Catholicism gets strong Protestants while Protestantism gets weak Catholics.
Mega pastor Ulf Ekman, Bible scholar Scott Hahn, Peter Kreeft, Marcus Grodi, Fr. Le...slie Rumble, Philisopher,Jacques Maritain, John Henry Cardinal Newman, G.K. Chesterton
Mega pastor Ulf Ekman, Bible scholar Scott Hahn, Peter Kreeft, Marcus Grodi, Fr. Le...slie Rumble, Philisopher,Jacques Maritain, John Henry Cardinal Newman, G.K. Chesterton
Other lists of intellectual converts (Wikipedia)
Greg Abbott: Texas Attorney General.(1)
Creighton Abrams: US Army General. Converted while commanding US forces in Vietnam.(2)
Anna Abrikosova: Russian convert to Eastern-rite Catholicism who was imprisoned by the Soviets.(3)
Audrey Assad: American singer-songwriter and contemporary Christian music artist.(4)
Vladimir Abrikosov: Russian who became an Eastern-rite priest and husband to Anna Abrikosova.(5)
John Adams: Beatified person and Catholic martyr.(6)
Mortimer J. Adler: American philosopher, educator, and popular author. He converted, from agnosticism, after decades of interest in Thomism.[7]
Afonso I of Kongo: African king. Although politically motivated he became quite pious[8]
Leo Allatius: Greek theologian[9]
Fanny Allen: Daughter of Ethan Allen who became a nun.[10][11]
Thomas William Allies: English writer.[12]
Mother Mary Alphonsa: Daughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne, born "Rose Hawthorne", she went on to become a nun and founder of "St. Rose's Free Home for Incurable Cancer."[13][14]
Veit Amerbach: A Lutheran theologian and humanist before conversion.[15]
Władysław Anders: General in the Polish Army and later in life a politician with the Polish government-in-exile in London.[16]
William Henry Anderdon: English Jesuit and writer.[17]
G. E. M. Anscombe: British analytical philosopher and theologian who introduced the term consequentialism into the English language[18]
Francis Arinze: Nigerian Cardinal and Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments[19]
Thomas Aufield: English priest and martyr.[20]
Johann Christian Bach: Composer, the youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach.[21]
Thomas Bailey (priest): A royalist and controversialist whose father was Anglican bishop Lewis Bayly.[22]
Beryl Bainbridge: English novelist[23]
Francis Asbury Baker: American priest, missionary, and social worker, known as one of the founders of the Paulist Fathers in 1858.[24]
Josephine Bakhita : A Sudanese-born former slave who became a Canossian Religious Sister in Italy, living and working there for 45 years. In 2000 she was declared a saint.[25]
Banine : French writer of Azeri descent.[26][27]
Maurice Baring: English intellectual, writer, and war correspondent.[28][29]
Barlaam of Seminara: Involved in the Hesychast controversy as an opponent to Gregory Palamas, possibly a revert.[30]
Mark Barkworth: An English Catholic priest, martyr, and beatified person.[31]
Edwin Barnes: Formerly an Anglican bishop.[32]
Joan Bartlett: Foundress of the Servite Secular Institute.[33]
James Roosevelt Bayley: First bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark.[34]
Aubrey Beardsley: An English illustrator and author who, before his death, converted to Catholicism and renounced his erotic drawings.[35]
Benedict Mar Gregorios: Metropolitan Archbishop of Trivandrum from 1955 to 1994.[36][37]
Francis J. Beckwith: American philosopher, Baylor University professor, and former president of the Evangelical Theological Society. Beckwith is technically a revert[38]
Jean Mohamed Ben Abdejlil: Moroccan scholar and Roman Catholic priest[39]
Peter Benenson: founder of human rights group Amnesty International.[40]
Robert Hugh Benson: English writer and theologian, son of an Archbishop of Canterbury[41]
Elizabeth Bentley: Former Soviet spy who defected to the West. Converted by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen.
Bernardo the Japanese: One of the first Japanese to set foot in Europe.[42]
Jiao Bingzhen: A noted painter and astronomer.[43]
Conrad Black: A Canadian-born historian, columnist, UK peer, and convicted felon for fraud. (Though his conviction was overturned subsequently on appeal.)[44]
Tony Blair: former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; converted Dec. 22, 2007, after stepping down as prime minister[45]
Andrea Bocelli: Italian tenor.[46]
Cherry Boone: Daughter of devoutly evangelical Christian entertainer, Pat Boone; she went public about her battle with anorexia nervosa[47]
John Wilkes Booth: 19th-century actor and assassin of President Abraham Lincoln. His sister Asia Booth asserted in her 1874 memoir that Booth, baptized an Episcopalian at age 14, had become a Catholic. For the good of the Church during a notoriously anti-Catholic time in American history, Booth's conversion was not publicized.[48]
Robert Bork: American jurist and unsuccessful nominee to the United States Supreme Court. Converted to Catholicism in 2003. His wife was a former Catholic nun.[49]
William Maziere Brady: Irish historian and journalist, formerly a Church of Ireland priest.[50][51]
Elinor Brent-Dyer: English writer[52]
Alexander Briant: One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.[53]
John Broadhurst: Formerly an Anglican bishop.[32]
George Mackay Brown: Scottish poet, author and dramatist from the Orkney Islands.[54]
Sam Brownback: U.S. senator from Kansas[55]
Orestes Brownson: American writer[56]
Dave Brubeck: American jazz musician.[57]
David-Augustin de Brueys: French theologian and dramatist.[58]
Ismaël Bullialdus: French astronomer who converted from Calvinism and became a Catholic priest.[59]
Andrew Burnham (priest): Formerly an Anglican bishop.[32]
John Ellis Bush: American politician, forty-third Governor of Florida[60]
Thomas Byles: Priest who died serving others on the RMS Titanic.[61][62]
Roy Campbell: South-African-born, English-based (later Portuguese-based) poet[63]
Edmund Campion: Jesuit martyr who wrote Decem Rationes, which denounced Anglicanism, and is noted as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.[64]
Charles II of England, Scotland, and Ireland (His conversion is disputed by some historians.)[65]
Cecil Chesterton: British journalist, younger brother of G.K. Chesterton[66]
G.K. Chesterton: British writer, journalist and essayist, famous for his Christian Apologetics Orthodoxy, Heretics and the Everlasting Man[67]
Wesley Clark: US Army General and former Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO, Candidate for Democratic nomination for President in 2004[68]
Christina, Queen of Sweden: Seventeenth-century monarch.[69]
Emily Coleman: American born writer, and a lifelong compulsive diary keeper.[70]
Henry James Coleridge: Son of John Taylor Coleridge who became a priest.[71]
James Collinson: Artist who briefly went back to Anglicanism in order to marry Christina Rossetti.[72]
Constantine the African: Tunisian doctor who converted from Islam and became a Benedictine monk.[73][74]
Gary Cooper: American actor who converted to the Church late in life saying of it, "that decision I made was the right one."[75]
Tim Conway: American comedian. Converted to Catholicism because he said he liked the way the Church is structured.
Frederick Copleston: English historian of philosophy and Jesuit priest[76]
Richard Crashaw: English poet and son of a staunch anti-Catholic father.[77]
Lorenzo Da Ponte: Italian writer and poet (conversion from Judaism on his father's remarriage)[78]
Christopher Davenport: Recollect friar whose efforts to show that the Thirty-Nine Articles could be interpreted more in accordance with Catholic teaching caused controversy among fellow Catholics.[79]
Dorothy Day: social activist and pacifist, founder of the Catholic Worker movement. Raised nominally Episcopalian.[80]
David-Augustin de Brueys: French theologian[81]
Regina Derieva: Russian poet[82]
Catherine Doherty: Canadian pioneer of social justice, from Russian Christianity.[83]
Diana Dors: Actress who was once called a "wayward hussy" by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, in the 1970s she converted to Catholicism and had a Catholic funeral.[84][85]
David Paul Drach: French Talmudic scholar and librarian of the College of Propaganda in Rome.[86]
Augusta Theodosia Drane: English writer and theologian also known as Mother Francis Raphael, O.S.D[87]
John Dryden: English poet, literary critic, and playwright[88]
Avery Dulles: American Jesuit Theologian, Professor at Fordham University.[89] (Son of former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles.)
