A convert and blogger, Michelle Arnold, has some thoughts and what seems to be a distinctly Catholic phenomenon right now.
From U.S. Catholic:
Actors Shia LaBeouf and Russell Brand, political commentator Candace Owens, and Tammy Roberts Peterson, wife of psychologist and author Jordan Peterson, are among the recent crop of Catholic converts. LaBeouf and Brand have both been accused of sexual assault. Owens has faced allegations of antisemitism, from both the Anti-Defamation League and from Ben Shapiro, founder of the Daily Wire, a website for which Owens was a contributor. Tammy Peterson’s husband, Jordan Peterson, has long been a cause for controversy, especially for his views on men and women, and for his practices of deadnaming transgender people and refusing to use preferred pronouns.
In some cases, the holy chrism has barely dried on the foreheads of these celebrity converts before they’ve either announced thoughts of ordination (in the case of LaBeouf) or been given platforms for sharing their testimony (in the case of Owens)…
…All of this sounds great. If the heavenly host rejoices at the repentance of just one sinner, how much greater must be their joy to see all of the saints marching into the church right now? Why should Catholics object to seeing lots of new Catholics?
The church has traditionally understood the conversion of the world to be its raison d’être, and it has always been open to receiving converts where they are. Perfection isn’t a prerequisite but an end goal. “The faith required for baptism is not a perfect and mature faith,” the writers of the Catechism of the Catholic Church say, “but a beginning that is called to develop.” At the beginning of the Christian journey is desire—either by the convert or by those who speak on his behalf, such as parents and godparents.
Men and women from the famous to the infamous to the anonymous are all welcome to join the church. That won’t change and shouldn’t. But that doesn’t mean that conversions should be fast-tracked without serious reason, that converts ordinarily should be allowed to circumvent the process, or that converts should be immediately tugged up on stages to share their stories with the world.
That same paragraph in the catechism that acknowledges the imperfect faith of new Catholics has more to say on the subject. “Faith needs the community of believers. It is only within the faith of the church that each of the faithful can believe.”
The community of believers holds an important role in forming the faith of believers. Short-circuiting the process in favor of quick conversions does the new convert no favors.
She explains why. Read on.
