List of people who converted to Catholicism

This page lists historic individuals who at some point in their lives, sometimes on their deathbeds, formally adopted the Catholic faith without having been born into it. Individuals who were baptized Catholics, but who as an adult practiced a non-Catholic faith (such as evangelical Protestant), then returned to the Roman Catholic Church are technically "reverts" and are so noted where known. As those who converted to Christianity before 1054 may have been either Orthodox, Catholic, or a mixture of both in leanings they should not be listed without sufficient justification.

List of people who converted to Catholicism

A-F

* Approximately 400 Anglican priests in the UK, along with some politicians such as Ann Widdecombe and John Gummer who objected in 1993 to the ordination of women to the priesthood in the Church of England (see Graham Leonard, below).
* Creighton Abrams: General in U.S. Army; tank commander in WWII (M1 Abrams main battle tank named after him); led U.S. forces in Vietnam from 1968-72.
* Mortimer Adler: editor of the Great Books series; American philosopher
* Afonso I of Kongo: African king. Although politically motivated he became quite pious [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/8chapter3.shtml BBC] ]
* Jimmy Akin: prolific Catholic evangelist and apologist
* Fadhma Aït Mansour: Algerian singer
* James Alison: Catholic priest and theologian

* Magdi Allam: Egyptian-born Italian journalist and writer
* Leo Allatius: Greek theologian [ [http://www.ascsa.edu.gr/gennadius/English/Allatius.htm Gennadius Library] ]
* Thomas William Allies: English writer [ [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01323b.htm Catholic Encyclopedia] ]
* Pablo Alvaro: Spanish knight
* G. E. M. Anscombe: British analytical philosopher and theologian who introduced the term consequentialism into the English language [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4115443,00.html The Guardian] ]
* Francis Arinze: Nigerian Cardinal and Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4445821.stm BBC Profile] ]
* Johann Christian Bach: German composer, eleventh son of Johann Sebastian Bach.
* Edward Lowth Badeley: English ecclesiastical lawyer.
* Beryl Bainbridge: English novelist [ [http://a.khmelnik.googlepages.com/BainbridgeOnWriting.html Guardian Unlimited Books] : "I wanted it for hellfire and candles. I was married in a Catholic church and I prefer going to a Catholic service, but it changed, like everything else. Even in the Catholic church now they tell you to turn round and shake hands." She looks aghast.]
* Maurice Baring: English dramatist, poet, novelist, translator and essayist
* Barlaam of Seminara: Greek-Italian humanist, philologist, and theologian
* Binnie Barnes: British American actress, converted for her husband, Mike Frankovich
* Aubrey Beardsley: English illustrator, leading figure in the Aesthetic movement
* Peter Benenson: founder of human rights group Amnesty International
* Francis J. Beckwith: American philosopher, Baylor University professor, and former president of the Evangelical Theological Society. Beckwith is technically a revert [http://www.francisbeckwith.com]
* Robert Hugh Benson: English writer and theologian, son of an Archbishop of Canterbury [ [http://archives.nd.edu/episodes/visitors/rhb/bensonc.htm Notre Dame] ]
* Lennox Berkeley: English composer; converted in 1928
* Basilios Bessarion: Leading fifteenth-century Greek humanist scholar. A leading Eastern bishop who worked for the reunion of Eastern and Western Churches at the Council of Florence; remained in the west and was made a Cardinal.
* Charles Bewley: Irish politician and Cabinet member in Eamon de Valera's government during World War II (aka "The Emergency")
* Tony Blair: former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; converted Dec. 22, 2007, after stepping down as prime minister [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7157409.stm BBC NEWS | UK | Tony Blair joins Catholic Church ] ]
* Cherry Boone: Daughter of devoutly evangelical Christian entertainer, Pat Boone; she went public about her battle with anorexia nervosa [ [http://www.lrc.edu/rel/blosser/contemporary_catholic_converts.htm Contemporary Catholic Converts Tell Their Stories ] ]
