Roy Oliveira's story of faith is nothing less than surprising and also, why not, hopeful. This 17-year-old boy from Vigo, who, in the future, wants to serve his country through politics, grew up in an environment far removed from the faith. Although, as he tells us, he attended a Catholic school for a few years, the education in the faith he received was somewhat lacking.
Until the age of 16, his life is similar to that of many young people in our society, who grow up in "post-Christian" families, whose contact with the Church is more superficial than anything else, and whose idea of Catholicism is the image given of them in series and movies.
God who comes to meet
Roy was introduced to God through a sincere desire for knowledge, through reasoning and study. This is how he tells his conversion story:
"I have always done research on many subjects: history, languages, philosophy... and then came the turn of religions. It is true that I knew beforehand what Christianity had meant for our Western civilization and, when the time came, I focused on the three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Islam and Christianity.
While I was doing my research, the confinement came and I took the opportunity to continue my research on the subject. At that time, I focused on Christianity: I acquired a Bible, books on the subject... and I began to realize that, contrary to the typical "skeptical clichés", the Bible was not the accumulation of contradictions or fantasies that I thought it was.
I was surprised because I was prepared to find a vague book, full of errors and, on the contrary, reading the Bible I found that it was very coherent, that everything written was in agreement with historical events that occurred parallel to what was narrated in the Scriptures; events that, in addition, are justified in the light of faith and reason, while only with reason they were opaque. This was the beginning of my approach to faith.
Previously, I had a rather vague conception of God... It is true that I never denied the existence of "something" - call it God, call it energy - but, through this study, I gave God a face. I began to realize that perhaps God could have manifested himself to humanity and that Christianity was the religion that agreed with that manifestation. Everything was very coherent.
In early May 2020 I wondered, really, if the study was shaping the way I saw the world or if it was just a passing impression. I decided to give myself some time and think. That time passed and the only thing I got was to be more in communion with God and the Faith... so I asked myself: "Roy, at this point, do you really feel identified with the Christian faith or is it a whim? I realized that it was not a phase, but that what seemed like a pantomime three months ago was now presented to me as a truth that I could perfectly support. It was then that I considered conversion. In the Gospel, Christ sends his apostles to make "disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"; so I decided to follow Christ's words and get baptized.
I must confess that, initially, I did not think of the Catholic faith, in fact, I studied the Orthodox Church, the various Protestant branches... and, ultimately, the Catholic Church. Not in vain, I was close to Calvinism, however, reading Christ's confirmation of Peter as the first pope, confirmed me in the Catholic faith: in the Bible is found the justification of the papacy, of the apostolic succession and the tradition that the Protestant confessions deny. It was this consistency of the Catholic Church with the Bible that confirmed me in this truth.
What seemed like a pantomime three months ago was now presented to me as a truth that I could perfectly support.
Roy Oliveira
Frankly, I began to study all this religion without looking for anything special. It was through reasoning and connecting with God that I discovered that, deep down, I was looking for something almost without knowing it. I found 'what I wasn't looking for' and it is the most precious treasure I will ever have in my life."
"I imagined the Church as in 'The Godfather'."
Despite his maturity, Roy is obviously a "child of his time". He himself amusingly affirms that, at the moment of taking the step and going to the parish to put legs Before his conversion, he imagined the Catholic Church "as I saw it in movies or series. In fact, I thought I was going to find something similar to what I saw in the Godfather movie, with the rites in Latin..., etc."
Once he made contact with his parish, the priest "loaned me a Catechism of the Catholic Church which I devoured in a few weeks. At the beginning I was very lost, I had all the typical prejudices, but I have to say that, in spite of everything, I was confirming my faith in a very fluid way. Thanks to the Catechism I understood the Church and the doctrine much better and everything was coming together".
Evidently, his approach to faith did not go unnoticed in his environment. As Roy points out, "the people closest to me were not so surprised, because they were seeing how I was experiencing a rapprochement to religion. What I did receive were some warnings to take it calmly and prudently because it is a serious matter and, at my age, this kind of thing can be considered 'phases'".
Thanks to the Catechism I understood the Church and the doctrine much better and everything was coming together.
Roy Oliveira
My friends, accustomed to my agnosticism, were surprised. When they ask me about it, I always tell them that I had researched religion, it seemed much more coherent than I expected and thanks to it I managed to establish the connection with "that" that deep down I thought must exist".
"Deep down, I envy those who have grown up with faith."
It is common, in the conversion stories of adults, to find a certain surprise at the naturalness or even the undervaluing of the sacraments, tradition or the truths of faith on the part of those who have grown up in Catholic environments. A kind of bad 'habituation' that clashes with the enthusiasm of those who discover the richness of faith like Roy, who emphasizes that "perhaps it could be that, as I have discovered the faith only recently, I value it more; although deep down, I envy those who have grown up with faith all their lives, because for them it is something natural and I was not so lucky".
I envy those who have grown up all their lives with faith, because for them it is something natural and I was not so lucky.
Roy Oliveira
