[nomorelurker]

I too converted from Southern Baptist to Catholic. At our Pastoral Council discernment this last Sunday we had several candidates who converted from Protestant faiths. I think sometimes converts tend to be more more involved than "cradle" Catholics.

[Jackson57]

I had the great pleasure of having a Mass all to myself, in a small Benedictine monastery, for my confirmation. And it was on the feast day of St. John the Baptist. I think Father Andrew did that on purpose. You should have seen my Southern Baptist mother (from Arkansas) doing one of the readings in a New England Benedictine monastery. That was a wonderful sight to behold.

Having converted, I think there are times we take our faith less for granted (in some cases, but not all) than cradle Catholics. There are some very devoted people out there, but I've noticed during Mass that some people are just repeating words without thinking about what they're saying.

[Jackson57]

To bring the thread back to the Pope, it was when Pope John Paul II was elected that I first really became interested in Catholicism. It took me many years to finally get there.