CHURCH CONVERTS IN U.S.

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27308, 26 March 1954, Page 11

CHURCH CONVERTS IN U.S.

Claim By Protestant Magazine (Rec. 9 p.m.) NEW YORK, March 24. More than 4,000,000 Roman Catholics have become members of Protestant churches in the United States during the last 10 years, according to a survey reported in the April issue of the “Christian Herald.” The survey said the figures proved that the number of Roman Catholics converted to Protestantism was overwhelmingly greater than the 1,071.897 converts reported by the. Roman Catholic Church during the same 10-year period. The survey was based on replies to a questionnaire sent to 25,000 of the 181,000 Protestant clergymen in every part of the United States, said the “Christian Herald,” an interdominational Protestant magazine with no official church ties. In Washington, Monsignore Paul Tanner, assistant general secretary of the National Catholic Welfare Conference, said: “It is not news to us that there are Catholics who have lapsed from their faith. Without entering into the validity of the statistics, the ‘Christian Herald’s’ article will serve to remind Catholics that their faith is a divine gift that can be lost and stimulate them to personal concern of this problem.”