Michael Dummett: British Analytic philosopher who devised the Quota Borda system.[90]
Faye Dunaway: American actress.[91]
Joseph Dutton: A veteran of the American Civil War who worked with Father Damien.[92]
Alfred Döblin: German expressionist novelist, best known for Berlin Alexanderplatz.[93
Dawn Eden: Rock journalist of Jewish ethnicity who was agnostic, now a Catholic concerned with the moral values of chastity.[94][95]
Martin Eisengrein: German theologian and polemicist.[96]
Ulf Ekman: Swedish charismatic pastor and founder of the Livets Ord congregation of the Word of Faith movement in Uppsala, Sweden.[97]
Black Elk: Oglala medicine-man[98]
Veit Erbermann: German theologian and controversialist.[99]
William Everson: Beat poet whose parents were Christian Scientists, he took the name Brother Antoninus in the 18 years he spent as a Dominican[100]
Thomas Ewing: U.S. Senator from Ohio who served as Secretary of the Treasury and first Secretary of the Interior. Foster brother of William Tecumseh Sherman.[101]
Frederick William Faber: English theologian and hymnwriter.[102]
Lola Falana: Dancer and actress who became a Catholic evangelist after converting and founded The Lambs of God Ministry.[103][104]
Leonid Feodorov: An Exarch of the Russian Greek Catholic Church, he was a Gulag survivor beatified by Pope John Paul II.[105][106]
Ronald Firbank: British novelist[107]
Sir Henry Fletcher, 3rd Baronet, of Hutton le Forest: Baronet who converted and spent his last years in a monastery.[108][109]
Kasper Franck: German theologian and controversialist.[110]
Antonia Fraser: British historian, biographer and novelist (Her parents converted when she was little)[111]
André Frossard: French journalist and essayist.[112][113]
Georgiana Fullerton: English novelist who converted in 1846 when she was in her 30s.[114]
Ivan Gagarin: Russian Jesuit and writer of aristocratic origin.[115]
Maggie Gallagher: Conservative activist and a founder of the National Organization for Marriage.[116]
Edmund Gennings and John Gennings: Two brothers. Edmund was a priest and martyr who converted at sixteen. His death lead to John's conversion. John restored the English province of Franciscan friars.[117]
Elizabeth Fox-Genovese: Historian and founder of the Institute of Women's Studies, wife of Eugene D. Genovese.[118]
Eugene D. Genovese: Historian who had once been an atheist and Marxist.[119]
Fathia Ghali: Daughter of King Fuad I of Egypt and his Queen, Nazli Sabri. In 1950, both mother and daughter converted to Catholicism from Islam. Enraged, King Farouk I forbade them from returning to Egypt again. After Farouk's death, they asked President Anwar Sadat to restore their passports, which he did.
Vladimir Ghika: Romanian nobleman who became a Catholic monsignor and political dissident.[120][121]
Richard Gilmour: A bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland.[122]
Newt Gingrich: American politician, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.[123]
Rumer Godden: English author of Black Narcissus and the 1972 Whitbread Award winner The Diddakoi. She converted to Catholicism in 1968, which inspired the book In This House of Brede.[124]
John Gother: English Roman Catholic convert, priest and controversialist.[125]
John Willem Gran: Former Bishop of Oslo who had been an atheist working in the film industry.[126][127]
Graham Greene: British writer whose Catholicism influenced novels like The Power and the Glory.[128] Although in later life he once referred to himself as a "Catholic atheist."[129]
Wilton Daniel Gregory: American Archbishop of Atlanta, 2005–present.[130]
Moritz Gudenus: German priest.[131]
Alec Guinness: British actor[132] who the Catholic Association of Performing Arts (UK) named an award after.[133]
H[edit]
Theodor Haecker: German writer, translator and cultural critic.[134]
Kimberly Hahn: Former Presbyterian; theologian, apologist and author of many books[135]
Scott Hahn: Former Presbyterian minister; theologian, Scripture scholar and author of many books[136]
Jeffrey Hamm: British fascist leader. Converted by the renegade Catholic priest Fr. Clement Russell. Succeeded Oswald Mosley as head of the British Union of Fascists.
Thomas Morton Harper: Jesuit priest, philosopher, theologian and preacher.[137]
Chris Haw: Theologian and author of numerous books, including one detailing his conversion away from evangelical Protestantism.[138]
Anna Haycraft: Raised in Auguste Comte's atheistic "church of humanity", but became a conservative Catholic in adulthood.[139]
Susan Hayward: Academy Award winning American actress who helped found a church.[140][141]
Carlton J. H. Hayes: An American ambassador to Spain. He helped found the American Catholic Historical Association and was co-chair of the National Conference of Christians and Jews.[142][143]
Isaac Hecker: Founder of the Paulist Fathers.[144]
Elisabeth Hesselblad: Raised Lutheran. After her conversion she became a nun. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 9, 2000, and in 2004 she was recognized by Yad Vashem as one of the Righteous Among the Nations for her work in helping Jews during World War II.[145][146]
Dietrich von Hildebrand: German theologian.[147][148]
Walter Hooper: Trustee and literary advisor of the estate of C.S. Lewis.[149]
James Hope-Scott: English lawyer connected to the Oxford Movement.[150]
Gerard Manley Hopkins: English poet and Catholic priest.[151]
Allen Hunt: American radio personality. Former Methodist pastor.[152]
E. Howard Hunt: American spy and novelist[153]
Reinhard Hütter: American theologian[154]
[155]
Princess Irene of the Netherlands: her conversion, related to her marrying a Carlist, became something of a national issue.[156][157]
Vyacheslav Ivanovich Ivanov: Poet and playwright associated to Russian symbolism. He was received into the Catholic Church in 1926.[158][159]
Levi Silliman Ives: Episcopal Church of the USA Bishop of North Carolina.[160][161]
Laura Ingraham: American broadcaster and political commentator
J[edit]
Bobby Jindal: Governor of the U.S. state of Louisiana, converted in his teens.[162]
Gwen John: Artist and Auguste Rodin's lover. After the relationship she had a religious conversion and did portraits of nuns.[163]
Walter B. Jones: U.S. politician, Member of the United States House of Representatives.[164]
Nirmala Joshi: Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity from 1997 to 2009.[165]
Johannes Jørgensen: Danish writer, best known for his biographies of Catholic saints.[166][167]
Nicholas Kao Se Tseien: World's oldest priest[168]
Katharine, Duchess of Kent: The first member of the British Royal Family to convert to Catholicism for more than 300 years.[169]
Joyce Kilmer: American journalist, poet, literary critic, lecturer and editor.[170][171]
Kim Yuna: A South Korean figure skater and Olympic gold medalist.[172]
Russell Kirk: American historian, moralist and figure in Conservatism in the United States.[173]
Sister Gregory Kirkus: An English Roman Catholic nun, educator, historian and archivist.[174]
Harm Klueting: Priest and historian who had been Lutheran and had two children.[175]
Dean Koontz: American novelist known for thrillers and suspense. He converted in college.[176]
Knud Karl Krogh-Tonning: Norwegian who had been a Lutheran Professor of Theology.[177]
Albert Küchler: Danish painter who became a Franciscan friar.[178]
Lawrence Kudlow: CNBC host and business columnist.[179][180]
William Kurelek: Canadian painter.[181]
Stephan Kuttner: An expert in Canon Law.[182]
Demetrios Kydones: Byzantine theologian, writer and statesman.[183]
L[edit]
Joseph Lane: Territorial Governor of Oregon, 1st U.S. Senator from Oregon, and pro-slavery Democratic Candidate for U.S. Vice-President in 1860. Lane, who was openly sympathetic to the Confederacy during the Civil War, studied Catholic doctrine and converted with his family in 1867.[184]
Halldór Laxness: Icelandic writer, converted in 1923,[185] left the Church, but returned at end of his life.[186]
