I am profoundly Catholic and thoroughly under cover. While my Catholic faith informs and impacts everything that I do, I rarely mention it outside of my house and church.
I am a cryptocatholic. Like the early Christians I keep my faith hidden from those around me while leaving small signs for fellow believers. I hang a rosary from my review mirror, which, in my Protestant days, I would have mistaken for Mardi Gras beads. I have a small St. George medallion on my cork board at work.
Most of my friends are anti-Christian, most carelessly but a few virulently. I don’t volunteer my Catholicism, never denying it but only rarely sticking my neck out for it, such as when coworkers make jokes about the Pope.
In the years since I converted to Catholicism I have frequently been surprised to discover renowned figures who are also Catholic, but who rarely discuss their faith publicly, cryptocatholics like me. I decided to start this blog to track these people as I come across them, as well as my own hidden walk of faith.
In an age when the Catholic Church is under so much attack, both from within and without, is it not better to be quite open about your faith, rather than to slip under the radar, so to speak?
I’m not Catholic, but grew up in and am still a member of a Protestant denomination. I do however practice many things that a Catholic would find quite familiar – the Daily Office, the Rosary, contemplative retreats, Lectio Divina, etc. I have become quite comfortable talking about these things with anyone who cares to converse about such topics. I’ve been surprised to find the level of interest that I routinely see.
If the Church is to have the impact that I think it must have in this world (and here I use the term Church to mean all the people of God), then it seems to me we must be open and assertive about what we are, who we are, and to whom we owe our loyalty and worship. To be co-opted by popular culture is unacceptable. To be used by political partisans for their own selfish benefit is unacceptable. To be true to our calling and to our Lord are the only things that we should accept. I strive to live up to that ideal every day; when I fail, I know that I can confess and repent, and enter the next day filled with hope.
I agree. And yet… I find it difficult. I’m working on it.