“Got any stats on that? I’ve never known of this to occur.”
Numerous converts who have given their testimony describe this happening. Not only do some lose their friends, a few lose (or nearly lose) their families.
Many stories are here:
http://chnetwork.org/converts.htm
Perhaps, but again, I've never know this to occur. To make the claim that it happens most of the time, one would need stats or would need to know all instances where someone converted to Catholicism. One can say "in the arena with which I am familiar, most. . ."
I also would be interested in getting the other side of the story. Is the 'convert' blowing things out of proportion? Perhaps the convert wasn't 'abandoned' because of the conversion but because he/she did something to damage the relationship with his/her former friends. Naturally, someone telling about their conversion to Catholicism isn't going to talk about any negative aspects of their behavior post conversion. That person may not even realize it if they've done something to turn off their former friends.
I had a friend who was Luthern who began attending a Baptist church. She became adamantly in favor of her new denomination, and the subsequent (rarer) contacts she had with her former friends ultimately resulted in her forcefully trying to convert us all to Baptist. I'm sure she thought she was doing the right thing, but as you can imagine, it caused quite a few problems in the friendships.