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Post by Maolsheachlann on Jan 17, 2022 12:58:05 GMT
I've been writing a series of articles in St. Martin's Magazine about famous converts to Catholicism. My first four (Gerard Manley Hopkins, Malcolm Muggeridge, Alec Guinness and Dean Koontz) have all been men. I'd like my fifth article to be about a female convert and I'm looking for ideas.
I don't want it to be anyone too obvious, like Edith Stein or Dorothy Day, or the poet Sally Read whose conversion has been in the news a lot recently.
My general criteria (though they're not written in stone) are:
1) It has to be someone who left some record about why they converted, their spiritual journey. Otherwise there's not much to write about!
2) Although they don't have to be saintly, as my list shows, I do try to pick people who were evidently serious about their conversion-- it wasn't just a passing phase, or because they married a Catholic. On the other hand, I'm trying to avoid people who are actually on the road to sainthood, or there already.
3) I'm looking for people who are well-known for something other than their conversion. So Kimberley Hahn, for instance, wouldn't really count.
4) I've had three English converts and one American convert so far, so I'm trying to restrain my anglophilia and pick some other nationality than English (or even British). Otherwise I probably would haeve gone for Anne Widdecombe. Another American is fine.
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Post by Stephen on Jan 17, 2022 13:53:09 GMT
Some interesting people (NB not sure if they are saints) Elizabeth Seton was a Catholic religious sister in the United States and an educator, known as a founder of the country's parochial school system was a Catholic religious sister in the United States and an educator, known as a founder of the country's parochial school system Norma Leah Nelson McCorvey , also known by the pseudonym "Jane Roe", was the plaintiff in the landmark American legal case Roe v. Wade Interesting story but don't now much about her after conversion! Elisabeth Hesselblad was a Swedish nurse who was a convert to the Catholic Church and founded a new form of life of the Bridgettines known as the Bridgettine Sisters Queen Nazli Sabri of Egypt converted from Islam in 1950s Anne Widdecombe 
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Jan 17, 2022 14:07:27 GMT
Some interesting people (NB not sure if they are saints) Elizabeth Seton was a Catholic religious sister in the United States and an educator, known as a founder of the country's parochial school system was a Catholic religious sister in the United States and an educator, known as a founder of the country's parochial school system Norma Leah Nelson McCorvey , also known by the pseudonym "Jane Roe", was the plaintiff in the landmark American legal case Roe v. Wade Interesting story but don't now much about her after conversion! Elisabeth Hesselblad was a Swedish nurse who was a convert to the Catholic Church and founded a new form of life of the Bridgettines known as the Bridgettine Sisters Queen Nazli Sabri of Egypt converted from Islam in 1950s Anne Widdecombe Thanks for that, Stephen. What's wrong with Anne Widdecombe? |
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Post by Tomas on Jan 17, 2022 14:12:24 GMT
Elisabeth Hesselblad was a Swedish nurse who was a convert to the Catholic Church and founded a new form of life of the Bridgettines known as the Bridgettine Sisters She was most of all traditional Bridgettine so "new form" would not need to be taken literally. It was most of all thanks to her they returned to Piazza Farnese. There are some biographies though one of them is said to be flawed. She was a typical Swedish woman, developing her views from simple faith into deeper Bridgettine spirituality along the way, living in America for several years so she could fit into that American fold also. |
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Post by Stephen on Jan 17, 2022 15:16:33 GMT
Some interesting people (NB not sure if they are saints) Elizabeth Seton was a Catholic religious sister in the United States and an educator, known as a founder of the country's parochial school system was a Catholic religious sister in the United States and an educator, known as a founder of the country's parochial school system Norma Leah Nelson McCorvey , also known by the pseudonym "Jane Roe", was the plaintiff in the landmark American legal case Roe v. Wade Interesting story but don't now much about her after conversion! Elisabeth Hesselblad was a Swedish nurse who was a convert to the Catholic Church and founded a new form of life of the Bridgettines known as the Bridgettine Sisters Queen Nazli Sabri of Egypt converted from Islam in 1950s Anne Widdecombe  Thanks for that, Stephen. What's wrong with Anne Widdecombe? The names I picked were a bit random  Anne Widdecombe was one of the best MPs in Westminster and she tried to argue against Abortion, Alphabet people, etc. My problem is she is a Liberal and political liberalism is a sinful. Same reason I wouldn't write a great review on Jacob Rees-mogg! |
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Jan 17, 2022 15:38:10 GMT
Thanks for that, Stephen. What's wrong with Anne Widdecombe? The names I picked were a bit random Anne Widdecombe was one of the best MPs in Westminster and she tried to argue against Abortion, Alphabet people, etc. My problem is she is a Liberal and political liberalism is a sinful. Same reason I wouldn't write a great review on Jacob Rees-mogg! I see! I wouldn't have thought of her as any kind of liberal myself, I must admit. |
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Jan 17, 2022 20:24:09 GMT
Did some searching and I think I'm inclining towards Lola Falana, an American singer and actress who had a conversion in the eighties after recovering from a serious illness. Since then she seems to have dedicated herself to Christian evangelism.
