My Good Old Fashioned Catholic Church Grooming — Part 1

Maybe I’m not crazy.

Photo by James Coleman on Unsplash.

Do you think the Catholic Church “grooms” potential converts and then manipulates them into staying?

It’s a serious question. Because I feel like that’s precisely what happened to me.

I was groomed into converting to Catholicism and then manipulated into staying for fear of losing my salvation.

Maybe my experience is unique — and maybe I’m reading the entire situation incorrectly — but it’s been bothering me for a while now. I haven’t really wanted to put it into words because it all seemed a little far-fetched and crazy. And how does one write about an experience when it seems too far-fetched and crazy to even mention? Maybe I’m the crazy one and suddenly I’ll put my experience out there, and the response will be, “Whoa. She be crazy.”

But I keep coming back to the thought, “I can’t be the only one, can I?”

So, I’ve decided to share my story in the hopes that someone will realize it didn’t just happen to them and they’re not crazy either.

I truly feel like I was groomed into joining the Catholic Church. I was an easy target, as much as I hate to admit that. I was single, divorced, orphaned, and very strong in my faith. I was smart, I was passionate, and I was a…