Mapping the Landscape of Catholic Voices
The Changing Face of Catholicism
Fr. Carl Chudy
Wayne, NJ (USA)
Born in 1957, practices every day
"What we thought about these things, say 100 years ago, is not how we see them today." Read more…
Stephanie Wong
Altadena, CA (USA)
Born in 1972, practices every day
"When I was growing up in Malaysia, the Catholic Church was the only religion in which you would see interracial marriages because it was only within Catholicism that those barriers of race were..." Read more…
Rosie Delacruz
Cambridge, MA (USA)
Born in 1960, practices every day
"There are also wonderful parishes that create rich, genuine communities for church families to grow and expand." Read more…
Oilibhear Twomey
Belfast, Northern Ireland., UK
Born in 1975, practices every day
"...while things are not easy in the church, the heart of the church is seeking to be the heart of the man of Nazareth." Read more…
Maurice Alvarado
Valparaiso, CL
Born in 1978, practices every day
"Well, I'm 29 years old and I'm a Chilean Catholic priest. What Catholic faith has meant to me has always been evolving. At first, in my early conversion, it was a sure way of getting to know Jesus..." Read more…
Imelda Hinojosa
Hawthorne, CA (USA)
Born in 1959, practices every day
"I am deeply touched by the love shown for the female energy/representation of the Blessed Mother." Read more…
Fabio Arce
Queretaro, MX
Born in 1966, practices every week
"The worst scandal in the Church is not of a sexual nature, nor the riches and the lifestyle, no, for me the worst scandal is the lack of love in the Church, the lack of community, the lack of human..." Read more…
Leticia Velasquez
E Moriches, NY (USA)
Born in 1962, practices every day
"I am immensely grateful to be part of the ancient Roman Catholic Church, founded by Jesus Himself, which has been able to preserve Christ's Sacred Tradition free from error despite human failures..." Read more…
Leah Mickens
Atlanta, GA (USA)
Born in 1983, practices every day
"I attend St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Mableton, Georgia. It is one of the few parishes in the world that celebrates the traditional Latin Mass, now known as the Extraordinary Form of the..." Read more…
Philip Carrizosa
San Francisco, CA (USA)
Born in 1952, practices every day
"I take solace in the fact that the Church is alive and strong in the hearts and souls of its members. Although we may disagree, in good conscience, with the hierarchy and its teachings, our faith..." Read more…
Patricia J Fontes
Hopkinton, RI (USA)
Born in 1936, practices every day
"Not very long ago, I read an article about what keeps young people in the Catholic Church. I was particularly struck by the comment of a 17-year-old who said something like this, "The main place..." Read more…
Rick Cooley
Hagerstown, MD (USA)
Born in 1958, practices every day
"There are 22 Catholic Churches. I am not a Latin Rite, Roman Catholic. I am a Byzantine Rite, Ruthenian Catholic. Pope Paul VI was a Latin Rite, Ambrosian Catholic and not a Roman Catholic. It..." Read more…
Liz Carreon
Monument, CO (USA)
Born in 1963, practices every day
"Your very question is my answer. I spent nearly 20 years away from the faith. A friend was leaving the Catholic Church; in my arrogance and ignorance I thought I had answers to questions for her...." Read more…
K M Gordon
Arlington, VA (USA)
practices every week
"I have had the wonderful experience of participating in the Eucharist throughout the hemisphere, in several languages including Lakota, English, Spanish, and Mayan. I love the fact that I am at..." Read more…
Peter Solet
Marshall, NC (USA)
Born in 1944, practices every week
"I entered the church in 2002, at the age of 57, after a lifetime as an atheist. I come from a long line of atheists, beginning, as far as I know, with my father’s mother, Sonia Cohen. Her father..." Read more…
Jean Sheridan
Yarmouth, ME (USA)
Born in 1937, practices every day
"As I sat at Mass on Easter Sunday morning this year, as I have for nearly every year of my longish life - I am now 70 - I reveled at the beauty of the setting - the elegant liturgy, the flowers,..." Read more…
Chinh Pham
Westminster, CA (USA)
Born in 1950, practices every day
"The Roman Catholic Church is an institution made up of men with tragic human frailties and also with great divine inspirations. As a religion, it is the Word made flesh and dwells among us. It is..." Read more…
Jose Viana
Cary, NC (USA)
Born in 1969, practices every week
"I wish other religions that are critical of our 2,000 year-old traditions would take the time to see how everything we do and believe take root in the Holy Bible." Read more…
Daniel Horan
Manchester, NH (USA)
Born in 1977, practices every day
"Living in the Church is not always easy, but it is better than dying in the world." Read more…
Sonia Mcgarrity
Littleton, CO (USA)
Born in 1968, practices every day
"One of the most exciting things about welcoming children into our family has been the anticipation of their Baptism day." Read more…
Silvia Ambuul
Colorado Springs, CO (USA)
Born in 1969, practices every day
"...when I see sin and human imperfection make its mark on human, even Church, history, it gives me hope to know that God is in charge..." Read more…
Peter Zelchenko
Chicago, IL (USA)
Born in 1962, practices every day
