MOTHER CHURCH WELCOMES YOU!


The Mystical Rose Home Page has received various responses from readers since its induction. Some of these came from inactive Catholics who now wish to return to the Faith, while others came from non-Catholics asking how to become Catholic. I have set up this page in order to help anyone else out there considering converting or returning to the Church.

Returning?

Are you an inactive Catholic? Would you like to talk about why you left the Church? If so, Father Bill McKee is willing to listen. Why not visit his Inactive Catholics web site?

General Resources for Converts

If you are a new convert to Catholicism, or are considering coming into the arms of Mother Church, there are web sites set up to help you.

Start with the Why be Catholic? series of articles on the Nazareth Resource Center page. Of particular interest is the article there entitled How to become a Catholic.

Consider visiting the Catholic Converts' Connection or Coming Home Network, two sites for Catholic converts. You can receive information and support there from other recent converts.

Of course, you cannot actually convert over the Internet! :-)
Get in touch with your local Catholic parish and ask to join their RCIA program. This is the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, by which people join the Catholic Church (the article How to become a Catholic mentioned above contains more specific information on this).

Here's a new site which may also be of help: I converted, NOW WHAT? (an aid to the spiritually young).

More Suggestions

Anyone either becoming Catholic for the first time or returning to the Church should definitely study Catholic doctrine. As noted on the first page of this site, many Catholics are ill-informed about the teachings of Mother Church, so even "cradle Catholics" often need basic catechetical instruction!

The best book I could recommend for that is the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It will teach you everything Mother Church professes; not the personal opinions of a particular theologian, but the true Faith as handed down from Christ and the Apostles!

It should be available from your local library or bookstore. You could also order a copy online from the Rosa Mystica Book Store on this site (you may order directly from this link if you like).

Finally, you can read the online version on the Christus Rex Web Site (It is rather long, just read it at whatever pace is comfortable for you. It is a very beautiful statement of our Faith).

The Knights of Columbus offer an excellent free home study course on the Catholic Faith, which some new converts like to use in addition to the RCIA program. For more information write to:

Catholic Information Service
Knights of Columbus
P.O. Box 1971
New Haven, CN 06521 USA
Apologetics Resources

I also recommend that you learn how to explain and defend the Faith, since you will undoubtably be questioned or challenged at one point or another by someone who does not understand Catholicism. Some excellent books in that area are the following (all should be available from your local Catholic book store; if you don't have one near you, you can order them through the Rosa Mystica Book Store by following the links provided):

There are also a number of excellent Catholic apologetics sites online such as: These and others like them provide answers to many questions people may ask you about the Faith.

Spirituality

Truth is very important, so one must learn the truths of the Faith. Yet Catholicism is not just a philosophy or a list of dogmas. At its very heart it is a relationship, a family relationship: God is our Father, Jesus is our Eldest Brother, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of family unity Who binds us together in Christ. Mary is our Mother, the saints in heaven and on earth and the souls in Purgatory are our brothers and sisters.

Some excellent Catholic devotional works include:

And let me be the first to welcome you (back?) to Mother Church! :-)


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