* Robert Bork: Leading Constitutional Law scholar, Yale Law School professor, U.S. Solicitor General, nominated for the United States Supreme Court
* John Boswell: American historian, writer, educator
* Louis Bouyer: French theologian
* Elinor Brent-Dyer: English writer [ [http://www3.shropshire-cc.gov.uk/brentdye.htm Shropshire bio] ]
* Hermann Broch: Austrian writer
* George Mackay Brown: British poet, author and dramatist [ [http://www.thetablet.co.uk/reviews/247 The Tablet] ]
* Sam Brownback: U.S. senator from Kansas [ [http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2003/11/02/the_crusaders/ Boston Globe] : McCloskey personally baptized Judge Robert Bork, political pundits Robert Novak and Lawrence Kudlow, publisher Alfred Regnery, financier Lewis Lehrman, and U.S. Republican Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas]
* Orestes Brownson: American writer [ [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03001a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia] ]
* Dave Brubeck: American jazz musician. [ [http://www.pbs.org/brubeck/theMusic/brubeckRediscovers.htm PBS] ]
* John Frederick, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg: Germanic aristocrat, converted from Lutheranism, who employed Gottfried Leibniz
* Buffalo Bill: American Old West legend (deathbed conversion)
* John Ellis Bush: American politician, forty-third Governor of Florida [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,988455-1,00.html Time Magazine] : Bush recently made perhaps the ultimate leap for the son of the ultimate Wasp: he converted to Catholicism.]
* Christopher Butler: English Benedictine and scholar
* Thomas R.D. Byles: English priest who remained on board the RMS "Titanic" as she was sinking, hearing confessions and giving absolution.
* Judith Cabaud: American-born French writer and musicologist.
* Roy Campbell: South-African-born, English-based (later Portuguese-based) poet [ [http://library.wustl.edu/units/spec/manuscripts/mlc/campbell/campbell.html Washington University St. Louis] : He became a Roman Catholic in 1935 and fought for Franco in Spain.]
* Kit Carson: American frontiersman
* Diana Serra Cary: Child actor (known as "Baby Peggy") from the silent era, took the name Serra from Junípero Serra
* John Chapman OSB: Benedictine scholar who had previously been an Anglican deacon
* Charles II of England, King of Great Britain [ [http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page92.asp Royalty site] ]
* G. K. Chesterton: English writer
* Queen Christina of Sweden: Seventeenth-century monarch, abdicated throne to embrace Catholic faith
* Colin Clark: British economist who later moved to Australia, one of the first to advocate the use of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
* Brian Cleeve: Irish writer and broadcaster
* Emily Coleman: American-born expatriate writer
* James Collinson: Artist who briefly went back to Anglicanism in order to marry Christina Rossetti. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/a/allitt-converts.html] : "She accepted him when he reverted to Anglicanism but canceled their wedding plans when he "went over to" Rome for a second time. Collinson's parents disowned him, and he was reduced to begging from his friends in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood."]
* Gary Cooper: Oscar-winning American film actor
* Frederick Copleston: English historian of philosophy and Jesuit priest [ [http://www.giffordlectures.org/Author.asp?AuthorID=43 Gifford Lectures] ]
* Michael Coren: British-Canadian writer and broadcaster
*S. Joseph Covich American political scientist and theologian
* Richard Crashaw: English poet and son of a staunch anti-Catholic father. [ [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04467a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia] ]
* Lorenzo Da Ponte: Italian writer and poet (conversion from Judaism on his father's remarriage) [ [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/alumni/Magazine/Legacies/Beeson/Beeson.html Columbia.edu] ]
