CV NEWS FEED // A March 1 article from The Gospel Coalition (TGC) sounded the alarm over a growing number of Protestant intellectuals, pastors, and influencers converting to the Catholic faith.
Written by TGC’s Andrew Voigt, the article is framed as a strategic response to stem the tide of conversions. It warns of the effectiveness of Catholic apologetics, particularly online, and urges Protestants to develop a more robust counter-narrative.
Voigt’s article points to high-profile converts, including Cameron Bertuzzi, Candace Owens, Keith Nester, and Ulf Ekman, as examples of a growing movement of Protestants entering the Catholic Church. He attributes this trend in part to the influence of Catholic apologetics online, particularly through platforms like YouTube, where Catholic perspectives on doctrine and history are widely accessible.
According to Voigt, Protestant apologetics has focused more on addressing atheism and secularism while Catholic evangelization efforts have been more directly aimed at engaging Protestants.
An Italian Protestant pastor, Leonardo De Chirico, is quoted in Voigt’s article as saying that while Evangelicals were once seen as proselytizing Catholics, the opposite now appears to be happening through online platforms. De Chirico pointed to Bishop Robert Barron’s Word on Fire ministry, describing it as an apologetics effort that has “exploded with videos, books, and courses designed to attract disappointed evangelicals toward Catholicism.”
The article also contends that some Catholic apologists present their theology in a way that appears more compatible with Protestant beliefs than it actually is, suggesting that Catholic evangelists downplay or adjust certain doctrines, making Catholicism seem less distinct from Protestantism.
“Behind the curtain of liturgy, aesthetics, and reverent ceremony is a mountain of doctrinal, dogmatic, and ritualistic accretions that bind the consciences of faithful Roman Catholics,” Voigt wrote.
These “accretions” or layered teachings, according to Voigt, include those “on purgatory, the Marian dogmas, transubstantiation in the Eucharist, papal infallibility, and priestly celibacy.”
The concern, according to Voigt, is that Protestants who feel disillusioned with their own churches may be drawn in by what they perceive as theological depth and tradition, only to later realize the full weight of Catholic dogma.
Voigt suggested several responses to this trend, including emphasizing Protestant history, increasing doctrinal education in churches, and expanding Protestant representation in digital media.