Anglican feeling called to become Catholic

[Olinguita]

Cradle Anglican here. I've been feeling increasingly drawn to Roman Catholicism for the past two years. For background, I was educated at a Roman Catholic convent and it's only recently that I've realized how deep an impression it left on me. I love the Virgin Mary, the sacraments, the liturgy, Ignatian spirituality and the sense of being part of a global church. I've been sneaking into Catholic churches for mass for the past two years and it has given me a sense of being in the presence of God in a way that I don't feel in my middle of the road Anglican church. I'm struggling with the blobbiness and lack of mystery and contemplation in the Anglican church, and I have had thid general sense of not quite fitting in for a long time, and I struggle to articulate why. Weirdly when I go into a Catholic church it just feels like home. I did an online course on Catholic Social Teaching last summer and it blew my mind - there was so much that I agreed with in terms of economic justice and I really enjoyed debating big, tricky social issues with the other participants.
Here's the kicker - I'm politically left(ish) and feminist, and a lot of my inner circle of friends are gay or bi, so if I really am being called to Catholicism it is kind of tricky/inconvenient...and would cause a lot of upset and division among my friends and family. My family are super devout Anglicans and I just baptised my son a few weeks back with a big family celebration. I struggle with the teaching on abortion in particular and it is obviously a hot button issue right now. I personally wouldn't get an abortion unless my life was in danger but I'm profoundly uncomfortable with the idea of it being illegal. I also have no interest in judging or condemning friends who have had terminations. I think they were doing the best they could at the time.
Any Catholics out there who can advise, of folks who have converted to Catholicism? I really feel that converting would bring me deep joy and purpose but also wondering if I should "stay in my lane" and try to make the best of being Anglican. Thanks for reading to the end!

At my local Newman Center at the University they have the last Masses on a Sunday (due to student body) in the area at 7pm & 9pm, so attract the last minute Joes such as myself from other parishes.. They have the most exquisite Latin chant by just a few students and its unaccompanied and amazing. Very powerful in the packed dimly lit chapel. We are in the USA.

This, why not? You don’t need to ‘stay in your lane’ for any reason at all.

@HarperHelper that sounds wonderful. I once went to Sunday mass at the English College in Rome abs the seminarians did the same. It was absolutely breathtakingly beautiful.

@HarperHelper that sounds wonderful!

@Toddlerteaplease no-one has replied to my RCIA email yet (after I worked up the courage to send it). Getting worried they think that I'm a) having a midlife crisis or b) trying to sneakily get my toddler into the adjoining primary school by converting to Catholicism. In reality it's probably the case that the priest and catechist are just super busy or the email got buried somewhere...
Out of interest, were any of your Anglican family upset when you swam the Tiber or did they understand your decision? My mum is a lay-reader and my stepdad (who I am close to) is a church warden. They know I am finding some aspects of our church a bit tricky (eg our vicar is heavily into "pioneer ministry" to the extent she questions whether we even need a physical church at all, kids can just take communion as and when they fancy it without being confirmed, people are weirdly uncomfortable with religious art of any kind in church, that sort of thing...) and they know my convent education left me a bit "Catholic" in my world view and spirituality. I (obviously) massively love and respect my mum and stepdad but worry that switching denomination would come across like a slap in the face. Maybe I am over thinking this though!!
Anyway, wishing all of you a happy Sunday ahead ☺️

Probably are just super busy. My parents were ok about it. They were happy I'd found my niche.
They can be a bit scornful about the RC church though.
I think my mum dallied with converting when . She was young. But the priest laughed at her. But they sent us to catholic schools.
My dad is a Lay reader, and my mum was church warden as well. Both very involved with their church. But their church is failing. They have no vicar and their average congregation is about 13. Whereas most local RC parishes are fairly full on a Sunday. The C of E was summed up for me the Sunday after Christmas, when their bishop said that churches didn't need to have. Service that day.

I converted from an atheist family but I would imagine if your family are Christians the most constructive way to approach it is focus on what you have in common. Do they agree with the Nicene Creed for example which is basic classic Christianity? Reading the Bible together or sharing other devotions that any Christian could share may be the way to approach things.

FYI You may be surprised at how anti Catholic people can suddenly be who know very little about Catholicism so I would just try not to be surprised if that happens. I don't try and defend the Church, I don't think it's my job and its usually pointless. I think its much better to just stay in a place of peace and keep things light hearted, because in the long run they can't claim you suddenly changed when you became Catholic, quite the opposite. I think its up to the Holy Spirit to touch people.

Of course I will always chat if people are genuinely interested I just find it counter productive to ever rise to the bait with people who usually aren't Christian or are nominal Christian and are antagonistic saying things that have nothing to do with a practicing Catholic's experience of the Church. You may like to volunteer with a service group at the parish if you have time, that's usually a great place to fiind like minded friends.

P.S. unfortunately you may need to keep trying to reach the RCIA leader or Priest. Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year so staff may be taking a break or not getting to new business. Its possible you're email got missed to please do keep trying! You can even go into the parish office in person if you have time available.

@HarperHelper very true about people being anti catholic. My parents will pick up on the slightest inconsistency and make a meal if it. I disorder is mainly due to lack of understanding though. And don't get me started on Mumsnet's hatred for Catholicism!

Did you get a reply yet? I would just approach the priest or a likely looking official person after Mass (in our parish, the likely looking official person would point you in my direction, as I run the RCIA course). That's probably more effective than email. Be warned that if your parish runs an actual RCIA course rather than a one-to-one thing, you're probably too late for this year. They mostly start around the beginning of the school year, with a few starting in May/June so they do a full calendar year. A very small minority will have started in early January, so if you've got one of those (lax ;-) ) parishes, they might let you on this year's course. And don't take it personally if they tell you to just come back at x time when registrations open - after years of letting people sign up at any time in the year and keeping in touch with them periodically until classes started, I don't bother anymore, the rate of attrition wasn't worth it. Maybe one in twenty would actually come to the classes. Now I just tell them when registrations will open and to get in touch in the meantime if they need anything. If they actually start RCIA, that's when I'll make the effort to build a relationship. I know it sounds grumpy, but it was just not an effective use of my time and energy.

