More than 450 people from across Brooklyn and Queens took their final steps toward full union with the Church by participating in the Call to Continuing Conversion celebrated at St. Thomas Aquinas Church on March 1.
Conversion
Five Sisters Take Their First Steps Toward Catholic Faith Together
Parents usually feel joy and anticipation on the day their child is baptized into the Catholic faith. Philip and Jessica Chan were no different, except they experienced those emotions five times over. The Chans watched as their five daughters — Olivia, 7, Madeline, 5, twins Camile and Eloise, 4, and Genevieve, 2 — were baptized by Father Gregory McIlhenney at St. Andrew Avellino Church in Flushing on Jan. 26.
Analysis: As U.S. Prepares for President Trump, Catholic Eyes Might Want to Focus on VP Vance
Trump’s vice president is JD Vance, the 40-year-old U.S. Senator from Ohio. Barring a bad showing in office, he will be the presumed candidate for the Republicans in 2028. If he does get the party’s nod and wins the election, he will be the third Catholic president in U.S. history.
Jazz Pianist’s Long, Winding Road Brought Her to the Faith
During a trip to Europe in 1953, accomplished 20th-century jazz pianist and composer Mary Lou Williams was exhausted,
emotionally drained, and facing financial peril when a friend took her to a small church in France where she began to pray.
As Deanna Witkowski explains in her 2021 biography of Williams, titled “Music for the Soul,” that’s where the musician’s spiritual journey and conversion to Catholicism began.
Pandemic is Prime Time for Conversion, Pope Says
The COVID-19 quarantines, lockdowns and stay-at-home orders are the perfect opportunity for conversion: for individuals, for the church and for governments, Pope Francis said in an interview.