* John Dobree Dalgairns: English theologian
* Marcel Dassault: French aircraft industrialist
* Christopher Dawson: English historian
* Dorothy Day: social activist and pacifist, foundress of the Catholic Worker movement. Raised nominally Episcopalian. [ [http://www.catholicworker.com/ddaybio.htm Biography at Catholic Worker's site] ]
* David-Augustin de Brueys: French theologian [ [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03004c.htm Catholic Encyclopedia] ]
* Regina Derieva: Russian poet [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,3865227,00.html The Guardian] ]
* Catherine Doherty: Canadian pioneer of social justice, from Russian Christianity. [ [http://www.madonnahouse.org/publications/doherty/foml.htm Madonna House] ]
* Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne: French military leader
* Jules Doinel: founder of the modern 'Gnostic Church', convert in 1895
* Alfred Döblin: German expressionist novelist, best known for "Berlin Alexanderplatz". [ [http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/adoblin.htm Kirjasto] ]
* John Dowland: English composer
* Jonathan Downes: English Cryptozoologist
* Ernest Dowson: English poet
* David Paul Drach: French Talmudic scholar
* Augusta Theodosia Drane: English writer and theologian also known as Mother Francis Raphael, O.S.D [ [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05153b.htm Catholic Encyclopedia] ]
* John Dryden: English poet, literary critic, and playwright [ [http://cuapress.cua.edu/BOOKS/viewbook.cfm?Book=GAAF Catholic University of America] ]
* Avery Robert Cardinal Dulles: American Jesuit Theologian, Professor at Fordham University. [ [http://www.crisismagazine.com/julaug2001/feature1.htm Crisis Magazine] ]
* Michael Dummett: British Analytic philosopher who devised the Quota Borda system. [ [http://www.iep.utm.edu/d/dummett.htm#H1 The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy] ]
* Faye Dunaway: Oscar-winning American actress
* Veit Erbermann: German theologian and controversialist
* Black Elk: Oglala medicine-man [ [http://nieveroja.colostate.edu/issue4/black.htm Black Elk Speaks] : Black Elk saw in Catholicism a way for his people to practice religion within the confines of the United States laws, and "at the same time, he was able to fulfill the traditional role of a Lakota leader, poor himself, but ever generous to his people"]
* Mark Elliot: Canadian broadcaster
* Shusaku Endo: Japanese novelist who was baptized when his mother converted and remained Catholic
* E. E. Evans-Pritchard: British anthropologist
* William Everson: Beat poet whose parents were Christian Scientists, he took the name Brother Antoninus in the 18 years he spent as a Dominican [ Prodigious Thrust: A Memoir of Catholic Conversion by William Everson ISBN 1-57423-007-7]
* Thomas Ewing: U.S. Senator from Ohio who served as Secretary of the Treasury and first Secretary of the Interior
* Frederick William Faber: English theologian and hymnwriter [ [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05740c.htm Catholic Encyclopedia] ]
* Lola Falana: Dancer and actress
* Douglas Farrow: Canadian theologian [ [http://www.christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=2290] ]
* Ronald Firbank: British novelist [ [http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/Cambridge/entries/036/Arthur-Annesley-Ronald-Firbank.html 1911 Encyclopedia] ]
* Tsuguharu Foujita: Japanese painter who took the name Leonardo on baptism.
*Elizabeth Fox-Genovese: Historian; feminist turned anti-feminist; Founder of the Institute of Women's Studies; wife of Eugene D. Genovese
* Antonia Fraser: British historian, biographer and novelist (Her parents converted when she was little) [ [http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/artsandhumanities/story/0,12241,779817,00.html The Guardian] ]
* Johann Jakob Froberger: German composer and organist
* André Frossard: French writer and journalist, member of the Académie française from 1987 to his death
* Georgiana Fullerton: English novelist who converted in 1846 when she was in her 30s. [ [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06318a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia] ]

