Why some of us bridle at the word "convert"

Fr. William "Doc" Holiday writes over at The Anglo-Catholic:

Let us continually be aware that each person approaches this matter of moving toward communion with Rome from a different perspective, e.g., personal background, theological understanding, current catechesis, etc. These differences in perspective raise significant challenges for the community. For example, there are those of us (I include myself in this group) who have for several years believed everything the Catholic Church believes. Consequently, the move to communion is merely the logical result of our beliefs. However, and I will speak for myself, the "baggage" I carry is when I am confronted with talk that I am a "convert." By dictionary definition conversion is change in belief. When I am received into the Catholic Church I will change nothing in terms of my belief. I will merely be where I belong given those beliefs. So, this talk of "conversion" may be a source of consternation for some.

There are some interesting responses to this post, including this one from a knowledgeable Catholic layman who calls himself "Norm."

Yes, and well it should be a cause of consternation — and not only for those who are coming into the Catholic Church, but also for those who continue in the denominations and especially congregations from which they come. Such misuse of terms such as "convert" and "conversion" implies either that the Catholic church does not adhere to Christian faith or that the denomination from which they come does not adhere to Christian faith. The dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium promulgated by the Second Vatican Council infallibly contradicted both of these assertions. The consequent alienation of non-Catholic congregations does not exactly further the cause of ecumenism, either. Thus, I cringe whenever I encounter such misuse.

Norm.

And Norm writes this to:

A Catholic in Pittsburgh,

You wrote: As a cradle Catholic, I find the use of the term "communion" in this sense to be quite odd. While I certainly understand its intended meaning and take absolutely no offense/offence, it just sounds so "Protestant" to my ear since I usually associate the term with the ever-shifting alliances or communions between various Protestant denominations. When my eyes read "communion" on this blog, my mind's ear hears "unity with."

Unfortunately, this is a case of pastors failing to teach the right way to the people in the pews for about forty years. As part of the liturgical reforms after the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI promulgated the Order of Reception of Baptized Christians into the Full Communion of the Catholic Church for reception of individuals baptized in other denominations. This order of worship was published both in an appendix in the volume containing the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and in a separate booklet in the very early 1970's (IIRC, my copy of the separate booklet has a copyright date of 1972).

Going back even further, in the dogmatic constitution Lumen gentium on the church, which is intrinsically infallible, the Second Vatican Council stated that there is an imperfect communion among all Christian denominations based on what we have in common. This document is nearly fifty years old.

You wrote: As part of my parish's RCIA instructor team, we are taught to never use the word "convert." It's not the church's proper term for Christians being "received into" the church, yet everyone in our class routinely refers to themselves or their spouses as converts.

Argh! "Fr. Clueless" strikes again, apparently in the person of your pastor!!!

The General Instructions to both the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) and the Order of Reception of Baptized Christians into the Full Communion of the Catholic Church state quite clearly that those baptized in other denominations who are coming into full communion do not belong in the RICA. Rather, the latter stipulates that they are to receive individual instruction tailored to their circumstances and their previous formation. Only those who come from either unbelief or non-Christian faith, who really are converts and thus are correctly called converts, belong in the RCIA. Further, the same general instructions very strongly imply that the reception of baptized Christians into the full communion of the Catholic Church also should NOT occur at the Easter Vigil.

Of course all of us are constantly called to deeper and deeper levels of conversion, to become more and more truly Catholic, but that's different from being a "convert."