Saturday, March 29, 1997

Former Episcopal priest finds new home in Catholic Church

By DEBORAH DEGGS CARIKER

Beaumont Enterprise

BEAUMONT, Texas - The Rev. Martin Nelson is a Catholic high school religion teacher who spent most of the preceding 20 years as an Episcopal priest.

That in itself may not seem extraordinary, except that Father Nelson converted to Catholicism two years ago and is just three months - and two tests - away from becoming one of only about 60 Episcopal-turned-Catholic priests in the United States who is married and has children.

The native of Tampa, Fla., was raised in the Episcopal church. His father was an Episcopal priest, and he followed in his father's footsteps, after "giving up" his junior year in college.

"Did I always want to be a priest? Absolutely not. Uh-uh. Heck, no," he said with a clear, baritone chuckle. "When I felt God calling me, I ran the other direction, kicking and screaming."

Eventually, however, Nelson said he realized he couldn't be happy and fulfilled doing anything else. He was ordained in January 1975.

"It's difficult to express, but some Episcopalians are close in belief and practice to Roman Catholics. I was in that group," said Nelson, 48. "I really believe in Christian unity and it just made sense for the Anglican community to reunite with the church of Rome."

The Episcopal Church has its roots in the Church of England, or Anglican Church.

During his years as an Episcopal priest, Nelson became involved in ecumenical activities, later did a stint as a Navy chaplain with a Marine Corps infantry battalion, and then wound up in a Fort Worth parish. It was on an early morning flight back from a New York meeting that Nelson said his "goose was cooked."

"I looked at what the early church writers said and I had a copy of the letters of Pope Leo the Great. . . I was reading letters he wrote to the bishops throughout the world and it was obvious this guy had jurisdictional authority," Nelson explained. "I thought, 'Wait a minute. Here's a guy in the mid-fifth century and here's someone who had real authority over these other people. Now, is this (papal primacy) a humanly concocted scheme or a divine plan?' It was not a bolt of lightning. It was just revelation."

Nelson accepted the primacy of the Pope, and had no problem with the Catholic Church's emphasis on Mary, Jesus' mother. Nelson said he already held great appreciation for the Catholic church's stance on the sanctity of life.

"I just became convinced that what the Roman Catholic church said was true. Once you get to that point, you have no choice but to go in," he said. "I left the Episcopal church at the end of 1994, quietly, with no dramatics. I simply told my (congregation) that I had personally become convinced of the truth of the Catholic Church."

The next Sunday Nelson, his wife Sharon, and their two daughters went to St. Mary's Catholic Church in Arlington, a church that previously was Episcopal and whose whole parish voted to become Catholic. Nelson later was received into the Catholic Church there.

"I came in with no deals with the Roman Catholic Church, no promises," he said. "There were no stumbling blocks in terms of faith or doctrine. The only problem I had was that I felt God called me to be a priest and I wanted to remain a priest. If the Pope had said 'no' then I would have remained a layman in the Catholic Church."

But Pope John Paul II didn't say no. With the support of Beaumont's Bishop, the Most Rev. Joseph Galante, the Pope allowed Nelson to train for the Catholic priesthood under what is called Pastoral Provision, a special process for Episcopal priests who wish to become Catholic priests. The pope also dispensed Nelson from the promise and commitment of celibacy.

"I accepted him for service in the diocese and I had to get special permission from Rome to ordain him," Galante said.

"Why did I accept him? Because for one he's a very fine man and we certainly are in need of priests. He has great dedication and a great sense of service and also I feel our people will be very accepting of someone who is a Roman Catholic priest but is also married."

Before he is ordained, Nelson must pass a written test, administered locally in April, and an oral test in Boston at the end of May.

The first time an Episcopal priest was ordained a Roman Catholic priest was in June 1982, and there are only 62 or 63 such rare cases in the country out of the more than 53,000 Catholic priests in the United States. This is the first time it is happening in Beaumont's 30-year-old diocese.

"Well, yes, I'm excited, but I don't count my chickens before they hatch. When I pass both tests, then I'll get excited," Nelson said.

Barring complications, Nelson should be ordained in June. There are a couple of special restrictions. Should his wife die, Nelson would not be permitted to remarry - he said he wouldn't want to anyway - and second, Nelson will not be allowed to pastor a parish. Nelson said his wife and their daughters, ages 16 and 18, were very supportive of his switch. In fact, Sharon Nelson was raised Catholic but converted to the Episcopal faith before the couple married 25 years ago.

"Sharon was very instrumental in my conversion," Nelson said. "She and the girls thought, 'It's about time.' She was my sponsor when I was confirmed."

Sharon Nelson did not have to go through any classes when she decided to return to her Catholic faith. Former Catholics simply go to confession to be reinstated into the church.

Galante said Nelson will continue his ministry at Monsignor Kelly High School, and also may assist on weekends at a local parish, to be named at a later date.

Nelson continues to wear his clerical collar and everyone calls him "Father." He said those are ecumenical gestures the Catholic church makes to honor his previous ordination.

"Christianity always made sense to me, and I believe personally you either accept the whole banana or nothing," he said, again with that resonating baritone chuckle. "I'm a real questioner and I want to know why and I like the answers Christianity gives."

Distributed by The Associated Press