Graham Leonard: A former Anglican Bishop of London.[187][188]
Ignace Lepp: French psychiatrist whose parents were freethinkers and who joined the Communist party at age fifteen. He broke with the party in 1937 and eventually became a Catholic priest.[189]
Dilwyn Lewis: Welsh clothes designer and priest.[190]
Francis Libermann: Venerated Catholic, raised in Orthodox Judaism, who has been called "The Second Founder of the Holy Ghost Fathers".[191]
William Lockhart: First member of the Oxford Movement to convert and become a Catholic priest.[192]
Dwight Longenecker: Former Evangelical fundamentalist, then Anglican priest, ordained a Catholic priest and active as an author, blogger, broadcaster and speaker.[193]
James Longstreet: Confederate general turned Republican "scalawag".[194]
Frederick Lucas: Quaker who converted and founded The Tablet.[195]
Clare Boothe Luce: American playwright, editor, politician, and diplomat. Wife of Time-Life founder Henry Luce. She worked on the screenplay of the nun-themed film Come to the Stable and became a Dame of Malta.[196][197]
Arnold Lunn: A skier, mountaineer, and writer. As an agnostic he wrote Roman Converts, which took a critical view of Catholicism and the converts to it. He later converted to Catholicism due to debating with converts, and became an apologist for the faith, although he retained a few criticisms of said faith.[198]
James Patterson Lyke: Roman Catholic Archbishop of Atlanta from 1991 to 1992.[199]
Henry Edward Manning: English Anglican clergyman who became a Catholic Cardinal and Archbishop of Westminster[200]
Gabriel Marcel: A leading Christian existentialist. His upbringing was agnostic.[201]
Jacques Maritain: French Thomist philosopher, who helped form the basis for international law and human rights law in his writings, also laid the intellectual foundation for the christian democratic movement[202]
Gustav Mahler: Austrian composer. Converted from Judaism.[203]
Alasdair MacIntyre: Virtue ethicist and moral philosopher.[204]
James McAuley: Australian poet, converted in 1952.[205]
Claude McKay: Bisexual Jamaican poet who went from Communist-leaning atheist to an active Catholic Christian after a stroke.[206][207]
Marshall McLuhan: Canadian philosopher of communication theory. Coined the terms the medium is the message and the global village. Converted in 1937 after reading the works of G.K. Chesterton.
Thomas Merton: American Trappist monk and spiritual writer.[208]
Vittorio Messori: An Italian journalist and writer called the "most translated Catholic writer in the world" by Sandro Magister. Before his conversion in 1964 he had a "perspective as a secularist and agnostic."[209][210][211]
Alice Meynell: Poet and suffragist.[212]
John Brande Morris: Priest, writer, student of Patristic theology, and scholar of the Syriac language.[213]
Henry Morse: One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.[214]
Malcolm Muggeridge: British journalist and author who went from agnosticism to the Catholic Church.[215][216]
Takashi Nagai: A physician specializing in radiology and author of The Bells of Nagasaki.[217]
Bernard Nathanson: Medical doctor who was a founding member of NARAL, later becoming a Pro-Life proponent.[218]
Patricia Neal: She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Hud.[219]
Knut Ansgar Nelson: Danish born convert who was a bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockholm.[220]
Irène Némirovsky: Author of the controversial David Golder, autobiographical Le Vin de solitude, and posthumous success Suite française.[221][222][223]
Richard John Neuhaus: Priest, founder and editor of the journal First Things.[224]
John Henry Newman: English Priest and Cardinal, famous for his autobiographical book Apologia Pro Vita Sua in which he details his reasons for converting[225]
Keith Newton: Formerly an Anglican bishop.[32]
Donald Nicholl: A British historian and theologian who has been described as "one of the most widely influential of modern Christian thinkers."[226]
Barthold Nihus: German convert who became a bishop and controversialist.[227]
Robert Novak: American journalist and political commentator. Raised Jewish, but practiced no religion for many years before converting to Catholicism in the last years of his life.[228]
Alfred Noyes: English poet, best known for The Highwayman. He dealt with his conversion in The Unknown God and The Last Voyage, in his The Torch-Bearers trilogy, was influenced by his conversion.[229][230]
Frederick Oakeley: Priest and author known for his translation of Adeste Fideles into English as "O Come, All Ye Faithful".[231][232]
John M. Oesterreicher: Jewish convert who became a monsignor and a leading advocate of Jewish-Catholic reconciliation.[233]
William E. Orchard: A liturgist, pacifist and ecumenicist. Before becoming a Catholic priest he had been a Protestant minister.[234]
Johann Friedrich Overbeck: German painter in the Nazarene movement of religious art.[235]
Coventry Patmore: English poet and critic known for The Angel in the House.[236]
Joseph Pearce: An anti-Catholic and agnostic British National Front member who became a devoted Catholic writer with a series on EWTN.[237][238]
Vladimir Pecherin: Russian convert and priest whose memoirs were controversial for criticizing both the Russian government and the Catholic Church of his time.[239]
Charles Péguy: French poet, essayist, and editor. He went from agnostic humanist to a pro-Republic Catholic.[240]
Walker Percy: Laetare Medal winning author of The Moviegoer, Love in the Ruins, and others.[241]
Johann Pistorius: A German controversialist and historian.[242]
John Hungerford Pollen: He wrote for The Tablet and was Professor of Fine Arts at the Catholic University of Ireland.[243]
Vincent Price: American actor. Converted to Catholicism to marry his third wife, Australian actress Coral Browne. (She became an American citizen for him.) He reportedly lost interest in the faith after her death.[244]
Erik Prince: founder of Blackwater Worldwide.[245]
Augustus Pugin: English-born architect, designer and theorist of design. Known for Gothic Revival architecture and advocate for reviving the Catholic Church in England.[246
Marie-Alphonse Ratisbonne: A co-founder of the Congregation of Our Lady of Sion, which originally worked to convert Jewish people like himself.[247]
Marie Theodor Ratisbonne: A co-founder of the Congregation of Our Lady of Sion, converted before his brother.[248]
Sally Read: Eric Gregory Award winning poet who converted to Catholicism.[249]
William Reynolds: English Roman Catholic theologian and Biblical scholar.[250]
Anthony Rhodes, English writer.
Paul Richardson: Formerly an Anglican bishop.[251]
Alban Roe: Benedictine who was one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.[252]
Sylvester Horton Rosecrans: First bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus.[253]
William Rosecrans – Sylvester's brother, a Union Army general in the American Civil War.[253]
Anthony Ross: Scottish priest who served as Rector of the University of Edinburgh from 1979 to 1982.[254]
Joseph Rovan: A historian, member of the French Resistance, and an adviser on Franco-German relations.[255]
S[edit]
Nazli Sabri: Queen of Egypt. Mother of King Farouk of Egypt.
Siegfried Sassoon: English poet, writer and soldier who converted in 1957.[256]
Joseph Saurin: French mathematician and Calvinist minister.[257]
Paul Schenck: Converted from Judaism to Episcopalianism to Catholicism. Currently is a Catholic priest and pro-life activist.[258][259]
Heinrich Schlier: German theologian.[260]
Dutch Schultz (Arthur Flegenheimer): American mobster. Converted to Catholicism during his second trial, convinced that Jesus Christ had spared him jail time. After being fatally shot by underworld rivals, he asked to see a priest and was given the last rites. His mother, however, insisted on dressing him in a Jewish prayer shawl prior to his interment in the Catholic Gate of Heaven Cemetery.
