00:02:03.360So I grew up a non-denominational Protestant, and I attended a lot of those churches as a kid growing up in Arizona.
00:02:10.020And as I entered my adult life and really as I entered my late teenage years, what I found was, you know, and it was really because of the Internet was where I got started.
00:06:09.640I said it was the most important and the most consequential day of my entire life, and I truly believe that it will be and that it was.
00:06:17.020So I was confirmed to the Catholic Church. And when I saw it, all three RCA classes that I attended over the past three years, I saw, you know, a huge desire from young people for truth and order.
00:06:30.380And I think that's something very specific. And I think that's something they're not getting elsewhere at other denominations, you know, like with Protestantism and evangelicalism.
00:06:38.900This is one of my big problems with it was that the doctrine really changes depending on what church you can go to.
00:06:45.660and so you can go to some protestant churches where for example there's like a rainbow flag
00:06:50.560right outside the church and the pastor's gay and they they teach you know that because god's
00:06:56.080love is infinite that there's no like rules basically and then you can also go to a protestant0.69
00:07:01.000church where there's like a trump flag outside and it's like totally the opposite way and like
00:07:06.100i've been to many protestant churches that are one way or the other and what i found is that people
00:07:10.580tend to really just like bring their own pre-existing beliefs with them and then just
00:07:15.180pick whichever church already agrees with them. And for me, that kind of like threw me off that
00:07:19.980kind of, um, you know, I didn't really like think that made a whole lot of sense growing up. And so
00:07:25.700what I really loved about the Catholic church, this was the appeal to me initially was the
00:07:30.040tradition and the order and the fact that, you know, no matter who the Pope is, the doctrine
00:07:35.560has remained fundamentally unchanged for thousands of years. It's existed since 33 AD. And there's a
00:07:43.340direct line of succession to Peter. So I thought that was incredibly compelling. And the more I
00:07:49.940learned about the Catholic Church, the more compelling I found it. And I think that's true
00:07:54.200with a lot of young men is they're looking for, you know, especially in America, a country that's
00:07:58.840so young, we really don't have much here in terms of tradition. And I say this as a proud American
00:08:05.200patriot, like I love this country, but it is, you know, only like 250 years old. So there's really
00:08:11.380not a whole lot of history and tradition and culture there that is something that is thousands
00:08:19.000of years old, like the church. And so I think that's what's really attractive to a lot of young
00:08:23.840men. There's a lot of theories going around. Because for one thing, you've presented a picture
00:08:29.320that I think there are a good number of people who would contest it. They would say, no, no, no,
00:08:35.040you know, it was really Pope Francis. Pope Francis has finally opened the door to homosexuality and1.00
00:08:42.280having a lighter touch on, you know, welcoming the immigrant. And it's this kind of openness to
00:08:50.560the world that has finally unlocked the door of the Catholic Church. And people are seeing it now
00:08:57.120as the field hospital that it really is. And now they're coming in droves because we've finally
00:09:02.480done away with the sort of rigid attitude of the naysayers you're going to go to hell folks
00:09:10.060you're you know basically we know hell doesn't really exist if it does nobody goes there
00:09:15.300and this freedom has allowed people to once again embrace the church your take on that
00:09:20.540not only you personally but also maybe those who've you seen come in i think it's really actually
00:09:26.120more in spite of leadership that this trend is occurring and i think you know it's interesting
00:09:32.040with both Pope Francis and Pope Leo like yes they are I guess politically in a sense they would be
00:09:37.900considered more liberal especially Francis and what's what's interesting is the young men that
00:09:43.600are coming in you know they're not going to the Nova Sordos and they don't really appreciate the
00:09:49.080restrictions on the Latin masses they're huge fans of the Latin mass and they go there every week
00:09:54.020I lived with a guy who went every single day you know he was a great friend of mine and what was
00:09:59.120I think what's really appealing to the young men is actually the rules and it is actually
00:10:05.260the clear hierarchy and it is you know the clear order with a clear authority and so I think you0.68
00:10:12.820know I think it's it's a mistake that Catholics sometimes make where they see Protestants and0.82
00:10:18.100evangelicals you know they don't like take the social consideration seriously they don't really
00:10:23.520take seriously the teachings of Jesus in terms of, you know, what the Bible says about abortion0.95
00:10:29.680and what the Bible says about contraception, even. Contraception is extremely popular with
00:10:35.060Protestants and evangelicals, you know, with gay marriage even. And I think a lot of young men
00:10:40.640have had everything taken from them in a certain sense, especially in my generation. You know,
00:10:45.980I grew up during COVID. So my high school years were largely tainted by that. And for all my
00:10:52.260friends, that's true as well. They either were in high school or college when COVID happened.
