St. John XXIII, St. John Paul II and my journey of faith

Since joining a diocesan staff, I rarely write under my own name. The op-ed linked here, written for my former newspaper for the canonizations of St. John XXIII and St. John Paul II, describes some of my faith journey as an Episcopalian who came to love and serve the Catholic Church. By way of update, I am working on becoming Catholic and actively participate in a parish, insofar as it is possible to do so. Please pray for the resolution of some canonical issues.

Photo credit Pope John Paul II: Dennis Jarvis

The two popes had different backgrounds that gave them different perspectives on the church, but they shared a crucial bond as men who had actively resisted the Nazis during World War II. The college student Karol Wojtyla staged forbidden plays that undermined Nazi teaching in occupied Poland while the papal diplomat Archbishop Angelo Roncalli smuggled falsified baptismal certificates so that Jewish children could escape extermination. Both saw people of all faiths band together to resist evil. It imbued both with the burning conviction that all people of good will must work together to right wrongs no matter what their other differences.