E. F. Schumacher: Economic thinker known for Small Is Beautiful, his A Guide for the Perplexed criticizes what he termed "materialistic scientism." He went from atheism to Buddhism to Catholicism.[261]
Countess of Ségur: French writer of Russian birth.[262]
John Sergeant: English priest, controversialist and theologian.[263]
Elizabeth Ann Seton: First native-born citizen of the United States to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church.[264][265]
Frances Shand Kydd: Mother of Diana, Princess of Wales.[266]
Michael Shen Fu-Tsung: A Qing Dynasty bureaucrat who toured Europe. A painting of him was titled "The Chinese Convert."[267]
Ralph Sherwin: One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.[268]
Frederick Charles Shrady: American religious artist, primarily sculpture.[269]
Angelus Silesius: A German Catholic priest and physician, known as a mystic and religious poet.[270][271]
David Silk (priest): Formerly an Anglican bishop.[32]
Richard Simpson: Literary writer and scholar who wrote a biography of Edmund Campion.[272]
Edith Sitwell:[273][274]
Delia Smith: English cook and television presenter, her books A Feast for Lent and A Feast for Advent involve Catholicism.[275]
Timo Soini: Politician who leads the Eurosceptic True Finns party. He converted during the time of Pope John Paul II.[276]
Reinhard Sorge: Expressionist playwright who went from Nietzschean to Catholic.[277][278]
Etsuro Sotoo: Japanese sculptor.[279]
Muriel Spark: Scottish novelist, author of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Penelope Fitzgerald states that Spark said that after her conversion she was better able to, "see human existence as a whole, as a novelist needs to do."[280]
Ignatius Spencer: The son of George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer who became a Passionist priest and worked for the conversion of England to the Catholic faith.[281]
Adrienne von Speyr: Swiss medical doctor and later Catholic mystic[282]
Henri Spondanus: A French jurist, historian, continuator of the Annales Ecclesiastici, and Bishop of Pamiers.[283]
Friedrich Staphylus: German theologian who drew up several opinions on reform for the Council of Trent despite not attending.[284]
Ellen Gates Starr: A founder of Hull House who became an Oblate of the Third Order of St. Benedict.[285]
Jeffrey N. Steenson: First ordinary to the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter. He had formerly been bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande.[286]
Edith Stein: Phenomenologist philosopher who converted to Catholicism and became a Discalced Carmelite nun; declared a saint by John Paul II.[287]
Nicolas Steno: Pioneer in geology and anatomy who converted from Lutheranism. He became a bishop, wrote spiritual works, and was beatified in 1988.[288][289]
Karl Stern: A German-Canadian neurologist and psychiatrist. His book Pillar of Fire concerns his conversion.[290]
John Lawson Stoddard: Divinity student who became an agnostic and "Scientific humanist." Later he converted to Catholicism.[291]
Göran Stenius (fi): A Swedish-Finnish writer whose Klockorna i Rom (The Bells of Rome) has been praised as a post-war religious novel.[292][293]
Sven Stolpe: Swedish convert and writer.[294]
R. J. Stove: Australian writer, editor, and composer who was raised atheist as the son of David Stove.[295]
Graham Sutherland: An English artist who did religious art and a fascination with Christ's Crucifixion.[296]
Robert Sutton: English priest and martyr.[297]
Su Xuelin: A Chinese author and scholar whose semi-autobiographical novel Bitter Heart discusses her introduction, and conversion to, Catholicism.[298]
Sophie Swetchine: Russian salon-holder and mystic.[299]
John B. Tabb: American poet, priest, and educator.[300]
John Michael Talbot: American Roman Catholic singer-songwriter-guitarist, once a secular musician in the group Mason Proffit.[301][302]
Allen Tate: American poet, essayist and social commentator, and Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress.[303]
Frances Margaret Taylor: Founded the Poor Servants of the Mother of God.[304]
Kateri Tekakwitha: Catholic saint informally known as Lily of the Mohawks.[305]
Elliot Griffin Thomas: The third bishop for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Thomas.[306]
John Sparrow David Thompson: First Catholic to be Prime Minister of Canada.[307]
Tobie Matthew: Member of English Parliament who became a Catholic priest.[308]
Alice B. Toklas: An American-born member of the Parisian avant-garde of the early 20th century who had once been Gertrude Stein's lover.[309]
Meriol Trevor: British biographer, novelist and children's writer.[310][311]
Lou Tseng-Tsiang: Chinese diplomat who became Benedictine abbot and priest Pierre-Célestin.[312][313][314]
Hasekura Tsunenaga: Samurai and Keichō diplomat who toured Europe.[315]
Malcolm Turnbull
Julia Gardiner Tyler: The second wife of U.S. President John Tyler.[316]
Barry Ulanov: An editor of Metronome magazine and a founder of the St. Thomas More Society.[317] He was also Mary Lou Williams's godfather.[318]
Kaspar Ulenberg: A theological writer and translator of the Bible who had previously been Lutheran.[319]
Sigrid Undset: Norwegian Nobel laureate who had previously been agnosticism.[320]
Sheldon Vanauken: Author of A Severe Mercy and a contributing editor of the New Oxford Review.[321]
Bill Veeck: American baseball team owner[322]
Johann Emanuel Veith: A Bohemian Roman Catholic preacher.[323]
Jean-Baptiste Ventura: Soldier, mercenary and adventurer of Jewish origin[324]
Johannes Vermeer: Dutch Golden Age painter.[325]
Mother Veronica of the Passion: Founder of the Sisters of the Apostolic Carmel.[326]
Karl Freiherr von Vogelsang: Politician and editor of the Catholic newspaper Das Vaterland.[327]
William George Ward: A theologian and philosopher, also a lecturer in mathematics.[328]
Evelyn Waugh: English writer, his Brideshead Revisited concerns an aristocratic Catholic family.[329]
John Wayne: American Actor, predominately known for his roles in War Films and Westerns, converted to the Catholic Church shortly before his death[330]
E. T. Whittaker: English mathematician who was awarded the cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice in 1935.[331]
Zacharias Werner: German poet, dramatist and preacher.[332]
Eustace White: One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.[333]
Ann Widdecombe: Former British Conservative Party politician, and novelist since 2000.[334]
Chelsea Olivia Wijaya: Indonesian actress and model, Born in the Protestant religion.[335]
Oscar Wilde: Irish writer and poet. Converted on his deathbed.[336]
Mary Lou Williams: Jazz pianist who, after conversion, did some religious jazz music like Black Christ of the Andes.[318][337]
Paul Williams: Academic who was raised Anglican and lived as a Tibetan Buddhist for twenty years before becoming Catholic.[338][339]
Tennessee Williams: American playwright. Converted in his later years as his life spiralled downwards.
Lord Nicholas Windsor: Son of Catholic convert Katharine, Duchess of Kent and a Pro-Life writer.[340][341]
Gene Wolfe: A Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master in science fiction and fantasy.[342][343]
John Woodcock: Among the Eighty-five martyrs of England and Wales.[344]
Thomas Woods: American historian and Austrian School economist who wrote How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization.[345]
John Ching Hsiung Wu: He wrote Chinese Humanism and Christian spirituality and has been called "One of China's chief lay exponents of Catholic ideas."[346]
Wu Li: Chinese painter and poet who became one of the first Chinese Jesuit priests.[347]
John C. Wright: Science fiction author who went from atheist to Christian, specifically Catholic.[348] Chapter 1 of the book "Atheist to Catholic: 11 Stories of Conversion", edited by Rebecca Vitz Cherico, is by him.[349]
John Michael Wright: A portrait painter in the Baroque style.[350]
Xu Guangqi: A Chinese scholar-bureaucrat, agricultural scientist, astronomer, and mathematician during the Ming Dynasty.[351] He is classed as one of the Three Pillars of Chinese Catholicism.
