‘Who Joins the Catholic Church and Why?’ Exploring the nature of Catholic conversion for individuals in the Archdiocese of Southwark.

This thesis represents the first detailed sociological study of contemporary Britons undergoing Catholic conversion in the UK. The increasing influence of secularisation and widespread religious decline has been reflected in the paucity of conversion research and sporadic academic interest over the last forty years. The direction of this study has been shaped by the literature exploring the potential to categorise and pattern subjective religious change through motif experiences or typologies. Inspired by recent research exploring adult initiation to Catholicism in the US and identifying significant parallels in the UK, this research sought to answer two key questions ‘Who joins the Catholic Church and Why?’ The main aims of this research were to map the profile of individuals choosing to convert to Catholicism in 2018/19 and to explore the motivations, factors and experiences which had influenced their decisions to become Catholic. Using the Archdiocese of Southwark as a case study, a mixed methods approach was adopted, comprising a quantitative survey and semi-structured qualitative interviews conducted in a phased approach. The construction of a demographic profile of contemporary British seekers in the Archdiocese of Southwark had important implications for tailoring adult initiation catechesis for a spectrum of religiosity. This study found that religious change could be explored using a process orientated approach and subjectively characterised using four dominant motif experiences. Significantly, this research proposed a new branch motif called ‘Affective Synthesis’ which augments the literature and is contextually tailored to secular culture. This research culminates in a range of recommendations for the Church’s mission, recognising the opportunities to evangelise in the earliest stages of spiritual awakening, in conjunction with an ecclesial mindset of radical welcome and the role of post�initiation support in laying the foundations for a strong, Catholic identity.