Called to communion
New converts find the fullness of faith in the Catholic Church
All across the world, 2026 has been another record-breaking year for conversions to the Catholic Church.
In our time of great social upheaval, cultural confusion and political turmoil, it is easy to see why there are many people today searching for some higher meaning and purpose to their lives. And today, the Catholic Church uniquely stands out as a solid foundation where the teachings of the Gospel are firmly upheld, and a direct encounter with the grace and love of God are always within reach.
The Archdiocese of Grouard-McLennan was no exception to this growing trend of conversion, with many people across the region being welcomed into the Church this Easter. The faith journeys of each of these converts would make for a compelling article, but for brevity’s sake, we share here the stories of just three people who have journeyed, prayed, and received nuch support in their reception into the Church this Easter.
Elizabeth and Christina Zacharias are part of a large group of converts who entered into full communion with the Catholic Church in Grande Prairie this year. These two sisters, aged 18 and 16, have come a long way in their conversion – going from a position of total hostility to the Catholic Church, to one today of deep devotion and reverence for the Faith.
When their parents – Dan and Alician – entered the Catholic Church last year, they were both taken aback by their mom and dad’s sudden conversions, considering the family had grown up only attending Protestant churches in the Grande Prairie area.
To add to their concern, both Christina and Elizabeth’s understanding of Catholicism had been shaped by many common accusations – that Catholics were all idolaters, that they all worshiped Mary, and so forth. So when their parents first started bringing them to Mass, their resistance was very strong. Elizabeth would sometimes go so far as to sit in the car for the whole service, rather than dare to step into that dangerous world of the Catholic Mass.
But as of March 19th, the pair have not only come into full communion with the Catholic Church, they are committed members of both the youth group and youth choir at St. Joseph’s, and they both strongly identify with all of the Church’s traditions and teachings. So what triggered such a radical change in faith and perspective?
For Dan and Alician Zacharias, it was through Dan’s friendship with a local Grande Prairie parishioner, Mark Palmarin, that he first became convinced of the Catholic faith as the full expression of Christianity and the Church that Jesus Christ Himself personally founded. He began to attend Mass on his own, and as he became convinced of the Church’s doctrines, he invited his family to join as well. Alician soon joined Dan for OCIA courses, and they fully entered the Church together in 2025. At first, their daughters were not sure what to make of these new changes.
“Once they got confirmed, they really started to open up with us about the Catholic faith,” Elizabeth said. “And for me especially, things started to get very ‘debate-y’ at the supper table.”
“I was very cautious at first,” Christina added. “I didn’t know how to react. I didn’t even know if Catholics were Christians.”
Because they both go to a Catholic school, the Mass itself was not too much of a culture shock for Elizabeth and Christina. But as they got to learn about other aspects about their parents’ new faith – such as the various doctrines around Mary, the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, sacraments like confession – a lot of difficulties began to arise.
“At first, when my parents started going to Mass I would just go to the Alliance Church with my grandparents, but then my parents finally said, ‘No, you have to come,’” Elizabeth recalled. “So I attended at first very bitterly. We would have debates along the drive there, and some Sundays I would sit in the car the entire Mass; I was not willing to go in.”
Christina was the first to begin to open up to her parents’ new found Catholic faith. Because she had a passion for the pro-life movement, she discovered the videos of Lila Rose and Trent Horn, who are both prominent Catholic pro-life influencers. After watching some of their debates with abortion advocates on YouTube, she began check out some of their other videos, which were more focused on Catholic apologetics and defenses of Catholic doctrine and teachings.
As she opened up to watching more and more of these videos, she began to realize how much of the Church’s teachings were not only sound and rational, they were backed up historically, reflecting the beliefs and practices of the early Christians.
“Until then I did not even know that Catholicism was historically where all of Christianity came from. I thought it was just one denomination amongst others,” she said. “It was a gradual process. I started to learn more, to research the arguments for Catholicism, and also the beauty of the Catholic Church really drew me in. I eventually just came home one evening and told my parents, ‘I want to become Catholic’.”
While her parents were overjoyed by Christina’s decision, her older sister Elizabeth was upset. With a laugh, she now recalls her anger at that time, feeling that she was going to be the only Protestant left in the home, having to helplessly defend herself against a growing coalition of Catholic converts.
Elizabeth’s conversion came about months later in a different way. It was when attending a wedding celebration in Saskatchewan, with the family that had converted her father to the Catholic faith, that she began to experience her own call to conversion.
She listened in on a discussion some Catholics at the wedding were having about the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel, where Jesus emphasizes the reality of His body and blood in the Eucharist. They noted that, in this Gospel, many of Jesus’s followers were shocked by this teaching and left Him because of it. At that moment, Elizabeth says something profound began to stir within her, and she thought to herself, “I don’t want to be one of those disciples who left Jesus behind.”
This is only an excerpt. Read the full story in the April 2026 edition of Northern Light