See MoreGreg Abbott: Texas Attorney General.(1)
Creighton Abrams: US Army General. Converted while commanding US forces in Vietnam.(2)
Anna Abrikosova: Russian convert to Eastern-rite Catholicism who was imprisoned by the Soviets.(3)
Audrey Assad: American singer-songwriter and contemporary Christian music artist.(4)
Vladimir Abrikosov: Russian who became an Eastern-rite priest and husband to Anna Abrikosova.(5)
John Adams: Beatified person and Catholic martyr.(6)
Mortimer J. Adler: American philosopher, educator, and popular author. He converted, from agnosticism, after decades of interest in Thomism.[7]
Afonso I of Kongo: African king. Although politically motivated he became quite pious[8]
Leo Allatius: Greek theologian[9]
Fanny Allen: Daughter of Ethan Allen who became a nun.[10][11]
Thomas William Allies: English writer.[12]
Mother Mary Alphonsa: Daughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne, born "Rose Hawthorne", she went on to become a nun and founder of "St. Rose's Free Home for Incurable Cancer."[13][14]
Veit Amerbach: A Lutheran theologian and humanist before conversion.[15]
Władysław Anders: General in the Polish Army and later in life a politician with the Polish government-in-exile in London.[16]
William Henry Anderdon: English Jesuit and writer.[17]
G. E. M. Anscombe: British analytical philosopher and theologian who introduced the term consequentialism into the English language[18]
Francis Arinze: Nigerian Cardinal and Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments[19]
Thomas Aufield: English priest and martyr.[20]
Johann Christian Bach: Composer, the youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach.[21]
Thomas Bailey (priest): A royalist and controversialist whose father was Anglican bishop Lewis Bayly.[22]
Beryl Bainbridge: English novelist[23]
Francis Asbury Baker: American priest, missionary, and social worker, known as one of the founders of the Paulist Fathers in 1858.[24]
Josephine Bakhita : A Sudanese-born former slave who became a Canossian Religious Sister in Italy, living and working there for 45 years. In 2000 she was declared a saint.[25]
Banine : French writer of Azeri descent.[26][27]
Maurice Baring: English intellectual, writer, and war correspondent.[28][29]
Barlaam of Seminara: Involved in the Hesychast controversy as an opponent to Gregory Palamas, possibly a revert.[30]
Mark Barkworth: An English Catholic priest, martyr, and beatified person.[31]
Edwin Barnes: Formerly an Anglican bishop.[32]
Joan Bartlett: Foundress of the Servite Secular Institute.[33]
James Roosevelt Bayley: First bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark.[34]
Aubrey Beardsley: An English illustrator and author who, before his death, converted to Catholicism and renounced his erotic drawings.[35]
Benedict Mar Gregorios: Metropolitan Archbishop of Trivandrum from 1955 to 1994.[36][37]
Francis J. Beckwith: American philosopher, Baylor University professor, and former president of the Evangelical Theological Society. Beckwith is technically a revert[38]
Jean Mohamed Ben Abdejlil: Moroccan scholar and Roman Catholic priest[39]
Peter Benenson: founder of human rights group Amnesty International.[40]
Robert Hugh Benson: English writer and theologian, son of an Archbishop of Canterbury[41]
Elizabeth Bentley: Former Soviet spy who defected to the West. Converted by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen.
Bernardo the Japanese: One of the first Japanese to set foot in Europe.[42]
Jiao Bingzhen: A noted painter and astronomer.[43]
Conrad Black: A Canadian-born historian, columnist, UK peer, and convicted felon for fraud. (Though his conviction was overturned subsequently on appeal.)[44]
Tony Blair: former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; converted Dec. 22, 2007, after stepping down as prime minister[45]
Andrea Bocelli: Italian tenor.[46]
Cherry Boone: Daughter of devoutly evangelical Christian entertainer, Pat Boone; she went public about her battle with anorexia nervosa[47]
John Wilkes Booth: 19th-century actor and assassin of President Abraham Lincoln. His sister Asia Booth asserted in her 1874 memoir that Booth, baptized an Episcopalian at age 14, had become a Catholic. For the good of the Church during a notoriously anti-Catholic time in American history, Booth's conversion was not publicized.[48]
Robert Bork: American jurist and unsuccessful nominee to the United States Supreme Court. Converted to Catholicism in 2003. His wife was a former Catholic nun.[49]
William Maziere Brady: Irish historian and journalist, formerly a Church of Ireland priest.[50][51]
Elinor Brent-Dyer: English writer[52]
Alexander Briant: One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.[53]
John Broadhurst: Formerly an Anglican bishop.[32]
George Mackay Brown: Scottish poet, author and dramatist from the Orkney Islands.[54]
Sam Brownback: U.S. senator from Kansas[55]
Orestes Brownson: American writer[56]
Dave Brubeck: American jazz musician.[57]
David-Augustin de Brueys: French theologian and dramatist.[58]
Ismaël Bullialdus: French astronomer who converted from Calvinism and became a Catholic priest.[59]
Andrew Burnham (priest): Formerly an Anglican bishop.[32]
John Ellis Bush: American politician, forty-third Governor of Florida[60]
Thomas Byles: Priest who died serving others on the RMS Titanic.[61][62]
Roy Campbell: South-African-born, English-based (later Portuguese-based) poet[63]
Edmund Campion: Jesuit martyr who wrote Decem Rationes, which denounced Anglicanism, and is noted as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.[64]
Charles II of England, Scotland, and Ireland (His conversion is disputed by some historians.)[65]
Cecil Chesterton: British journalist, younger brother of G.K. Chesterton[66]
G.K. Chesterton: British writer, journalist and essayist, famous for his Christian Apologetics Orthodoxy, Heretics and the Everlasting Man[67]
Wesley Clark: US Army General and former Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO, Candidate for Democratic nomination for President in 2004[68]
Christina, Queen of Sweden: Seventeenth-century monarch.[69]
Emily Coleman: American born writer, and a lifelong compulsive diary keeper.[70]
Henry James Coleridge: Son of John Taylor Coleridge who became a priest.[71]
James Collinson: Artist who briefly went back to Anglicanism in order to marry Christina Rossetti.[72]
Constantine the African: Tunisian doctor who converted from Islam and became a Benedictine monk.[73][74]
Gary Cooper: American actor who converted to the Church late in life saying of it, "that decision I made was the right one."[75]
Tim Conway: American comedian. Converted to Catholicism because he said he liked the way the Church is structured.
Frederick Copleston: English historian of philosophy and Jesuit priest[76]
Richard Crashaw: English poet and son of a staunch anti-Catholic father.[77]
Lorenzo Da Ponte: Italian writer and poet (conversion from Judaism on his father's remarriage)[78]
Christopher Davenport: Recollect friar whose efforts to show that the Thirty-Nine Articles could be interpreted more in accordance with Catholic teaching caused controversy among fellow Catholics.[79]
Dorothy Day: social activist and pacifist, founder of the Catholic Worker movement. Raised nominally Episcopalian.[80]
David-Augustin de Brueys: French theologian[81]
Regina Derieva: Russian poet[82]
Catherine Doherty: Canadian pioneer of social justice, from Russian Christianity.[83]
Diana Dors: Actress who was once called a "wayward hussy" by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, in the 1970s she converted to Catholicism and had a Catholic funeral.[84][85]
David Paul Drach: French Talmudic scholar and librarian of the College of Propaganda in Rome.[86]
Augusta Theodosia Drane: English writer and theologian also known as Mother Francis Raphael, O.S.D[87]
John Dryden: English poet, literary critic, and playwright[88]
Avery Dulles: American Jesuit Theologian, Professor at Fordham University.[89] (Son of former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles.)