G-L

* Álvar García de Santa María: Spanish historian
* René Gâteaux: French mathematician
* Peter Geach: one of the foremost contemporary British philosophers
* Eugene D. Genovese: Award-winning historian of the American South and American slavery; first Marxist president of Organization of American Historians; husband of Elizabeth Fox-Genovese
* Fritz Gerlich: German journalist
*David Gentry-Akin American educationalist and theologian
* August Friedrich Gfrörer: German historian
* Eric Gill: British sculptor, typographer and engraver
* René Girard: Franco-American anthropologist, converted through his research in human sciences
* Rumer Godden: English author of children's books, novels concerning India, and books on Catholic mysticism
* Lady Valerie Goulding (née Monckton): British-born, Irish-based disabilities activist and humanitarian
* John Gray: English aesthetic poet and traslator
* Graham Greene: British writer
* Julien Green: French novelist
* Bede Griffiths: cleric/mystic who bridged Catholicism and Hinduism by converting to Roman Catholicism, entering the Order of St Benedictine (OSB) and running a Catholic "ashram"
* Sir Alec and Lady Merula Guinness: British actor and his wife
* Sir John Gummer: Conservative British politician, 1993
* Fabrice Hadjadj: French writer
* Theodor Haecker: German writer, translator and cultural critic
* Scott and Kimberly Hahn: Catholic apologists
* Barbara Grizzuti Harrison: She wrote about being raised Jehovah's Witnesses, converted in part due to inspiration of the Catholic Worker Movement.
* Frederick Hart: (1943 – 1999) was an American sculptor, best known for his public monuments and works of art in bronze, marble, and clear acrylic (a technique he coined as "sculpting with light"). Notable work - Ex Nihilo maquette, Hart's winning design for The Creation sculptures on the National Cathedral, Washington D.C. See Wikipedia for Frederick Hart.
* Robert Stephen Hawker: English poet and antiquarian
* June Haver: American actress who considered becoming a nun after converting; became wife of Fred MacMurray
* Susan Hayward: Oscar winning American actress, who converted with her second husband Eaton Chalkley
* Anna Haycraft (aka Alice Thomas Ellis): British novelist. Raised as a Positivist she became a conservative Catholic critic of the Second Vatican Council
* Carleton J.H. Hayes: Historian and United States Ambassador to Spain during World War II
* Isaac Thomas Hecker: founder of the Paulist order, spent time at Brook Farm
* Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse: German nobleman
* Elisabeth Hesselblad: Swedish nurse and nun; she was beatified
* Ernest Hemingway: American novelist, soldier and traveller
* King Henry IV of France
* Dietrich von Hildebrand: German theologian
* James Hope-Scott: English lawyer connected to the Oxford Movement
* Gerard Manley Hopkins: British poet and writer; Jesuit priest
* Doc Holliday: American gambler and gunfighter
* Bob Hope: Roger Cardinal Mahony declared after Hope's death that he had converted several years previously (Hope's wife and children were all Catholics)
* Mieczysław Horszowski: Polish pianist
* Stephen Hough: British-Australian classical pianist
* Albert Hourani: Anglo-Lebanese historian and orientalist
* Thomas Howard: American writer and scholar
* Reinhard Hütter: American theologian [ [http://www.christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=2290] ]
* E. Howard Hunt: American spy and novelist [William F. Buckley, Jr., [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_3_59/ai_n19312016 "Howard Hunt, R.I.P"] National Review, March 5 2007: "Howard Hunt was my boss, and our friendship was such that soon after I quit the agency and returned to Connecticut, he and his wife advised me that they were joining the Catholic Church and asked if I would serve as godfather to their two daughters, which assignment I gladly accepted, continuing in close touch with them."]
* Joris-Karl Huysmans: French novelist
* Laura Ingraham: American conservative talk radio host and author.
* Princess Irene of the Netherlands: her conversion, related to her marrying a Falangist, became something of a national issue.
* Jiao Bingzhen: Chinese painter and astronomer
* Jörg Jenatsch: Swiss political leader during the Thirty Years' War
* Bobby Jindal: Indian-American governor of the U.S. state of Louisiana
* Ernst Jünger: German writer and philosopher
* Kim Dae-jung: ex-South Korean president
* Nicholas Kao Se Tseien: World's oldest priest [ [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=4&art_id=3031&sid=4908247&con_type=1&d_str=20051008 The Standard] ]
* Sheila Kaye-Smith: English poet (with her husband) in 1929
* Katharine, The Duchess of Kent: musical member of the British Royal Family
* Willmoore Kendall: Trotskiyite activist who became a conservative political scientist
* Russell Kirk: American historian, moralist and social critic
* Ronald Knox: English theologian turned Roman Catholic priest and monsignor
* Ozana Kotorska: Serbian mystic and Anchoress
* Peter Kreeft: an apologist for Christianity, professor of philosophy at Boston College and The King's College, and author of many books
* Lawrence Kudlow: American supply-side economist and cable TV talk show host
* William Kurelek: Canadian painter.
* Stephan Kuttner: German Canonist
* George Parsons Lathrop: Poet and writer
* Rose Hawthorne Lathrop: Nun who formed a group of Dominicans, daughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne and widow of George Lathrop
* Christopher Lee (historian): British writer, political & constitutional historian and broadcaster
* Gertrud von Le Fort: German writer of novels, poems, and essays
* Graham Leonard: former Anglican Bishop of London
* Ignace Lepp: French psychiatrist and author
* Shane Leslie: Irish diplomat and writer
* Saunders Lewis: Welsh writer
* Torgny Lindgren: Swedish writer, member of the Swedish Academy from 1991
* James Longstreet: Confederate general turned Republican "scalawag". [CathEncy|wstitle=James Longstreet]
* Paulina Longworth: Daughter of Alice Roosevelt Longworth
* Arthur Lourié: Russian Composer
* Clare Boothe Luce: editor, author, journalist, congresswoman, ambassador, wife of Henry Luce
* Arnold Lunn: English writer
* Jean-Marie Cardinal Lustiger: Archbishop of Paris
* William P. Longley: American gunfighter
* Frederick Lucas: Quaker who converted and founded The Tablet. [ [http://www.thetablet.co.uk/pages/history/ The Tablet] ]

