fatally shot this afternoon while resisting arrest and exchanging gunfire with federal agents, authorities said. Agents at a warehouse in Dearborn were trying to arrest Luqman Ameen Abdullah, 53, on charges that included conspiracy to sell stolen goods and illegal possession and sale of firearms. Ten followers listed in a criminal complaint were also being rounded up in the area. Three – Mujahid Carswell, 30, Mohammad Alsahi, 33, and Yassir Ali Khan, 30 – are Ontario residents, the FBI said in a release. Abdullah...

Catholic Spain Has a New Herald: Juan Manuel de Prada From acclaimed author to staunch apologist for the Church and the pope, including in "L'Osservatore Romano." His is one of the many stories of conversion from unbelief to the Christian faith, in Europe. Against progressive "tyranny" by Sandro Magister ROME, October 12, 2009 – For a few days now, Italian bookstores have been selling a collection of interviews with converts to the Catholic faith, some of whom are very prominent: from Jean-Claude Guillebaud of France to Janne Haaland Matlary of Norway, former deputy foreign minister of her country and an...

SNIPPET: "For all his public activity, Bray has rarely, if ever, discussed his life story in detail. His own MAS biography offers vague descriptions of his work as "a long time civil and human rights advocate." A charismatic African-American convert to Islam, Bray spent this entire decade working for Islamist organizations. Prior to joining MAS, Bray was political director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC). Those jobs have helped him build a growing public profile and given him access to politicians and policy makers. And that may explain his reluctance to discuss his life before political activism. The Investigative...

CHICAGO (AP) — A 29-year-old Illinois man who idolized American-born Taliban soldier John Walker Lindh has been arrested after attempting to detonate what he thought was a bomb inside a van outside a federal courthouse, officials said Thursday. Michael C. Finton, also known as Talib Islam, was arrested Wednesday and charged in a criminal complaint with one count of attempting to murder federal officers or employees and trying to detonate a weapon of mass destruction. Federal officials said the case has no connections with the major terrorism investigation under way in Colorado and New York. "This alleged plot drives home...

A spiritual journey that began seven years ago ended in the sanctuary of a Catonsville convent Sept. 3 when 10 Episcopal nuns and their priest chaplain were received into full communion with the Catholic Church. In administering the sacrament of confirmation, Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien traced a cross on the foreheads of each candidate as he anointed them with sacred chrism oil and called on them to be sealed with the Holy Spirit. The sisters then renewed their vows of poverty, chastity and obedience as some 120 worshipers looked on.

Churches and whole dioceses have left the Episcopal Church since the 2003 consecretation of an openly gay bishop brought a lonstanding divide over homosexuality within the nation's sixth-largest Protestant denomination out into the open. But on Thursday, 10 Episcopal nuns from a Catonsville convent took what scholars say is the unprecedented step of joining the Catholic Church. At a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien, each vowed to continue their tradition of consecrated life, now as a religious institute within the Archdiocese of Baltimore. "We know our beliefs and where we are," Mother Christina Christie, superior of All Saints...

Where To Begin   Now that you have decided to learn more about your Catholic Faith, where do you begin? Rather than point you to a text book or a list of facts, our unique 10-step plan uses a more "holistic" approach to teaching the Catholic Faith.  In addition to presenting the teachings of the Catholic Church, our method also makes use of the Sacraments, prayer, Sacred Scripture and the intercession of The Blessed Mother.  You will also have the ability to ask us questions and receive prompt responses.    The benefit of this approach is that, in addition...

I grew up in the era of headlong evangelism by the LDS church. We were out to convert the world. Back then, it was "every young man on a mission" and "every member a missionary." The church didn't just leave it to our imagination how to accomplish this. Full-time missionaries were expected to memorize verbatim an entire series of official gospel "discussions." Regular members were exhorted to ask acquaintances, complete strangers, or anyone who held still for five seconds, "What do you know about the Mormon Church, and would you like to know more?" I did the first one on...

our America before Obama - a true American judge...BEAUTIFUL! MUST READ and Pass it on, just to remind everybody what we are loosing because of IDIOTS!!! Remember the shoe bomber? When America was "a shining city upon a hill whose beacon light guides freedom-loving people everywhere"? Remember the guy who got on a plane with a bomb built into his shoe and tried to light it? Did you know his trial is over? Did you know he was sentenced? Did you see/hear any of the judge's comments on TV or Radio? Didn't think so.!!! Everyone should hear what the judge...

IQUITOS, Peru — If Ronald Reátegui Levy someday finds that he is the last Jew of Iquitos, it may well be of his own doing. His dream, which he has vigorously pursued, is to persuade the descendants of Sephardic merchants who settled in this remote corner of the Amazon basin more than a century ago to reaffirm their ties to Judaism and emigrate to Israel. “It is getting very lonely here,” said Mr. Reátegui Levy, 52, an inspector at Peru’s national oil company, referring to the more than 400 descendants of Jewish pioneers who have formally converted to Judaism this...

The Kurdish Halabja Centre CHAK has submitted new and possibly incriminating evidence in the appeal case against Dutch businessman Frans van Anraat. The documents were reportedly supplied by the Iraqi tribunal that sentenced former dictator Saddam Hussein to death. In December last year, Frans van Anraat was sentenced to 15 years in jail. The court in The Hague found him guilty of supplying materials for chemical weapons to the Saddam Hussein regime in the 1980s. He was acquitted of complicity in genocide because he reportedly did not know that Saddam Hussein intended to use poison gas on the Iraqi population....