Michael Dummett: British Analytic philosopher who devised the Quota Borda system.[90]
Faye Dunaway: American actress.[91]
Joseph Dutton: A veteran of the American Civil War who worked with Father Damien.[92]
Alfred Döblin: German expressionist novelist, best known for Berlin Alexanderplatz.[93
Dawn Eden: Rock journalist of Jewish ethnicity who was agnostic, now a Catholic concerned with the moral values of chastity.[94][95]
Martin Eisengrein: German theologian and polemicist.[96]
Ulf Ekman: Swedish charismatic pastor and founder of the Livets Ord congregation of the Word of Faith movement in Uppsala, Sweden.[97]
Black Elk: Oglala medicine-man[98]
Veit Erbermann: German theologian and controversialist.[99]
William Everson: Beat poet whose parents were Christian Scientists, he took the name Brother Antoninus in the 18 years he spent as a Dominican[100]
Thomas Ewing: U.S. Senator from Ohio who served as Secretary of the Treasury and first Secretary of the Interior. Foster brother of William Tecumseh Sherman.[101]
Frederick William Faber: English theologian and hymnwriter.[102]
Lola Falana: Dancer and actress who became a Catholic evangelist after converting and founded The Lambs of God Ministry.[103][104]
Leonid Feodorov: An Exarch of the Russian Greek Catholic Church, he was a Gulag survivor beatified by Pope John Paul II.[105][106]
Ronald Firbank: British novelist[107]
Sir Henry Fletcher, 3rd Baronet, of Hutton le Forest: Baronet who converted and spent his last years in a monastery.[108][109]
Kasper Franck: German theologian and controversialist.[110]
Antonia Fraser: British historian, biographer and novelist (Her parents converted when she was little)[111]
André Frossard: French journalist and essayist.[112][113]
Georgiana Fullerton: English novelist who converted in 1846 when she was in her 30s.[114]
Ivan Gagarin: Russian Jesuit and writer of aristocratic origin.[115]
Maggie Gallagher: Conservative activist and a founder of the National Organization for Marriage.[116]
Edmund Gennings and John Gennings: Two brothers. Edmund was a priest and martyr who converted at sixteen. His death lead to John's conversion. John restored the English province of Franciscan friars.[117]
Elizabeth Fox-Genovese: Historian and founder of the Institute of Women's Studies, wife of Eugene D. Genovese.[118]
Eugene D. Genovese: Historian who had once been an atheist and Marxist.[119]
Fathia Ghali: Daughter of King Fuad I of Egypt and his Queen, Nazli Sabri. In 1950, both mother and daughter converted to Catholicism from Islam. Enraged, King Farouk I forbade them from returning to Egypt again. After Farouk's death, they asked President Anwar Sadat to restore their passports, which he did.
Vladimir Ghika: Romanian nobleman who became a Catholic monsignor and political dissident.[120][121]
Richard Gilmour: A bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland.[122]
Newt Gingrich: American politician, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.[123]
Rumer Godden: English author of Black Narcissus and the 1972 Whitbread Award winner The Diddakoi. She converted to Catholicism in 1968, which inspired the book In This House of Brede.[124]
John Gother: English Roman Catholic convert, priest and controversialist.[125]
John Willem Gran: Former Bishop of Oslo who had been an atheist working in the film industry.[126][127]
Graham Greene: British writer whose Catholicism influenced novels like The Power and the Glory.[128] Although in later life he once referred to himself as a "Catholic atheist."[129]
Wilton Daniel Gregory: American Archbishop of Atlanta, 2005–present.[130]
Moritz Gudenus: German priest.[131]
Alec Guinness: British actor[132] who the Catholic Association of Performing Arts (UK) named an award after.[133]
H[edit]
Theodor Haecker: German writer, translator and cultural critic.[134]
Kimberly Hahn: Former Presbyterian; theologian, apologist and author of many books[135]
Scott Hahn: Former Presbyterian minister; theologian, Scripture scholar and author of many books[136]
Jeffrey Hamm: British fascist leader. Converted by the renegade Catholic priest Fr. Clement Russell. Succeeded Oswald Mosley as head of the British Union of Fascists.
Thomas Morton Harper: Jesuit priest, philosopher, theologian and preacher.[137]
Chris Haw: Theologian and author of numerous books, including one detailing his conversion away from evangelical Protestantism.[138]
Anna Haycraft: Raised in Auguste Comte's atheistic "church of humanity", but became a conservative Catholic in adulthood.[139]
Susan Hayward: Academy Award winning American actress who helped found a church.[140][141]
Carlton J. H. Hayes: An American ambassador to Spain. He helped found the American Catholic Historical Association and was co-chair of the National Conference of Christians and Jews.[142][143]
Isaac Hecker: Founder of the Paulist Fathers.[144]
Elisabeth Hesselblad: Raised Lutheran. After her conversion she became a nun. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 9, 2000, and in 2004 she was recognized by Yad Vashem as one of the Righteous Among the Nations for her work in helping Jews during World War II.[145][146]
Dietrich von Hildebrand: German theologian.[147][148]
Walter Hooper: Trustee and literary advisor of the estate of C.S. Lewis.[149]
James Hope-Scott: English lawyer connected to the Oxford Movement.[150]
Gerard Manley Hopkins: English poet and Catholic priest.[151]
Allen Hunt: American radio personality. Former Methodist pastor.[152]
E. Howard Hunt: American spy and novelist[153]
Reinhard Hütter: American theologian[154]
[155]
Princess Irene of the Netherlands: her conversion, related to her marrying a Carlist, became something of a national issue.[156][157]
Vyacheslav Ivanovich Ivanov: Poet and playwright associated to Russian symbolism. He was received into the Catholic Church in 1926.[158][159]
Levi Silliman Ives: Episcopal Church of the USA Bishop of North Carolina.[160][161]
Laura Ingraham: American broadcaster and political commentator
J[edit]
Bobby Jindal: Governor of the U.S. state of Louisiana, converted in his teens.[162]
Gwen John: Artist and Auguste Rodin's lover. After the relationship she had a religious conversion and did portraits of nuns.[163]
Walter B. Jones: U.S. politician, Member of the United States House of Representatives.[164]
Nirmala Joshi: Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity from 1997 to 2009.[165]
Johannes Jørgensen: Danish writer, best known for his biographies of Catholic saints.[166][167]
Nicholas Kao Se Tseien: World's oldest priest[168]
Katharine, Duchess of Kent: The first member of the British Royal Family to convert to Catholicism for more than 300 years.[169]
Joyce Kilmer: American journalist, poet, literary critic, lecturer and editor.[170][171]
Kim Yuna: A South Korean figure skater and Olympic gold medalist.[172]
Russell Kirk: American historian, moralist and figure in Conservatism in the United States.[173]
Sister Gregory Kirkus: An English Roman Catholic nun, educator, historian and archivist.[174]
Harm Klueting: Priest and historian who had been Lutheran and had two children.[175]
Dean Koontz: American novelist known for thrillers and suspense. He converted in college.[176]
Knud Karl Krogh-Tonning: Norwegian who had been a Lutheran Professor of Theology.[177]
Albert Küchler: Danish painter who became a Franciscan friar.[178]
Lawrence Kudlow: CNBC host and business columnist.[179][180]
William Kurelek: Canadian painter.[181]
Stephan Kuttner: An expert in Canon Law.[182]
Demetrios Kydones: Byzantine theologian, writer and statesman.[183]
L[edit]
Joseph Lane: Territorial Governor of Oregon, 1st U.S. Senator from Oregon, and pro-slavery Democratic Candidate for U.S. Vice-President in 1860. Lane, who was openly sympathetic to the Confederacy during the Civil War, studied Catholic doctrine and converted with his family in 1867.[184]
Halldór Laxness: Icelandic writer, converted in 1923,[185] left the Church, but returned at end of his life.[186]
