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A crisis is likely for converts with careers in Protestant ministry because they expect to lose their jobs after they go public with their conversions. Once Grodi decided to convert, he still had to overcome skepticism. "Too many Catholic priests seem to actively discourage converts, especially once they know you're a minister."

Historian Nathan Hatch is one of the few Protestants functioning at a high level in Catholic institutions. As vice president of Graduate Studies at Indiana's University of Notre Dame, he observes the internal dissent within Catholicism and says Roman Catholics are as "diverse and complex" as Protestants.

Hatch sees many American Catholics as being disenchanted with the church's authoritarian structure. And most Protestants find Reformational theology closer to biblical truth than Catholic teaching. (See "Do We Still Need the Reformation?".) Hatch notes there is a "unity in the sacramental system" that has "great appeal" for some Protestants.

Nevertheless, Protestants attracted to Catholicism should be wary of "romanticism" and naive expectations of the Catholic church, Hatch says. "There are sheep and goats in every communion."

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December 12 1994, Vol. 38, No. 14