Never even heard of her before.
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Post by cato on Jan 17, 2022 23:07:14 GMT
The English convert photographer, aviator and writer ( on many Irish themes among others) Daphne Pochin Mould deserves to be remembered. She seems to have been somewhat eccentric . There are summaries of her life on Wikipedia and the Irish Times on line.
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Post by cato on Jan 17, 2022 23:18:02 GMT
My problem is she is a Liberal and political liberalism is a sinful.
Same reason I wouldn't write a great review on Jacob Rees-mogg![/quote]I see!
I wouldn't have thought of her as any kind of liberal myself, I must admit.
[/quote]
I think 19th century liberalism which was often anti clerical / anti catholic isn't the same as the combination of economic liberalism and social conservatism professed by Tories like Rees Mogg and Ann Widdecombe.
I doubt either would see themselves as Liberal in that old sense. Neither have belonged to the modern incarnation of the Liberals(or Lib dems) in Parliament which has included socially liberal but left leaning catholics like Shirley Williams .
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Post by Séamus on Jan 18, 2022 9:17:23 GMT
I've been writing a series of articles in St. Martin's Magazine about famous converts to Catholicism. My first four (Gerard Manley Hopkins, Malcolm Muggeridge, Alec Guinness and Dean Koontz) have all been men. I'd like my fifth article to be about a female convert and I'm looking for ideas. I don't want it to be anyone too obvious, like Edith Stein or Dorothy Day, or the poet Sally Read whose conversion has been in the news a lot recently. My general criteria (though they're not written in stone) are: 1) It has to be someone who left some record about why they converted, their spiritual journey. Otherwise there's not much to write about! 2) Although they don't have to be saintly, as my list shows, I do try to pick people who were evidently serious about their conversion-- it wasn't just a passing phase, or because they married a Catholic. On the other hand, I'm trying to avoid people who are actually on the road to sainthood, or there already. 3) I'm looking for people who are well-known for something other than their conversion. So Kimberley Hahn, for instance, wouldn't really count. 4) I've had three English converts and one American convert so far, so I'm trying to restrain my anglophilia and pick some other nationality than English (or even British). Otherwise I probably would haeve gone for Anne Widdecombe. Another American is fine. Although she was indeed English, Caroline Chrisholm is lauded greatly for her work when in Australia and also spent time in India.(There is an official Cause, but it's been quite slow and most of her work was of secular and non-sectarian nature; Dickens caricatured her as one of his Bleak House characters) She was once the only female face on Australian currency,aside from the Queen. until the 1990s. Margaret Cusack would be an Irish example of a serious convert to Catholicism (she founded an order) who won't be considered saintly (she may have returned to Protestantism, at least intellectually). (Cornelia Connelly and her husband, although American also, make an interesting study to say the least. Another religious foundress, strangely enough.) |
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Post by Stephen on Jan 18, 2022 13:30:07 GMT
My problem is she is a Liberal and political liberalism is a sinful. Same reason I wouldn't write a great review on Jacob Rees-mogg! I see! I wouldn't have thought of her as any kind of liberal myself, I must admit. [/quote] I think 19th century liberalism which was often anti clerical / anti catholic isn't the same as the combination of economic liberalism and social conservatism professed by Tories like Rees Mogg and Ann Widdecombe. I doubt either would see themselves as Liberal in that old sense. Neither have belonged to the modern incarnation of the Liberals(or Lib dems) in Parliament which has included socially liberal but left leaning catholics like Shirley Williams .[/quote] ____________ Tories like the above mentioned are most definitely liberal in the sense they affirm the absolute independence of the individual and social reason. which of course is in opposition to absolute submission to Gods law of the individual and social reason. The problem with conservatives, in general, is they are yesterdays liberals! |
