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S i d e b a r
THOMAS W. MCGOVERN HAD TO PROVE HIS CATHOLICISM TO CATHOLIC CHAPERONES
By THOMAS W. MCGOVERN
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This Rock
Volume 4, Number 11
 November 1993 
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SOME chaperones refused to believe I was a Catholic,
even though I expressed my love for our Lady and the Holy Father,
showed them my scapular and crucifix, and read to them from Pillar
of Fire, Pillar of Truth. Others said about the booklet, "This
is the one we're supposed to get. Everybody, make sure you get one!"
Some kids even memorized paragraphs so they could respond to Protestants
who asked, "Are you saved?"I asked them the question, and
they answered straight from the booklet.
One man said he'd take a copy if I could give copies
to two priests who were walking by. They were Legionaries of Christ
and already were aware of the project. Once they took the booklet,
the bewildered man took a copy too. Then, in the parking lot, where
we were restocking our bags, fourteen Carmelite nuns from California
greeted us, and most of them took packs of 50 copies to distribute
in the stands.
Many people came up to me to say they had contributed
to this project, and they were excited to see it come to fruition.
Three individuals told me they had converted to Catholicism at least
in part because of Catholic Answers. One was a former Methodist minister,
now studying to be a priest, who celebrated his first anniversary
as a Catholic at the Holy Father's Mass.
While hawking booklets, I suddenly found a television
camera in my face. I repeated my pitch, and dozens of young people
came up and happily ran off with copies. The camera kept rolling after
the kids left, so I continued with "Catholic Answers is the largest
lay-run Catholic apologetics and evangelization organization in North
America . . ." The cameraman smiled and said he was from CNN.
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