As a convert to the Catholic Church I am interested in hearing and reading about the conversion experiences of others. Pontifications, to which I tip my biretta, alerted me to one posted on Argent by the Tiber about the writer’s conversion at the time of the election of Pope Benedict XVI.
I am stuck in his story about how at the very moment he was having that experience I was there present covering with FoxNews. It was my first papal death and election as a Catholic, for the pontificate of John Paul II (who ordained me) had been very long. It was very exciting, made more so by the close access and pressure of doing press coverage as well.
When we were on the air with the funeral Mass of the Pope, of the conclave, and of the election, I clearly remember feeling a great weight of responsibility. Perhaps some comment of mine about what Mass meant to Catholics or who we thought "Peter" is in the Church just might must make a difference to one of the millions of people listening.
I have no idea what the writer at Argent By The Tiber was watching during for the election of Benedict XVI, but I was not wrong in my estimation that the power of the moment, the sounds and images carried live, would be critical in somebody’s life.
To God goes all the credit for everything good which these events have wrought. Non nobis, Domine…
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A friend of my friend Jim told him early in the Pontificate of JPII, “If you guys have another Pope this good, I’ll become a Catholic.” He was an Episcopalian at the time.
A few days after Benedict’s election, Jim got a call out of the blue from this friend, from whom he hadn’t heard in years. “I’ve just started instruction to become a Catholic,” he said….
An excellent tale!