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Jan 18, 2022 13:37:22 GMT
Stephen, your view is not very historical. The kind of Catholic integrism you are appealing to wasn't even in common in Ireland a hundred years ago, never mind Britain. If you look at someone like Daniel O'Connell he would have been a strong "liberal" in the sense you describe.
Irish politicians and primates of the nineteenth century frequently appeal to the concept of freedom of religion and conscience. No, I couldn't ferret out the references right now, but I've definitely encountered this.
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Post by Stephen on Jan 18, 2022 14:27:49 GMT
Stephen, your view is not very historical. The kind of Catholic integrism you are appealing to wasn't even in common in Ireland a hundred years ago, never mind Britain. If you look at someone like Daniel O'Connell he would have been a strong "liberal" in the sense you describe. Irish politicians and primates of the nineteenth century frequently appeal to the concept of freedom of religion and conscience. No, I couldn't ferret out the references right now, but I've definitely encountered this. What I said above comes from a book by Fr Felix Salvanny. Also please explain how my statements aren't historical? I agree Daniel O'Connell was a liberal. Liberalism has been around a while. |
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Jan 18, 2022 15:00:03 GMT
Stephen, your view is not very historical. The kind of Catholic integrism you are appealing to wasn't even in common in Ireland a hundred years ago, never mind Britain. If you look at someone like Daniel O'Connell he would have been a strong "liberal" in the sense you describe. Irish politicians and primates of the nineteenth century frequently appeal to the concept of freedom of religion and conscience. No, I couldn't ferret out the references right now, but I've definitely encountered this. What I said above comes from a book by Fr Felix Salvanny. Also please explain how my statements aren't historical? I agree Daniel O'Connell was a liberal. Liberalism has been around a while. Well, you say conservatism is "slow liberalism", but I'm wondering what period are you appealing to when politicians accepted the "absolute submission to God's law of the individual and social reason"? I presume you mean some kind of confessional Catholic state which hasn't been around anywhere, as far as I know, for a long, long time. Such a test would seem to make the Duke of Wellington as much of a liberal as Anne Widdecombe. |
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Post by Stephen on Jan 18, 2022 15:45:43 GMT
What I said above comes from a book by Fr Felix Salvanny. Also please explain how my statements aren't historical? I agree Daniel O'Connell was a liberal. Liberalism has been around a while. Well, you say conservatism is "slow liberalism", but I'm wondering what period are you appealing to when politicians accepted the "absolute submission to God's law of the individual and social reason"? I presume you mean some kind of confessional Catholic state which hasn't been around anywhere, as far as I know, for a long, long time. Such a test would seem to make the Duke of Wellington as much of a liberal as Anne Widdecombe. Truth doesn't have a time limit. Just because we have been excepting the poison of liberalism since the reformation, doesn't mean we should accept it today. I don't know which Individual politician summited to God's law over the last 500 years. There are most defiantly parties and movements that have (the most recent ones were not pro-democratic  ). NB: The Catholic confessional state isn't really the ideal either (compromise). |
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