May 24, 2004 / 22:00 pm
It was a long journey. But after six years, the president of the Christian Coalition of Alabama, John Giles, and his wife, Deborah, were confirmed and welcomed into the Roman Catholic Church at St. Peter's Parish in Montgomery this past Easter.
In an interview, Giles told The Associated Press that when he first sat in on a Catholic mass six years ago, he couldn’t really follow it, but he was reduced to tears and he didn’t know why.
He pursued this new interest and became fascinated by the Catholic Church’s history and ritual. He continued to learn about the faith, visiting Israel and Rome, and learning always more, until finally realizing that many of his past beliefs about the Catholic Church and its teachings had been wrong.
Unlike most people, Giles conversion to Catholicism has not been a private affair, but he understands the public interest given his job as president of the Christian Coalition of Alabama.