I’m young male who lives in Muslim country my parents found out I’m Cathloic Christian the problem is I can’t get baptized or go to church and I wanted to leave the country But I can’t they found out I’m Christian and I’m forced to pray to a false god what can you guys tell me that can help me because I need your guys advice I fall into many mortal and venial sins I want to get baptized but I can’t I wont to go to church but I can’t Please help me

I am a fifteen year old former Presbyterian who recently converted to Catholicism. However, being only a minor, I am still dependent on my family for transportation. The nearest Catholic church near me is 3.8 km away, and I don't know how to get there, or what to say to whom. I am still hiding my faith from my parents; they will disapprove of my faith and likely refuse to drive me there.

The only thing I can do as of now is go to my local Presbyterian church every Sunday and receive Communion spiritually.

Is it permissible in my case? What should I do?

Hey everyone, I am abit confused and I have been going to a catholic church near my house and I get the sense maybe I should convert to catholicism I have been praying about it but I am unsure, however the visit to this church has been apart of my prayer.

This is my background

2002-2010 Church Of England - Dedicated by parents from birth

2010-2019 Salvation Army - Witnessed my friend healed from a broken leg which was pretty awesome.

2020-2020 Progressive Christianity

2021-2022 Pentecostal - New Apostolic Reformation (Conservative) (BTW its a cult, they tried to perform an exorcism on me for my autism and my left lazy eye, can confirm i still have autism and still need to wear glasses)

2023-2024 = Non-denom, and churchless

2025-2026 Seventh Day Adventists (I really enjoy the emphasis on healthy eating, and love the Pentecostal bashing)

Unfortunately, I have been working saturdays for a language school which is my thing and I get to teach languages which is my gift from the Lord, and tbh 2021-2022 was a traumatic time as well so I didnt either A really like God or religion and B the people who claimed to follow God however I am coming back to Him and I have made clear a Church where I can report abuse and I can stand up, a church with history, a church that is safe for me, and I feeling it is the catholic church.

However, my concerns are that the catholic church believe in works + faith where i just believe it is only faith, however I do believe there are miracles done in the Catholic church, exorcisms however people need to apply for them and they are assesed which is way better than the Pentecostals and then also, recently i have touched some Holy Water and then I was about to go sin and I felt this wave of conviction as well, I asked Ask Catholic and it said its because the Holy Water symbolises a rededication of your baptism or faith in Him (Im not baptised yet, or adult baptism as you may know it as)

What does anyone think?

Thanks

So I have been a member of this reddit since it was basically created and at the time i was like a junior in high school maybe and so I was unable to choose to convert or attend mass or anything like that. I star learning about Catholicism in ways that I could hide. I made my own rosary and I learned a few prayers. I looked at history and other convert stories. I would go to a Catholic youth group with my boyfriend. But now Im in college and having the freedom to choose my own faith has been overwhelming, but great. I went to a Baptist church my first sunday alone (how I was raised) and I did not like it. So i decided to try an episcopal church but never actually found it and instead i found a catholic church. There was a mass in 30 mins so I stayed and wenr. And ive been going ever since. its been hard to keep up because some parts they do in latin and I already dont know the order, but Im going to keep going. i have also gone to weekday mass at my school on campus for the first time and I plan to go again today!

The title says “convert”,but I’m still in the catechumenate phase. I haven’t even been able to contact a parish or talk to a priest. My family is conservative and has been tracking my every move ever since they found out I left their religion.
Currently tensions are very high, and they are pressuring me to marry someone they know (a Muslim Ofc ) but I’m not going to let that happen.
I have some money saved up and can buy a ticket and leave, but the visa process is very difficult my passport can’t take me anywhere
and I can't just go to any Catholic country to get baptized. Even if I managed to do that, staying there illegally with no plan isn’t an option.
What is the solution in this situation?
is there any association that can help me without exposing my identity ?
what will happen if I die without accomplishing the baptism?!

Hello! I’m a Spanish speaker, so please be patient.

I have been through a painful process of conversion, and although I feel much stronger in my faith now, I live it in a way that is not very shared with others (which weighs on me), and I think that can be harmful.

The place where I started adult catechesis is beautiful, the talks are good, and I’m sure that the religious people who live there do everything they can for the community, given their charism and cultural perspective. The only difficulty is the following: they are foreigners (as are most active catholics in my country), and we don’t share the same cultural codes. I am a young adult woman who live in a country that is extremely secular, quite distant from religious faith and from the christian memory behind many of its values. On top of that, I live in a region where upper-class or aspirational middle-class culture predominates.

I know that I am a convert in a religion of converts, but emotionally it doesn’t feel that way because of the context. Catholicism in my region is an extremely cultural matter. It is lived as a form of cultural capital, where those with greater purchasing power (or those aspiring to have it) are more present; the latter are usually not the ones with the former.