00:10:57.200And so what you saw was, you know, firstly, you got like a decade of wokeness at its peak. And so
00:11:04.320you got all this anti-white rhetoric, you had all this anti-male rhetoric. And this is really what
00:11:09.480we were kind of forced to grow up in, in the world. And then you had COVID hit. And now it's
00:11:14.280like, okay, well, now you can't even see your friends, right? Now you have to attend every
00:11:18.500class on zoom and you're socially isolated and you have nothing to do other than like look at
00:11:24.300the internet you know and something with with our society as well as pornography is so uh ubiquitous
00:11:32.380in america today and in the world um a lot of a lot of young men were first exposed to pornography
00:11:38.400ages like 10 11 or 12 and it's something that's totally sickened and darkened our country and the
00:11:45.540collective hearts and minds of everyone in this country has been darkened by pornography the
00:11:51.020society has become totally sexualized and i think enough young men are looking at what society has
00:11:57.820to offer and they're saying this is not fulfilling like there is a god-shaped hole in my heart
00:12:03.580society is not really offering me fulfillment it's not offering me meaning and it's not offering me
00:12:10.780the true conditions and I think the true fullness that Christ can offer you. They're looking to the
00:12:17.100church for answers. They're looking to the church for this purpose and fulfillment. And they're
00:12:22.460really not finding it at a lot of these Protestant evangelical churches. I think the reason especially1.00
00:12:28.320that it's so concentrated in cities like New York and DC and Chicago is as well that Chicago or not
00:12:34.400Chicago, that the Catholic church is seen as more intellectual because of its history. And so I
00:12:41.340think there's also, I think unfortunately there's a little bit of like a status and maybe like a
00:12:46.360social aspect going on, which is, you know, it's good if it saves souls. But I think there may be
00:12:52.400sort of like a bit of, it may be a factor that some guys just want to like be in the social club.
00:12:58.520So I think those are the main factors that are driving young men towards the church.
00:13:02.560It's interesting. You mentioned there was an online influence that especially some of the, basically the world has gone so crazy, the wokeness reached its peak, as you said, that people are just looking from some kind of order.
00:13:17.420You mentioned the traditional Latin mass or a mass that is sane relative to the sort of disorder, even in liturgy that is seen in a lot of different places.
00:13:29.000Why young men? Why is it men as opposed, not opposed to women. There's lots of young women0.63
00:13:34.120coming in too, but why young men specifically? Was there any thought you had as to what that's
00:13:40.300all about? Well, I think young men and honestly, in particular, young white men have been treated
00:13:45.460the worst by this current liberal order. And this current liberal social order in particular really
00:13:52.460hates them. And I think the reason why is because, you know, you look throughout history and it's
00:13:57.980always been young men who have been shaping and changing the world and propelling humanity
00:14:03.420forward. You know, Alexander the Great was 23. So I think it's always really been this young
00:14:10.260male demographic that's always willing to take the risk and they're always willing to, you know,
00:14:16.740give their lives to something, give their adult lives to a cause they believe in. Honestly, I
00:14:21.660think they're not as easily controllable as the elites would want them to be. And so rather than
00:14:27.440try and like offer them something or maybe bring them in give them a slice of the pie we look at
00:14:32.600like the democrat party there's room for anyone in that coalition except young white men and i think
00:14:39.680a lot of that group is starting to ask themselves like why is that what their goal is and by them i
00:14:45.320mean the elites they're recognizing this trend among young men and they're seeing where the
00:14:49.760young men are and that's in washington dc in all these cities that have the levers of power
00:14:54.720And they're saying, you know, this has to be stopped at all costs.
