Confessions of a Convert

Mentioned by Pope Francis as a writer whom everyone should read, Robert Hugh Benson, author of Lord of the World, shares his spiritual journey from being an Anglican and son of the archbishop of Canterbury to becoming a Roman Catholic priest. Through his humble, honest, and memorable story, Benson invites us—in this republished classic—to think about what it means to wrestle with the deep questions of our Catholic faith while rejoicing in the power of their universal truths.

In 1907, The Ave Maria magazine invited well-known English novelist Robert Hugh Benson to share his conversion story. He began the first of eight installments with a statement that captures the perils and joys faced by converts as they attempt to “cross the Tiber.” “When one stands at last upon high ground, it is extraordinarily difficult to trace the road by which one has approached: it winds, rises, falls, broadens and narrows until the mind is bewildered.”

Benson weaves those challenges into the narrative as he examines his own life for the signs and wonders that illuminated his way. He was astonished at how the remote God of his Anglican upbringing drew close to him, igniting a fire in his to heart and a desire to know God on a deeper level. This transformation led him to the doorstep of the Catholic Church. Reluctant to venture further because he was known as an important figure in the Anglican world, Benson grappled with the sacrifices he would make, including the loss of his vocation, family, and friends. After the death of his father, Benson finally embraced the nearness of God found in the Eucharist.

He shows us that coming closer to Christ and his Church is not always neat and tidy. Benson’s humor and humility help bridge the century-long gap between his time and ours and he teaches us to embrace the questions, struggles, and falterings of our faith in a way that’s full of God’s love.

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Robert Hugh Benson is also author of Lord of the World, a book drawing intense interest after Pope Francis mentioned it (November 2013) as depicting “the spirit of the world which leads to apostasy.” It was also noted by Pope Benedict XVI in critiquing President George H.W. Bush’s “New World Order.”

In the tradition of Cardinal John Henry Newman’s classic spiritual autobiography,Apologia Pro Vita Sua, Robert Hugh Benson, author of Lord of the World, Benson’s book will be popular with the apologetics market.

Robert Hugh Benson (1871–1914) was born just outside of London, the youngest son of Mary Sidgwick and Edward White Benson, the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1883 to his death in 1896. Benson studied at Eton and Trinity College in Cambridge and was ordained to the Anglican priesthood by his father in 1895. Benson decided to enter an Anglican religious order, the Community of the Resurrection, however, his attraction to Rome grew as he continued his studies and deepened friendships with Roman Catholics. In 1903, he was received into the Catholic Church. After nine months of study in Rome, he was ordained a Catholic priest.

Benson was sent to Cambridge to write and serve as a priest chaplain to the Catholic community. Later, he was allowed to live on his own to devote himself to writing. A prolific author, he traveled extensively, writing and lecturing. Benson wrote many apologetic works, including The Religion of the Plain Man, Paradoxes of Catholicism, and Confessions of a Convert. He was also a bestselling novelist, writing The Holy Blissful Martyr Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Come Rack! Come Rope!, and The Necromancers. The dystopian novel Lord of the World is his best-known work.