M-Z

* James McAuley: Australian poet, converted in 1952.
* Claude McKay: African American poet and writer
* Alasdair MacIntyre: Scottish-born moral and political philosopher
* Ford Madox Ford: English writer, converted at age 19.
* Gustav Mahler: Austrian composer
* Curzio Malaparte: Italian journalist and writer
* Henry Edward Cardinal Manning: Widowed Anglican priest who later became a Catholic Cardinal
* Gabriel Marcel: Raised atheist or agnostic, well known as an existentialist, converted in adulthood.
* Countess Constance Markiewicz (née Gore-Booth): Irish nationalist, politician and, between 1916 and 1923, a revolutionary
* Jacques Maritain: Neo-Thomist thinker
* Raïssa Maritain: Poet and Philosopher
* Bruce Marshall: American theologian [ [http://www.christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=2290] ]
* Mickey Mattox: American theologian [ [http://www.christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=2290] ]
* Basil W. Maturin: Irish-born Anglican priest who later became a Catholic priest and writer, died on board the RMS "Lusitania"
* Norma McCorvey: anonymous plaintiff in Roe vs Wade
* Marshall McLuhan: Canadian educator, philosopher, and scholar
* Carlos Menem: Argentinian former president
* Thomas Merton: American Trappist and writer
* Frank Meyer: political philosopher, co-founder of National Review magazine
* Alice Meynell: Poet, suffragist
* Lorenzo Milani: Italian priest and educator
* Sherman Minton: United States Supreme Court justice
* George Jackson Mivart: English biologist
* Malcolm Muggeridge: British writer and journalist (his wife, Kitty, was received into the Church at the same time)
* Paul Mulla: Turkish scholar and professor of Islamic Studies at the Pontifical Oriental Institute
* Adam Müller: German political philosopher and economist
* Les Murray: Australian poet and literary critic
* Takashi Nagai: Japanese medical doctor, victim of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki
* Bernard Nathanson: American medical doctor and fetologist, fomer abortionist who now is active in the anti-abortion movement
* Richard John Neuhaus: Priest, founder and editor of the journal First Things
* John von Neumann: Hungarian-born mathematician
* John Henry Newman: Conservative Anglican clergyman and leader of the Anglo-Catholic Oxford Movement who converted to Roman Catholicism in the 1840s, and was later appointed Cardinal-Deacon
* Sister Nirmala: Successor to Mother Teresa as head of her worldwide order (first generation Indian of Nepalese extraction) on behalf of the poor, the Missionaries of Charity, coming from Brahminism, the highest caste of Hinduism
* Joshua Nkomo: Leader of Matabele tribe in Zimbabwe who helped bring about the demise of white-minority rule in then-Rhodesia.
* Robert Novak: From nominal Judaism, conservative commentator, writer and syndicated columnist
* Alfred Noyes: He wrote about his conversion to Catholicism in "The Unknown God"
* Natalija Obrenović: Queen Consort (1882 - 1889) and Regent (1889 - 1891) of Serbia
* Jacques Offenbach: composer and cellist
* Johann Friedrich Overbeck: German painter
* Ferdynand Ossendowski: Polish writer and journalist
* Henry Nutcombe Oxenham: English theologian (some leanings toward the Old Catholic Church) Fact|date=September 2007
* Ludek Pachman: Czechoslovakian chess grandmaster
* Coventry Patmore: English poet
* Joseph Pearce: English writer
* Walker Percy: American writer
* Linda Poindexter: former Episcopalian priest, wife of former National Security Advisor John Poindexter
* Ramesh Ponnuru: political columnist, author, and a senior editor of National Review magazine
* Katherine Anne Porter: American writer, on and off convert
* Vincent Price: American actor, converted after marrying his third wife (actress Coral Browne, also a convert)
* Augustus Pugin: English-born architect, designer and theorist of design
* Marc-André Raffalovich: French poet and writer
* Andrew Michael Ramsay: Franco-Scottish writer
* Clemente Rebora: Italian poet and Rosminian priest
* R. R. Reno: American theologian [ [http://www.christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=2290] ]
* Peter le Page Renouf: Egyptologist from Guernsey
* Alphonse Ratisbonne: French banker
* Alma Reville: Actress and assistant director who was married to Alfred Hitchcock for over 50 years and worked with him on projects.
* Anne Rice: American writer, specializing in the occult
* Knute Rockne: football coach at the University of Notre Dame
* Frederick Rolfe: English novelist and eccentric
* William S. Rosecrans Union General in American Civil War
* Joseph Rovan: French philosopher and politician
* Edmund Rubbra: English composer
* Peter Paul Rubens: prolific 17th-century Flemish painter, proponent of an exuberant Baroque style that emphasized movement, color, and sensuality.
* Sir Ryan of Beverly: Political Philosopher
* Nazli Sabri: Queen consort of Egypt
* Maurice Sachs: French writer
* Siegfried Sassoon: English poet and author
* Joseph Saurin: French mathematician and Calvinist minister. [ [http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Saurin.html McTutor] ]