00:14:58.200And so I think maybe the goal in the future is going to try and make the Catholic Church unappealing to guys like me.
00:15:05.160And I think they've been trying that for a while.
00:15:08.200And I really don't think it's working.
00:15:09.880Going back sort of to your personal story, what is it in terms of the faith that you mentioned that you were sort of struggling with it?
00:15:20.780And then sort of for reasons perhaps of pride or whatever, you decided, no, I'm not going to do it now.
00:15:30.100What really moved you to finally take the plunge?
00:15:34.100Originally, I had a lot of the standard Protestant hangups, such as like, you know, why do Catholics pray to saints?
00:16:09.700But I think because of that, there's not a whole lot of answers for Protestants who are looking with these questions and they're searching.
00:16:17.920And so I think there's a lot of organizations out there that do a good job at answering these questions.
00:16:22.700And I was just excited to contribute to that.
00:16:25.640As far as me personally, though, I think really the hang up was just the nervousness, right?
00:16:32.180Where it's like, you know, once you're confirmed into the Catholic Church, it's like, okay, now you're in the fight.
00:16:38.220Like now you are a soul who is in the fight for the soul of the church and for the world, really.
00:16:44.840And once you become Catholic and once you fully denounce Satan and you firmly place yourself on the side of God, well, now evil knows you are an enemy of evil, right?
00:17:01.320That's a little intimidating for like a guy in his early 20s.
00:17:04.080And so for me, I think it was something where for a couple of years I was maybe delaying it. I was saying like, well, maybe this is something I could do later in life. But especially with recent events, you know, recent political events we've seen as far as the elites go, you know, the Epstein files have not been released. And there's a lot of protection going on there.
00:17:24.640A lot of people who were responsible for these kinds of things and like a real conspiracy, they've been being protected.
00:17:32.360And I think there's a lot of strange things going on within the church as well.
00:17:37.040And really, like, evil is at work, I think, in the world.
00:17:40.880And so at a certain point, I just had to, you know, look at myself in the mirror and say it's really now or never.
00:17:47.080Like, there is never a better time to get into the fight.
00:17:49.380There is never a better time to join the side of good and start pushing against evil, which has made, unfortunately, so much progress in the last few decades.
00:17:58.580A lot of people are worried for different reasons. I don't know if it's particular to young women or what, but we had someone come into the church as well in my family. A lot of the concern was what are my parents going to think and stuff like that.
00:18:11.880did you have any of that or your colleagues around you who also entered the church how did they
00:18:18.040overcome that kind of thing because it can be daunting when your your parents are from a
00:18:22.900different religion and you're doing this sometimes you you're threatened to be cut off from your
00:18:27.280family any of that play a part either of yourself or those you were with well although my parents
00:18:32.200are not catholic and i'm working on that one they were very supportive of me actually and i'm very
00:18:38.300happy that they were. I didn't have to deal with that personally quite a bit, but I do know some
00:18:43.380others where that was a huge concern of theirs. And that's something that's really stopping them
00:18:48.060from progressing in a lot of ways is, you know, my parents have these hangups about Catholicism
00:18:53.700and, you know, I'm scared to convert because I don't want to distance myself from my family.
