The following came in a Mar. 10 email to Cal Catholic.
The book’s author will be making a tour of California May 21 – 31. Contact <peterwjones@gmail.com> if you are interested in scheduling an appearance before your homeschooling, pro-life, Latin Mass, etc. group.
After the success of his initial book Roads to Rome, which covered notable British and Irish converts to Catholicism, the English author John Beaumont has completed a new much longer volume of American conversion stories, to be published by Fidelity Press. The book is entitledThe Mississippi Flows Into the Tiber: A Guide
to Notable American Converts to the Catholic Church and examines the careers and writings of almost five hundred notable converts, containing touching stories of all shapes and sizes.
These stories, both fascinating and enlightening, are closely linked with the fortunes of the country, its history, wars and culture. There have been and are many eminent and well known American converts to the Catholic faith who inspire and stimulate the faithful and all are covered here: Saint Elizabeth Ann
Seton, Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Orestes Brownson, Dorothy Day, Walker Percy, Thomas Merton, Mortimer Adler, Avery Dulles, Russell Kirk, and Clare Booth Luce; media celebrities, such as Buffalo Bill, Gary Cooper, Bob Hope, Jane Wyman, and John Wayne; and from sport, the great Bobby Jones, George Gipp, and Knute Rockne.
But the book reveals a whole swathe of individuals, some virtually unknown, who have, and in some cases are still, contributing immeasurably to the vibrancy and power of the Catholic witness.
Mr. Beaumont, the author, is a lawyer by training and was formerly Head of the School of Law at Leeds Metropolitan University, England. He has written several books on the Law of Evidence and is the author of Roads to Rome: A Guide to Notable Converts from Britain and Ireland from the Reformation to the Present Day (2010).
I hope the book covers only FAITHFUL Catholics,
not Catholic heretics and schismatics like: Nancy Pelosi; Carolyn Kennedy; Joe Biden; John Kerry; Gov.Andrew Cuomo; Gov.Jerry Brown, Kathleen Sebelius, Sr. Simone Campbell, etc.
Chris, why don’t you provide us a nice little list of whom you approve? :)
Anonymous, publically known heretics and schismatics are not Faithful Catholics. If those listed by Chris do not repent for their support of abortion and/or sodomy marriage they will go to Hell.
Dear Mandy, thanks for the geography lesson.
Between your black and white answer, and Chris’ list of the damend, I feel like I’m watching “The Church Lady” from Saturday Night Live.
Now — why don’t you two do your “superior dance” for a grand finale?
Don’t worry…all those people you name are cradle Catholics – most of them had a solid Catholic formation. Scott Hahn, Marcus Grody, Jeff Cavins, Tim Staples, etc are the converts…..faithful everyone….
I wonder if he included Bernard Nathanson, M.D., the Jewish doctor who founded the abortion clinic revolution in the USA with Larry Lader?
Nathanson admitted to killing thousands of unborn human beings and then reversed himself completely and became both a right to life advocate and a Catholic.
Now why doesn’t someone in Hollywood make a film about Dr. Nathanson’s life and spiritual journey? Maybe if they did a good job of it, the public would actually go and see it. When a mass murderer becomes a Catholic and a pro-life advocate, this is a cause for rejoicing. Powerful stories with positive endings are still what people long for.
Yes, indeed I did include Bernard Nathanson. A great convert, even if at a late stage in his life, and a very moving story. The overwhelming majority of people included in the book were heroes and heroines of the faith!
From the list provided, Mr. Beaumont’s book probably includes many people that we may be surprised to learn were/are Catholic. Does the author make a judgment on the sanctity of the individual American converts who have not been declared saints of the Church? It may be hard for many to think of John Wayne (with his three marriages and also affairs) and Gary Cooper (who loved his wife and daughter, but had numerous affairs, including one with Patricia Neal that ended with an abortion) as “heroes … of the faith.”