* Max Scheler: German philosopher
* Gerald Schlabach: American theologian [ [http://www.christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=2290] ]
* Karl Wilhelm Friedrich von Schlegel: German poet, critic and scholar
* Dutch Schultz: American gangster (for his wife)
* Elizabeth Ann Seton: foundress of the "'American Sisters of Charity" and first U.S.-born person to be canonized.
* Francesco Severi: Italian mathematician
* Alfred Schnittke: Russian composer
* Frances Shand Kydd: mother of Diana, Princess of Wales
* William Tecumseh Sherman: American soldier, businessman, and author (re-baptized as a child by his adoptive parents after he was orphaned)
* Angelus Silesius: German mystic and poet
* Edith Sitwell: Eccentric British poet
* Sixtus of Siena: From Judaism, theologian believed to have coined the word "deuterocanonical"
* Delia Smith: British cooking expert and cookbook writer
* Tony Snow: Political commentator, columnist, television news anchor, radio host, and third White House Press Secretary under President George H.W. Bush
* Queen Sofia: Greek princess who converted to marry King Juan Carlos I of Spain
* Etsuro Sotoo: Japanese sculptor
* Muriel Spark: British novelist ("The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie")
* Ignatius Spencer: British Passionist priest, son of the 2nd Earl Spencer
* Adrienne von Speyr: Swiss medical doctor and later Catholic mystic [ [http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/authors/adrienne_von_speyr.asp Ignatius Insight: Adrienne von Speyr] ]
* Jean de Sponde: French poet
* Nicholas Steno, Niels Stensen: Danish physician and scientist, pioneer of modern geology (Beatified by Pope John Paul II)
* Edith Stein: From Judaism: Became Catholic nun; died in a concentration camp during World War II
* Francis Stuart: Irish nationalist writer and novelist; son-in-law of Maud Gonne, also a convert
* Montague Summers, author, former Church of England deacon
* Graham Sutherland: English painter
* Italo Svevo: Italian businessman and author of novels, plays, and short stories
* Madame Swetchine: Russian writer and mystic
* Gédéon Tallemant des Réaux: French writer
* Alfred Tarski: Polish logician and mathematician (converted for social reasons)
* Allen Tate: American writer
* Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, daughter of a Mohawk warrior
* Sir John Thompson: the fourth Prime Minister of Canada
* Alice B. Toklas: lover and confidante of Jewish writer and poet Gertrude Stein
* J. R. R. Tolkien: British novelist (his mother converted when he was a small child and he was re-baptized)
* Tran Le Xuan: Wife of Ngo Dinh Nhu
* Lars von Trier: Danish film director
* Margaret Trudeau: Wife of late former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau
* Malcolm Turnbull: Australian republican politician
* Sigrid Undset: Norwegian novelist, Nobel Prize (1928)
* Sheldon Vanauken: American author
* Bill Veeck: American baseball team owner [ [http://parentseyes.arizona.edu/drachman/1002.html "Parents eyes"] ]
* Paul Verlaine: French poet associated with the Symbolist movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the "fin de siècle" in international and French poetry.
* Karl Freiherr von Vogelsang: Austrian politician
* Joost van den Vondel: Dutch poet
* Johannes Vermeer: Dutch painter who converted in 1653
* Robert F. Wagner: U.S. Senator from New York, author of Wagner Act, father of mayor of New York City
* Françoise-Louise de Warens: Swiss benefactress and mistress of Jean-Jacques Rousseau
* Evelyn Waugh: British writer
* John Wayne: Oscar-winning American film actor (converted shortly before his death; all his wives and children were Catholics)
* Zacharias Werner: German poet, dramatist and preacher
* Mary Wesley: British writer and novelist
* E. T. Whittaker: Mathematician who converted in 1930, later served at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
* Ann Widdecombe: Conservative British politician, 1993
* Oscar Wilde: Irish novelist, playwright and wit (reportedly converted on his deathbed)
* Mary Lou Williams: Jazz pianist
* Tennessee Williams: major American playwright and one of the prominent playwrights of the twentieth century
* Johann Joachim Winckelmann: one of the founding fathers of modern archaeology
* Edward Windsor, Lord Downpatrick grandson of the Duke of Kent
* Katharine Worsley Windsor, Duchess of Kent, present Duchess of Kent
* Lord Nicholas Windsor, son of the Duke and Duchess of Kent
* Xu Guangqi (Baptismal name: Paul Xu): Chinese mathematician, one of the earliest Chinese converts
* Gene Wolfe: science fiction writer
* Jane Wyman: Oscar-winning American actress, first wife of movie star Ronald Reagan, who would become the 40th President of the United States
* R. V. Young: Literary critic and columnist
*Felicia Zhuang American philosopher
* Zheng Zhilong: Chinese merchant, admiral, occasional pirate
* Israel Zolli, former chief Rabbi of Rome who was received into the Church with his wife in 1945; he took as his Christian name Eugenio