00:18:59.200I don't want to create that distance. And the truth is, you know, Jesus said in the Bible that
00:19:03.920he came to divide households this is the work of the lord and it is a very tough thing um but at a
00:19:11.720certain point especially with adults that are entering ocia you have to sort of realize at a
00:19:18.020certain point you're going to have a family of your own hopefully that means as an adult you
00:19:22.540really do have to make your own decisions for yourself especially a lifelong decision such as
00:19:27.480what religion am i going to follow you know am i going to prioritize my own soul ahead of what
00:19:33.660other people might think of me even if it even if it's my friends or my family I think people have
00:19:39.500to make that decision for themselves but of course for me I eventually just realized you know no
00:19:44.900matter what this is my the fate of my soul we're talking about like eternally you know I'm only
00:19:50.720on this earth for a short amount of time but the afterlife is eternal and so I really need to be
00:19:56.600thinking about and prioritizing that and where I go when I die and I think that's something a lot
00:20:02.300of people need to be thinking about more I think it's a fault of modern society that you know
00:20:06.680people want to live forever now and they think they're going to like you see the actions of
00:20:11.040people and they think that this is really like all there is and that their 20s are going to last
00:20:16.460forever and they're going to be young forever I think that's a lot I think that's the mindset of
00:20:20.860a lot of people in my generation is that we're just going to be young for like a thousand years
00:20:24.900I think expanding your mindset in that way and realizing your own mortality is going to put to
00:20:31.540a lot of those concerns. And for me, you know, for me, I like to think that I may be working
00:20:38.060on my parents in some way, or maybe the people around me, my friends through the work that I do.
00:20:43.140And so that's been extremely fulfilling for me. For U.S. residents, creating a will has never
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00:20:55.400own will and choose to include LifeSite News in it. Specify where your funeral will take place,
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00:22:25.640it is it's about recognizing you got to put your soul first and it's about loving christ above all
00:22:32.020else and that even means your parents your spouse your children your own life that's what martyrdom
00:22:39.960is all about and it really does come down to that decision um wait final thoughts for us on this
00:22:45.900whole phenomenon and uh of your entering the church i think that was very well said but you
00:22:50.720reminded me it was actually the day after i converted i had a conversation with a friend
00:22:55.400of mine who grew up mormon and his whole family is in the mormon church and he told me that he
00:23:01.500you know hasn't believed in mormonism since he was 14 and he's very attracted to catholicism he
00:23:08.040wants to convert and he told me exactly what uh you've outlined there which is you know i know
00:23:15.120that if you know my parents are extremely skeptical of catholicism they really don't like it
00:23:21.120And if I convert to Catholicism or if I tell them that I'm attending RCA classes, you know, I may be disowned.
00:23:30.520I may be, there may be great distance, but between me and my family, who I love very much, you know, he is an older brother he loves very much, who feels the same way as his parents about Catholicism.
00:23:41.940And I told them that, you know, really at a certain point, you have to hope and pray that blood is thicker than water, right?
00:23:52.020That eventually they'll come to realize, you know, despite this conversion, you are still my son and we still love you.
00:23:59.660And if they don't feel that way, then that is, of course, extremely tragic.
00:24:04.800But at a certain point, as a young man, you have to make your own decisions for yourself.
00:24:11.200And you have to have 100% confidence in the decisions you make for yourself.
00:24:17.120And I think this is something that, you know, is what is essential about becoming a man in the first place.
00:24:23.660Is that eventually you have to realize you're going to have your own family.
00:24:27.480And you're going to have your own wife, your own kids.
00:24:29.680And you're going to have to lead a household.
00:24:31.800And to do something like that is actually extremely tough.
00:24:35.440And so it requires you to get used to making tough decisions.
00:24:38.680You know, something like that is, of course, a very hard thing to ask of a lot of people.
00:24:43.700But like I said before, it is just a decision that you eventually have to make for yourself.
00:24:48.460And you have to decide that, you know, if I'm going to save my soul and if I'm going to work on my family, that does eventually mean that I have to make a firm stand.
00:24:59.180And I have to say, yes, I'm planning on becoming Catholic.