Man admits threat to Bush By Jeff Zent The Forum - 05/18/2004 A Nevada man pleaded guilty in Fargo's federal court Monday to threatening the life of President Bush. Joshua Aliwishes Banks was three days away from completing a two-year prison sentence at the James River Correctional Center in Jamestown, N.D., when, on Jan. 10, 2003, he became combative with prison guards and threatened to kill President Bush, court records say. The now-32-year-old inmate became angry after guards conducted a random search of his dorm and confiscated a journal in which he wrote about how to become an effective assassin,...

Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman said Tuesday he will enlist dozens of former military chaplains to serve, on a voluntary basis, as dayanim in the state's special conversion courts, to speed up the process for tens of thousands of immigrants who are not Jewish according to religious law. Neeman spoke in Efrat at the end of a conference organized by the Sha'arei Mishpat College-Hod Hasharon and the Efrat local council on "Conversion as a National Mission." "I repeat the concrete proposal I have made, and I will have it approved no matter what," said Neeman. "That is to take dozens of...

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The man accused of fatally shooting a soldier outside a recruiting center begged for FBI agents to free him from a Yemeni jail where he was "radicalized" by Islamic terrorists, his lawyer told The Associated Press on Thursday. Lawyer Jim Hensley described Abdulhakim Muhammad as an impressionable youth driven to public service in an impoverished Middle Eastern country. But teachings by "hardened" terrorists in Yemen and experiences with Afghan child refugees who were missing limbs drove him to become someone his parents didn't recognize, Hensley said. "Here comes the FBI, who may be able...

Nuradin Abdi was convicted in 2007 of planning to blow up an Ohio shopping mall. Iyman Faris was convicted in 2003 of planning to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge. Christopher Paul was convicted in 2008 of conspiring to use explosives against targets in the U.S. and Europe. All three terrorists worshiped and socialized at a small mosque in Columbus, Ohio, and, according to David B. Smith, an attorney for Faris, were part of a larger group of jihadists and extremists who frequented the mosque. The FBI now is investigating reports of links to that same mosque by Muslim-convert Abdulhakim Muhammad...

Freepers: After sleeping on it, I have decided to call you to action! A great injustice is being perpetrated by our main stream media (MSM) and our Commander In Chief (CINC), President Barrack Hussein Obama. The time now is 10:04 CST, 02 JUNE 09, exactly 24 hours after Privates William Long, 23 of Conway, AR, and Private Second Class Quinton Ezeagwula, 18, of Jacksonville, AR became the first victims of terrorism on American soil since 11 SEP 01 and we have heard no statement from their Commander in Chief, President Barrack Hussein Obama. Almost as egregious as Obama’s silence, we...

Shooter identified himself as a muslim, Mr. Abdul Mohammad, formerly Mr. Bledsoe. previously of Memphis and Nashville. Recently converted to Islam while in Prison.Breaking live on LRPD press conference.

This video was produced by NET TV, a new faith-centered cable TV network based in New York City. It features an Easter Sunday discussion with a couple of this year’s Easter converts to Catholicism, Daniel Robinson and Linda Hoff, speaking about their journey into the Church with Elizabeth Scalia of the Anchoress blog, Grant Gallicho, associate editor for Commonweal magazine, and Gary Arkin, a convert who is director of NET TV and an RCIA sponsor.

A SCOTTISH Muslim convert, dubbed the "Tartan Taleban", has re-emerged in Pakistan where he has reportedly been arrested as a terror suspect. Pakistan television paraded images of a man said to be James Alexander McLintock, who had been detained in the north-west city of Peshawar in late February. The 44-year-old father of four, originally from Dundee, converted to Islam in his 20s but came to international attention in December 2001 when he was arrested in Afghanistan on suspicion of being a foreign fighter. Mr McLintock was released five weeks later after strenuous denials of links to terror organisations and sent...

WASHINGTON -- As many as 150,000 new or returning Catholics are expected to join the Catholic Church in 2009 in the United States. Many of them will do so at the Easter Vigil liturgies, April 11, in parishes across the country. In some cases the numbers show the growth and vitality of the Catholic Church in places where it has traditionally been a small minority. For instance, the Archdiocese of Atlanta estimates that 513 catechumens and 2,195 candidates will join the ranks of the Archdiocese in 2009. About 1,800 of them will do so at Easter. These numbers do not...

DUBAI, JANUARY 29 - Almost 3,000 people, the majority of them women, from dozens of nationalities became Muslims in Dubai last year, it was announced as reported by Arabian Business online. A total of 2,763 individuals - 1,869 of them women - from 72 countries embraced Islam in 2008, an increase of 71% over 2007, according to figures released by the Islamic affairs and charitable activities department. Announcing the data, Hamad bin Al Sheikh Al Shaibani, director general of the department, said: "We are delivering our message properly by spreading Islamic culture and instilling national identity through giving greater attention...

DHAKA, Bangladesh – Muslims in a village in western Bangladesh have forced two brothers to expel their parents from their home for converting to Christianity. Ishmael Sheikh, 70, and his wife Rahima Khatun, 55, were baptized on Nov. 9. By the end of the month, Sheikh told Compass, Muslim neighbors in Kathuly village, near Gangni town in Meherpur district, had compelled their two sons to expel them from their house. The ailing Sheikh told Compass that his two sons had come under tremendous pressure from neighbors in the village, which was entirely Muslim before the coupled received Christ. The neighbors...

just as Spaniards get smug about their perceived racial superiority, along comes a new study which implies that many Spanish anti-Semites actually have Jewish blood. An examination of the genetic signatures of the Spanish population shows that 20 percent of contemporary Spaniards have Jewish origins. As it turns out, far more Jews than previously thought did not comply with the order to leave Spain back in 1492 and simply converted to Catholicism instead. Many of those conversos tried to blend in by adopting surnames that indicated trades or professions...