Converts who later left Catholicism

*Rod Dreher - Conservative "Crunchy Con" columnist who converted to Catholicism from Methodism and then later converted to Eastern Orthodoxy.
* Ammon Hennacy: Christian anarchist and activist who was Roman Catholic from 1952 to 1965. His essay "On Leaving the Catholic Church" concerns his formal renunciation of the religion. [ [http://www.catholicworker.com/ah_leave.htm Catholic Worker] ]
*David Kirk: Mississippi-born and reared (as a Baptist) civil rights activist who became a (Melkite) Catholic priest, but late in life converted to Eastern Orthodox Christianity
*Halldór Laxness: Icelandic writer who converted to Catholicism in 1923 [ [http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1955/laxness-bio.html Nobel Prize bio] ] , but later became disillusioned with it. [ [http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/laxness.htm "Books and Writers"] ]
*Robert Lowell: American poet who converted to Catholicism in 1940 but left the church after only a few years. Fact|date=December 2007
*Walter M. Miller, Jr. - Science fiction author who converted in 1947 and is noted for the Catholic-themed A Canticle for Leibowitz, which is praised on the website of the Eternal Word Television Network [ [http://www.ewtn.com/library/THEOLOGY/FRNOONAN.HTM EWTN] ] , but later said being referred to as a Catholic was "embarrassing"Fact|date=March 2008.
* Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Franco-Swiss philosopher, writer and political theorist who converted to Catholicism as a young man but later reverted to Calvinism in 1754. [ [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9109503/Jean-Jacques-Rousseau Encyclopedia Britannica: Jean-Jacques Rousseau.] ]

References

External links

* [http://catholic-converts.excerptsofinri.com/] Historic Catholic Converts to Catholicism Produced by EWTN hosted by Fr. Charles Connor - Real Audio

ee also

Main articles

*Religious conversion
*Deathbed conversion
*Secondary conversion

Catholic related lists

* List of Roman Catholic Church artists
* List of Catholic authors
* List of Catholic philosophers and theologians

Conversion related lists

* List of converts to Islam
* List of converts to Judaism
* List of people who converted to Christianity (More generalized)