Graham Leonard: A former Anglican Bishop of London.[187][188]
Ignace Lepp: French psychiatrist whose parents were freethinkers and who joined the Communist party at age fifteen. He broke with the party in 1937 and eventually became a Catholic priest.[189]
Dilwyn Lewis: Welsh clothes designer and priest.[190]
Francis Libermann: Venerated Catholic, raised in Orthodox Judaism, who has been called "The Second Founder of the Holy Ghost Fathers".[191]
William Lockhart: First member of the Oxford Movement to convert and become a Catholic priest.[192]
Dwight Longenecker: Former Evangelical fundamentalist, then Anglican priest, ordained a Catholic priest and active as an author, blogger, broadcaster and speaker.[193]
James Longstreet: Confederate general turned Republican "scalawag".[194]
Frederick Lucas: Quaker who converted and founded The Tablet.[195]
Clare Boothe Luce: American playwright, editor, politician, and diplomat. Wife of Time-Life founder Henry Luce. She worked on the screenplay of the nun-themed film Come to the Stable and became a Dame of Malta.[196][197]
Arnold Lunn: A skier, mountaineer, and writer. As an agnostic he wrote Roman Converts, which took a critical view of Catholicism and the converts to it. He later converted to Catholicism due to debating with converts, and became an apologist for the faith, although he retained a few criticisms of said faith.[198]
James Patterson Lyke: Roman Catholic Archbishop of Atlanta from 1991 to 1992.[199]
Henry Edward Manning: English Anglican clergyman who became a Catholic Cardinal and Archbishop of Westminster[200]
Gabriel Marcel: A leading Christian existentialist. His upbringing was agnostic.[201]
Jacques Maritain: French Thomist philosopher, who helped form the basis for international law and human rights law in his writings, also laid the intellectual foundation for the christian democratic movement[202]
Gustav Mahler: Austrian composer. Converted from Judaism.[203]
Alasdair MacIntyre: Virtue ethicist and moral philosopher.[204]
James McAuley: Australian poet, converted in 1952.[205]
Claude McKay: Bisexual Jamaican poet who went from Communist-leaning atheist to an active Catholic Christian after a stroke.[206][207]
Marshall McLuhan: Canadian philosopher of communication theory. Coined the terms the medium is the message and the global village. Converted in 1937 after reading the works of G.K. Chesterton.
Thomas Merton: American Trappist monk and spiritual writer.[208]
Vittorio Messori: An Italian journalist and writer called the "most translated Catholic writer in the world" by Sandro Magister. Before his conversion in 1964 he had a "perspective as a secularist and agnostic."[209][210][211]
Alice Meynell: Poet and suffragist.[212]
John Brande Morris: Priest, writer, student of Patristic theology, and scholar of the Syriac language.[213]
Henry Morse: One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.[214]
Malcolm Muggeridge: British journalist and author who went from agnosticism to the Catholic Church.[215][216]
Takashi Nagai: A physician specializing in radiology and author of The Bells of Nagasaki.[217]
Bernard Nathanson: Medical doctor who was a founding member of NARAL, later becoming a Pro-Life proponent.[218]
Patricia Neal: She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Hud.[219]
Knut Ansgar Nelson: Danish born convert who was a bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockholm.[220]
Irène Némirovsky: Author of the controversial David Golder, autobiographical Le Vin de solitude, and posthumous success Suite française.[221][222][223]
Richard John Neuhaus: Priest, founder and editor of the journal First Things.[224]
John Henry Newman: English Priest and Cardinal, famous for his autobiographical book Apologia Pro Vita Sua in which he details his reasons for converting[225]
Keith Newton: Formerly an Anglican bishop.[32]
Donald Nicholl: A British historian and theologian who has been described as "one of the most widely influential of modern Christian thinkers."[226]
Barthold Nihus: German convert who became a bishop and controversialist.[227]
Robert Novak: American journalist and political commentator. Raised Jewish, but practiced no religion for many years before converting to Catholicism in the last years of his life.[228]
Alfred Noyes: English poet, best known for The Highwayman. He dealt with his conversion in The Unknown God and The Last Voyage, in his The Torch-Bearers trilogy, was influenced by his conversion.[229][230]
Frederick Oakeley: Priest and author known for his translation of Adeste Fideles into English as "O Come, All Ye Faithful".[231][232]
John M. Oesterreicher: Jewish convert who became a monsignor and a leading advocate of Jewish-Catholic reconciliation.[233]
William E. Orchard: A liturgist, pacifist and ecumenicist. Before becoming a Catholic priest he had been a Protestant minister.[234]
Johann Friedrich Overbeck: German painter in the Nazarene movement of religious art.[235]
Coventry Patmore: English poet and critic known for The Angel in the House.[236]
Joseph Pearce: An anti-Catholic and agnostic British National Front member who became a devoted Catholic writer with a series on EWTN.[237][238]
Vladimir Pecherin: Russian convert and priest whose memoirs were controversial for criticizing both the Russian government and the Catholic Church of his time.[239]
Charles Péguy: French poet, essayist, and editor. He went from agnostic humanist to a pro-Republic Catholic.[240]
Walker Percy: Laetare Medal winning author of The Moviegoer, Love in the Ruins, and others.[241]
Johann Pistorius: A German controversialist and historian.[242]
John Hungerford Pollen: He wrote for The Tablet and was Professor of Fine Arts at the Catholic University of Ireland.[243]
Vincent Price: American actor. Converted to Catholicism to marry his third wife, Australian actress Coral Browne. (She became an American citizen for him.) He reportedly lost interest in the faith after her death.[244]
Erik Prince: founder of Blackwater Worldwide.[245]
Augustus Pugin: English-born architect, designer and theorist of design. Known for Gothic Revival architecture and advocate for reviving the Catholic Church in England.[246
Marie-Alphonse Ratisbonne: A co-founder of the Congregation of Our Lady of Sion, which originally worked to convert Jewish people like himself.[247]
Marie Theodor Ratisbonne: A co-founder of the Congregation of Our Lady of Sion, converted before his brother.[248]
Sally Read: Eric Gregory Award winning poet who converted to Catholicism.[249]
William Reynolds: English Roman Catholic theologian and Biblical scholar.[250]
Anthony Rhodes, English writer.
Paul Richardson: Formerly an Anglican bishop.[251]
Alban Roe: Benedictine who was one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.[252]
Sylvester Horton Rosecrans: First bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus.[253]
William Rosecrans – Sylvester's brother, a Union Army general in the American Civil War.[253]
Anthony Ross: Scottish priest who served as Rector of the University of Edinburgh from 1979 to 1982.[254]
Joseph Rovan: A historian, member of the French Resistance, and an adviser on Franco-German relations.[255]
S[edit]
Nazli Sabri: Queen of Egypt. Mother of King Farouk of Egypt.
Siegfried Sassoon: English poet, writer and soldier who converted in 1957.[256]
Joseph Saurin: French mathematician and Calvinist minister.[257]
Paul Schenck: Converted from Judaism to Episcopalianism to Catholicism. Currently is a Catholic priest and pro-life activist.[258][259]
Heinrich Schlier: German theologian.[260]
Dutch Schultz (Arthur Flegenheimer): American mobster. Converted to Catholicism during his second trial, convinced that Jesus Christ had spared him jail time. After being fatally shot by underworld rivals, he asked to see a priest and was given the last rites. His mother, however, insisted on dressing him in a Jewish prayer shawl prior to his interment in the Catholic Gate of Heaven Cemetery.