I thought RCIA tends to run September to Easter. And no particular deadline to sign up.

It very much depends on the parish in my experience here in the US. If the person wanting to convert is already a Christian and after discussion already has a lot of catechisis on Catholicism, some parishes may allow them to join later in the year. For others building a community among those in RCIA and helping them integrate with the parish is an essential part of the year that they don’t want to disrupt. A big parish I was part of had an “inquiry” group that ran all year for anyone that was looking at Catholicism but had missed deadlines for RCIA and also of course those not sure they want to be Catholic but would like a welcoming place to discuss their thoughts, questions and objections.

I would hate to see anyone seriously thinking of becoming Catholic to not have something they could plug into while wanting for the new year of RCIA.

@Toddlerteaplease In his essay on The Significance of Jacksonian Democracy, historian and Harvard professor Arthur Schlesinger, Sr., himself not a Catholic, made the often cited assertion that anti-Catholic prejudice is "the deepest bias in the history of the American people." According to Baylor University professor Philip Jenkins, anti-Catholic prejudice is "the last acceptable prejudice."

I have been a not very good Catholic all my life. At times I have not gone to church for a while but have always said prayers every night and received great comfort and consolation.

I recently went , for the first time, to Rome . I was expecting to be impressed and conflicted by the grandeur and decoration and for that to be it.

Instead I went to confession for the first time in years , followed by Mass. It was a profound spiritual experience which I am still processing. It was profound not because it was in St Peter's but because of a reconnection with a sacrament that has so much to offer .

I find Catholic teachings intellectually satisfying as well as spiritually.
My husband is CofE and is always amused , particularly at Easter and Midnight Mass , by the huge range of types of people from the devout to the semi sober and everyone in between.

I went to a convent school run by nuns . They encouraged us academically,spiritually and to give practical help. School trips abroad would be eg digging concrete foundations for family centres for prisons .

My stepmother was CofE and very active in the running of her church . Her whole parish and vicar converted to RC enmasse several years ago but to be honest it was so high church there was very little difference in the service.

Listen to your heart and conscience , do what gives your life joy , comfort and purpose , what other people think is immaterial . In todays society it is brave to admit to any type of faith and the main thing is to lead a good , kind and worthwhile life that makes a difference to others.

I'm was chatting to a retired Anglican priest yesterday, who'd really wrestling with whether to convert. The Archbishop is very keen to ordain him, and he knows it. It was very surprised to learn that's he's doing the RCIA!

@BearingFalseWitness I think he's right. No other religion would be as harshly criticised on Mumsnet!

@Lollygaggle I did attend an Anglican parish once and thought I had been to Sunday Mass! It was in Walsingham which (at least at the time) has a very high Anglican parish church. When I got back my Catholic friends asked me which Sunday Mass I had been to and when I described it everyone was baffled and had no idea which church I was referring to. The penny finally dropped when someone realized I had been at the Anglican parish! Which they all thought was hilarious. I had been Catholic a couple of years at that point. They had the rosary before Mass, used the Roman missel, knelt at communion, everything. The only thing that did slightly confuse me was we prayed for the Queen during the bidding prayers (😂) and I think there was a Union Jack somewhere that is usually unusual in Catholic parishes.

Of course now I wouldn’t be so naive as it was an old building with an old graveyard, when of course most Catholic Churches in the UK have been built in since about 1860 after everything was seized in the reformation.

I went back to look around a few years ago as it’s a beautiful building and they had a huge painting of the Divine Mercy with an opportunity to light candles underneath. It’s very confusing when Anglican parishes adopt modern Catholic devotions (the Divine Mercy is from the 20th century). At the same time I don’t mind as it brings us closer together but it can definitely confuse a Catholic as I had missed my Sunday obligation.

I'm glad you had a good experience @Lollygaggle , I have had some really poor experiences of confession in St. Peter's. One in particular stands out as the worst advice I ever received in confession, but even apart from that one I've never found the priests to be particularly gifted confessors, and I've tried a few. It's convenient, in that there's confessions available all day, but I'd stick to San Clemente or Santa Maria sopra Minerva if I could.

There is also St Patrick’s the American parish in Rome

stpatricksamericanrome.org

There’s also the Dominicans at Santa Sabina, the church is famously beautiful

www.op.org/the-basilica-of-santa-sabina/

More options in English

www.pnac.org/visitorsoffice/sacraments-rome/mass-in-rome/

I think the Dominicans hear confessions at St Mary Major. My friend keeps mentioning doing it for six months of the year when he retires. Really hope he doesn't do it!

Yes, that's why I named those two churches, because I tend to stick to Dominicans when I can! Santa Sabina is lovely, but much less accessible from the centre of town and only has scheduled confessions on Sundays. I go to it regularly for Lauds & Vespers when I'm in Rome, but you'd have to really deliberately want to visit it to make the effort. Like most Dominicans, they'll hear confessions off schedule if they have time, and there's always English speakers there.

An English Dominican (not retired) is on a secondment where he spends half the year teaching in Rome and half teaching in England. Sounds perfect to me! Others have done it in the past (and we have one who is split between Jamaica and England, both in the English province since Jamaica is a mission of the province) but I think only one at the moment.

@Fink being completely selfish, I'd miss him!

@Toddlerteaplease but you'd still havehim for half the year, plus a free tour guide in Rome :-)