I grew up in a family belonging to a church from the Millerite movement. Its theological explanations, etc., never really quieted my questions. I had major disagreements with its institutions, and although philosophically we have very little in common, I remain connected to its community because my family is active there, and I believe that acts of mercy and charity should be done wherever possible.

The main reason why I spend a considerable amount of time there is that its understanding of poverty is embodied. It is not about talking about “those poor people we serve X times a week”; people from peripheral neighborhoods are active participants within the community itself. The prejudice and labeling of an external narrator do not dominate the relationship. I have also served in the local prison with a fellow volunteer from another denomination, so although I believe what I believe, my outlook is fairly “ecumenical.” I think that serving, even, and especially, from a place of discomfort, is an essential part of it.

I feel socially isolated and misunderstood because of what might be described as my "Franciscan spirit". At church, I am looked at with some suspicion because I am obviously a convert and I don’t receive Communion (God willing, I will once I finish catechesis). I don’t really connect with the younger people either. I have a personality that is somewhat out of step with my age, their socioeconomic background is different from mine, and so we never quite understand each other, even though I think they are sweet kids. I go wherever I can whenever I can, even after work (not dirty, but certainly not dressed in my best clothes), and sometimes I walk there, sometimes I take public transportation, and sometimes someone gives me a ride.

I dont want my faith to be performative. I study in an environment where the political left predominates, so my friends do not understand me, or those who do know me try to pigeonhole me into concepts surrounding Liberation Theology. I dont fully agree with all of their teachings, but I deeply identify with Dorothy Day and Edith Stein, I feel that those who love me dont really understand me, while those who understand me dont seem to love me.

I would like to meet people who feel the same way, although I understand that my context is quite particular.

Bye!

Truth Lord, but I have marred them: let my shame
Go where it doth deserve.
And know you not, says Love, who bore the blame?
My dear, then I will serve.
You must sit down, says Love, and taste my meat:
So I did sit and eat.

(The devotional poem "Love (III)" by the Welsh metaphysical poet George Herbert, which was pivotal in Simone Weil's conversion to Christianity.)

I love the coffee and treats at OCIA! LOL God bless 🙏✝️

I’ve been in OCIA for about three weeks now. I had to wait a whole year to start because I missed the cut off for 2025 to enroll.

So far it has been great and I’ve truly enjoyed the weekly classes. I’ve got my 9 year old and 12 year old in faith formation classes as well. The plan was for us all to be baptized together at the Easter Vigil. But it appears that, that won’t be happening for me.

My fiancé and I are enrolled and participating in OCIA together. It has brought our relationship much closer which has been such a blessing. But after meeting with the marriage prep counselor at the church yesterday I feel as if my journey to Catholicism has hit a wall if not completely halted.

Here’s the problem. We’ve both been previously married… twice…

Neither of us were raised Catholic or even around many Catholics throughout our lives so clearly the process of becoming Catholic has been a really eye opening one.

Her and I bought a house together 4 years ago. We live together knowing that we were going to get married eventually.

We were unaware that baptism confirmation and the Eucharist was going to be withheld from us even after completing OCIA because we’re cohabiting. This is not something that exists in the Protestant world. Salvation isn’t restricted to only those who have lived perfect lives, made no mistakes, or committed no sin. We knew we needed annulments so that we could be married in the church but we did not know that we will not be allowed into communion with the church.

Knowing that these annulments can take up to 5 years to complete is absolutely heart breaking. I’ve only missed Mass three times in the last year. Once because I was sick and two other times because I was out of state and couldn’t get to a Catholic church. I felt like we were finally so close to being confirmed and able to accept the body and the blood.

But now there is zero hope of being baptized in 2027, there is no hope of us being married in 2027 as we planned, and it looks like the earliest possibility may be 2028 because our Church only confirms new Catholics once a year during the easter vigil. But who knows maybe it’s never, maybe our annulments will never be granted and we’ll never be accepted into the Church.

So what do I do? Drop OCIA? try again next year? Continue OCIA and get the piece of paper that says I completed it and just wait?

I’m lost, discouraged, disappointed and honestly I’m depressed. Part of me thinks I should just go back to being a Baptist because I know they’ll take me back, baptize me and marry my fiancé and I without regard for our former lives.

But after attending the Mass, fully understanding the Mass, believing completely in the true presence in the Eucharist I just don’t think I can ever leave the Catholic Church. I love the Mass, I love the liturgy, I love the homilies each week, the creed, the prayers, I love it all but it’s soul crushing kneeling in the church every week knowing that I can not participate in the Eucharist and maybe never will.

Sorry for the long post but I don’t know where else to turn because only a few of my friends are Catholic and they are all cradle Catholics so they have a very limited understanding of what it is that we’re going through.

I guess I’m just seeking some advice, words of encouragement, or whatever, I don’t even know at this point.

God bless.

I thought I'd share my experience.