E. F. Schumacher: Economic thinker known for Small Is Beautiful, his A Guide for the Perplexed criticizes what he termed "materialistic scientism." He went from atheism to Buddhism to Catholicism.[261]
Countess of Ségur: French writer of Russian birth.[262]
John Sergeant: English priest, controversialist and theologian.[263]
Elizabeth Ann Seton: First native-born citizen of the United States to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church.[264][265]
Frances Shand Kydd: Mother of Diana, Princess of Wales.[266]
Michael Shen Fu-Tsung: A Qing Dynasty bureaucrat who toured Europe. A painting of him was titled "The Chinese Convert."[267]
Ralph Sherwin: One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.[268]
Frederick Charles Shrady: American religious artist, primarily sculpture.[269]
Angelus Silesius: A German Catholic priest and physician, known as a mystic and religious poet.[270][271]
David Silk (priest): Formerly an Anglican bishop.[32]
Richard Simpson: Literary writer and scholar who wrote a biography of Edmund Campion.[272]
Edith Sitwell:[273][274]
Delia Smith: English cook and television presenter, her books A Feast for Lent and A Feast for Advent involve Catholicism.[275]
Timo Soini: Politician who leads the Eurosceptic True Finns party. He converted during the time of Pope John Paul II.[276]
Reinhard Sorge: Expressionist playwright who went from Nietzschean to Catholic.[277][278]
Etsuro Sotoo: Japanese sculptor.[279]
Muriel Spark: Scottish novelist, author of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Penelope Fitzgerald states that Spark said that after her conversion she was better able to, "see human existence as a whole, as a novelist needs to do."[280]
Ignatius Spencer: The son of George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer who became a Passionist priest and worked for the conversion of England to the Catholic faith.[281]
Adrienne von Speyr: Swiss medical doctor and later Catholic mystic[282]
Henri Spondanus: A French jurist, historian, continuator of the Annales Ecclesiastici, and Bishop of Pamiers.[283]
Friedrich Staphylus: German theologian who drew up several opinions on reform for the Council of Trent despite not attending.[284]
Ellen Gates Starr: A founder of Hull House who became an Oblate of the Third Order of St. Benedict.[285]
Jeffrey N. Steenson: First ordinary to the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter. He had formerly been bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande.[286]
Edith Stein: Phenomenologist philosopher who converted to Catholicism and became a Discalced Carmelite nun; declared a saint by John Paul II.[287]
Nicolas Steno: Pioneer in geology and anatomy who converted from Lutheranism. He became a bishop, wrote spiritual works, and was beatified in 1988.[288][289]
Karl Stern: A German-Canadian neurologist and psychiatrist. His book Pillar of Fire concerns his conversion.[290]
John Lawson Stoddard: Divinity student who became an agnostic and "Scientific humanist." Later he converted to Catholicism.[291]
Göran Stenius (fi): A Swedish-Finnish writer whose Klockorna i Rom (The Bells of Rome) has been praised as a post-war religious novel.[292][293]
Sven Stolpe: Swedish convert and writer.[294]
R. J. Stove: Australian writer, editor, and composer who was raised atheist as the son of David Stove.[295]
Graham Sutherland: An English artist who did religious art and a fascination with Christ's Crucifixion.[296]
Robert Sutton: English priest and martyr.[297]
Su Xuelin: A Chinese author and scholar whose semi-autobiographical novel Bitter Heart discusses her introduction, and conversion to, Catholicism.[298]
Sophie Swetchine: Russian salon-holder and mystic.[299]
John B. Tabb: American poet, priest, and educator.[300]
John Michael Talbot: American Roman Catholic singer-songwriter-guitarist, once a secular musician in the group Mason Proffit.[301][302]
Allen Tate: American poet, essayist and social commentator, and Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress.[303]
Frances Margaret Taylor: Founded the Poor Servants of the Mother of God.[304]
Kateri Tekakwitha: Catholic saint informally known as Lily of the Mohawks.[305]
Elliot Griffin Thomas: The third bishop for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Thomas.[306]
John Sparrow David Thompson: First Catholic to be Prime Minister of Canada.[307]
Tobie Matthew: Member of English Parliament who became a Catholic priest.[308]
Alice B. Toklas: An American-born member of the Parisian avant-garde of the early 20th century who had once been Gertrude Stein's lover.[309]
Meriol Trevor: British biographer, novelist and children's writer.[310][311]
Lou Tseng-Tsiang: Chinese diplomat who became Benedictine abbot and priest Pierre-Célestin.[312][313][314]
Hasekura Tsunenaga: Samurai and Keichō diplomat who toured Europe.[315]
Malcolm Turnbull
Julia Gardiner Tyler: The second wife of U.S. President John Tyler.[316]
Barry Ulanov: An editor of Metronome magazine and a founder of the St. Thomas More Society.[317] He was also Mary Lou Williams's godfather.[318]
Kaspar Ulenberg: A theological writer and translator of the Bible who had previously been Lutheran.[319]
Sigrid Undset: Norwegian Nobel laureate who had previously been agnosticism.[320]
Sheldon Vanauken: Author of A Severe Mercy and a contributing editor of the New Oxford Review.[321]
Bill Veeck: American baseball team owner[322]
Johann Emanuel Veith: A Bohemian Roman Catholic preacher.[323]
Jean-Baptiste Ventura: Soldier, mercenary and adventurer of Jewish origin[324]
Johannes Vermeer: Dutch Golden Age painter.[325]
Mother Veronica of the Passion: Founder of the Sisters of the Apostolic Carmel.[326]
Karl Freiherr von Vogelsang: Politician and editor of the Catholic newspaper Das Vaterland.[327]
William George Ward: A theologian and philosopher, also a lecturer in mathematics.[328]
Evelyn Waugh: English writer, his Brideshead Revisited concerns an aristocratic Catholic family.[329]
John Wayne: American Actor, predominately known for his roles in War Films and Westerns, converted to the Catholic Church shortly before his death[330]
E. T. Whittaker: English mathematician who was awarded the cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice in 1935.[331]
Zacharias Werner: German poet, dramatist and preacher.[332]
Eustace White: One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.[333]
Ann Widdecombe: Former British Conservative Party politician, and novelist since 2000.[334]
Chelsea Olivia Wijaya: Indonesian actress and model, Born in the Protestant religion.[335]
Oscar Wilde: Irish writer and poet. Converted on his deathbed.[336]
Mary Lou Williams: Jazz pianist who, after conversion, did some religious jazz music like Black Christ of the Andes.[318][337]
Paul Williams: Academic who was raised Anglican and lived as a Tibetan Buddhist for twenty years before becoming Catholic.[338][339]
Tennessee Williams: American playwright. Converted in his later years as his life spiralled downwards.
Lord Nicholas Windsor: Son of Catholic convert Katharine, Duchess of Kent and a Pro-Life writer.[340][341]
Gene Wolfe: A Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master in science fiction and fantasy.[342][343]
John Woodcock: Among the Eighty-five martyrs of England and Wales.[344]
Thomas Woods: American historian and Austrian School economist who wrote How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization.[345]
John Ching Hsiung Wu: He wrote Chinese Humanism and Christian spirituality and has been called "One of China's chief lay exponents of Catholic ideas."[346]
Wu Li: Chinese painter and poet who became one of the first Chinese Jesuit priests.[347]
John C. Wright: Science fiction author who went from atheist to Christian, specifically Catholic.[348] Chapter 1 of the book "Atheist to Catholic: 11 Stories of Conversion", edited by Rebecca Vitz Cherico, is by him.[349]
John Michael Wright: A portrait painter in the Baroque style.[350]
Xu Guangqi: A Chinese scholar-bureaucrat, agricultural scientist, astronomer, and mathematician during the Ming Dynasty.[351] He is classed as one of the Three Pillars of Chinese Catholicism.
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