[nickcarraway]

Father McCloskey also converted Larry Kudlow.

[wideawake]

Welcome home, Judge Bork.

[Chewbacca]

Just because you are baptised doesn't mean your sins are forgiven.

Did he ask Jesus into his heart to be his personal Lord and saviour and forgive him of his sins?

[onyx]

Good news.

[onyx]

Thanks for posting this welcome news. I've bookmarked this thread.

[DLfromthedesert]

I heard Laura Ingraham say that she recently was baptized into the Catholic Church.

Does anyone know if she was also brought into the church by Father McCloskey?

[Fred Mertz]

Weren't Freeh and Hanssen (sp) both members of the Opus Dei arm of the Roman Catholic Church?

[Cicero]

Two points. One is that Catholics consider baptism to be a sacrament that wipes away the effects of original and actual sins committed up to that point. If you read Augustine's "Confessions" you will note that his parents did not baptize him as a child because they wanted to save it until later, after he had committed his adolescent sins. Not a normal Catholic idea, but based on Catholic the theology of baptism.

Second, if Bork was originally baptized as a Protestant, then that earlier baptism was probably valid. It depends what he means by "generic Protestant." Catholics believe that anyone can administer the sacrament of baptism--and should, in an emergency. Two things are necessary for the sacrament, matter and words. The matter is water. The words are: "I baptize you [name] in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Most Protestant denominations use water and these words, although they may dispute about the need for adult conversion or total immersion.

So, I suspect that this was probably a conditional baptism, meaning that Bork was baptized IF he was not validly baptized as a baby, just to make sure.

[Wallace T.]

Was Robert Bork baptized into his family's Protestant denomination? If so, does the Catholic Church not recognize the legitimacy of his prior baptism? If the Catholic Church does not recognize the prior baptiam, is the non-recognition due to the absence of what Rome regards as legitimate and continuous apostolic succession in the Protestant churches (Episcopals included)? Since all churches that can legitimately call themselves Protestant are necessarily Trinitarian, it would appear the language of administration would be acceptable per se. (I suppose an Eastern Orthodox baptism would be regarded as a legitimate sacrament.)

[BaBaStooey]

bump for all my Catholic Freeper homies

[NYer]

Welcome Home, Judge Bork! ping ...

[bethelgrad]

As a Protestant, I of course wish he'd stuck with his upbringing. Neverthless, I celebrate with him in his decision for Christ. God bless him.

[ThomasMore]

It's never too late! Praise the Lord!

[Ann Archy]

Didn't Dick Morris convert also?

[irish_links]

"..Lots of other prominent Catholics were there, such as columnist and speechwriter Peggy Noonan, herself a convert,,,"

Is Peggy Noonan really a convert? Can anyone confirm this? I can find no reference to her conversion on the web.

[InvisibleChurch]

It may be a little late to start for most,

it's never too late

[NYer]

Interesting article ...

Catholicism Is The Answer (by Bud Macfarlane Jr.)

Extract:

The Conversion of Protestant Ministers to Catholicism. What started as a trickle with Scott Hahn in the 1980s is now a steady stream of hundreds of conversions. Many or most of our best preachers and apostolic leaders were once anti-Catholic Protestants.

[Eva]

I'll be watching for a Peggy Noonan article on this story.

[BibChr]

"If you get baptized at my age, all of your sins are forgiven. And that's very helpful."

Golly, that's sad!

Dan
How Can I Know God?

[Tax-chick]

Good for Judge Bork, good for the Church. I hope he has a great time, and many years, being a Catholic.

[ggekko]

Father McCloskey is a former Wall Street gold trader and a Catholic priest.