"I married into a Catholic family. My Filipino mother-in-law's generation was quite devout, but my wife's generation had fallen away. If anything, I am more observant and hopeful about Catholicism..." Read more…
Eloise Guerreiro
Colorado Springs, CO (USA)
Born in 59, practices every day
"The Catholic Church is universal (Katholicos, Greek for "universal"), destined to last for all time, it never fails to fulfill the divine commandment to teach all nations all the truths revealed by..." Read more…
Angela Pancella
Cincinnati, OH (USA)
Born in 1975, practices every day
"I have been blessed with a beautiful life, and every part of it reflects a different facet of Catholicism. I work at Our Daily Bread, a food and hospitality ministry (I'd call it a "soup kitchen"..." Read more…
Olivia Koffi
Columbus, OH (USA)
Born in 1983, practices every day
"Just the thought of knowing that other Catholics around the world hear/read the same readings daily and share in the same communion is something I cherish deeply." Read more…
Michelle Dick
Kekaha, HI (USA)
Born in 1947, practices every week
"A life-long Catholic, I did know that I had to examine my faith to make it my own when I came of age. In the end, realizing that there is no way to logically prove the claims of any church, I chose..." Read more…
Doris Lamontagne
Milwaukeee, WI (USA)
Born in 1949, practices every week
"I was extremely fortunate to inherit this faith. My whole life revolves around it. Holy Mass and all our rich rituals, such as devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of..." Read more…
Daniel Vicencio
Skokie, IL (USA)
Born in 1966, practices every week
"As a cradle Filipino-American Catholic, the beauty and power of the Catholicism lies in the unified diversity of the faith. Rooted in a number of diverse Catholic traditions..." Read more…
Kim Franke
Portage, MI (USA)
Born in 1949, practices every day
"I have tried and tried to quit. To walk away, to find some other spiritual home. I keep coming back because being Catholic is hard wired into my very psyche." Read more…
Joe Oca
Olympia, WA (USA)
Born in 1952, practices every day
"I was born into the Catholic religion. I didn't think about being a Catholic until I started going to Catholic school, which I did for 8 years. They scared the hell into me, but I think they also..." Read more…
Marita Hoffart
Minot, ND (USA)
Born in 1939, practices every week
"I struggle with Church. Following the 1960's changes in Church, I have always been on the cutting edge of lay involvement in liturgy and all matters of church. Three years ago our pastor retired..." Read more…
Darcy Demarco
Las Vegas, NV (USA)
Born in 1962, practices every week
"I went to Catholic school, and generally liked it. We had religion class every Tuesday, and were expected to be able to recount the sermon from the Sunday before. Although in the 8th grade I..." Read more…
David La May
SEATTLE, WA (USA)
Born in 1974, practices every day
"The beauty of the Church is in what it believes -- what it teaches. It teaches that God created everything so that it might discover Him, accept His love, return love to Him, and live with Him in a..." Read more…
Bev Beltramo
Grosse Ile, MI (USA)
Born in 1960, practices every day
"Not unlike so very many others, I have had a love/hate relationship with Catholicism my whole life. I left the church for many years: I believed the Church was hierarchical and sexist. As proof..." Read more…
Mario Lainfiesta
New Baden, IL (USA)
Born in 1949, practices occasionally
"The historical impact of the Catholic faith is essential to the understanding of Western Culture. The history of the state and it's rationale for codifying human behavior, was historically..." Read more…
Mel Johnson
Tallahassee, FL (USA)
Born in 1943, practices every day
"Catholicism keeps me from being a slave to my current times or my current geography -- Catholicism and the (Universal) Catholic Church encompass all peoples, all times and even eternity...in Him,..." Read more…
Pasquale Amendolia
Bayside, NY (USA)
Born in 1930, practices every day
"The Catholic Church seems to be concerned with almost mind numing focus on non faith issues like abortion and homosexuality.I believe that Jesus Christ never concerned Himself with these issues. In..." Read more…
Siga Rastonis
Reston, VA (USA)
Born in 1949, practices every week
"after being a life long on again off again (attended catholic grammer school and a jesuit university) practicing catholic i have finally settled into what i believe is a true homecoming. i attend..." Read more…
Gloria Lozano
San Antonio, TX (USA)
Born in 1944, practices every day
"I was raised Catholic and even though I have attended various non-Catholic churches/services during my lifetime, I feel that Catholicism is ingrained in my very being. I married a non-Catholic and..." Read more…
Tom Mcguire
Detroit, MI (USA)
practices -----
"I was ordained a Priest, 1967, in Maryknoll, a Catholic mission group, sent to Hong Kong, 1969, married my Cantonese teacher, Florence Ying=pin Tsang. Because I married, I was forced to leave the..." Read more…
Evandro Menezes
Austin, TX (USA)
Born in 1966, practices every day
"What feeds my spiritual life as a Christian Catholic is receiving the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. As the Church states, this is the apex of our life of grace, but..." Read more…