Trent Beattie, National Catholic Register: Is it true that you grew up Lutheran but always had respect for the Catholic Church?
Yes, I grew up as a Missouri Synod Lutheran, and, while for many years I didn’t actually want to become Catholic, I still had a fascination with the Catholic Church. Our Lutheran confirmation training included not only our position on things, but that of the Catholic Church, and then those of various other Protestants. We considered ourselves distinct from Catholics, but also from other Protestants. We were “high church” or original breakaways, rather than “low church” or secondary breakaways. It caught my attention, though, that we defined ourselves in relation and opposition to the Catholic Church, rather than simply on our own. We needed the Catholic Church to be there first in order for us to be who we were. Full interview is here.
