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You are right. I stand corrected. Even so, that does not make him a Roman Catholic. There are many Anglicans that believe in purgatory, but that does not make them Roman Catholic. I will say this. Based upon Lewis’ book, “God in the Dock,” he would probably be Roman Catholic today. The Anglican church’s ordination of women to the Holy Ministry would have pushed him out of the Anglican communion.

Thanks for setting me straight on Lewis’ belief in purgatory.

Oh, no, you could never reasonably expect a man born in 1898 in Belfast to become an actual Catholic! My only point was that he held Catholic beliefs, I was not contending that he was an actual convert. What was it he said about meeting Tolkien - that he had been warned never to trust a Papist or a philologist, and Tolkien was both . . . .

Lewis would have had kittens over what the Anglicans/ Episcopalians have become. He was already sufficiently horrified at the early warning signs such as Honest to God - I remember the controversy over that one myself. He was definitely opposed to the ordination of women (typical Lewis quip went something along the lines of - if you've got a problem with your neighbor, wouldn't you rather deal with the man of the house? And, ladies, when your husband is dealing with the neighbors, don't you think he's too easy on them? In fact, a bit of an Appeaser?)

While he might have become Orthodox, from a social/cultural point of view that would be difficult for an Englishman so maybe he would have become Catholic. But I don't know. That early upbringing is hard to overcome.

I think that one of the great attractions of Lewis is that he is so much the via media not only of Anglicanism but Christianity generally, that everybody - of whatever denomination - can find some point on which to claim him as their own. Except of course for the way-out extreme fundamentalist folks you find in certain corners of the web who claim he's a Satanist . . . .