"Continuing my walk, I reflected that a Church that could inspire such confidence in a child, making priests, even when unknown, so easily approachable, could not be as scheming or as creepy as so often made out. I began to shake off my long-taught, long-absorbed prejudices."
Soon after, his son Matthew contracted polio and appeared to be close to death. Desperate and seeking divine help, Guinness started dropping by a local Catholic church to pray.
He made a deal with God: if God healed Matthew, he would allow his son to become Catholic if he wanted.
Against all expectations, his son recovered. Guinness and his wife enrolled him in a Jesuit school. A few years later, Guinness, his wife, and his son all converted to Catholicism.
Guinness died in 2000.
(Story continues below)
Subscribe to our daily newsletter