Fr. John T. Zuhlsdorf: Former Lutheran

Father Zuhlsdorf was raised in a nominal Lutheran family. When he was seven his grandmother gave him two albums, one of classical music and another of Shakespeare’s plays. About the same time his mother decided that he should go to Sunday school at the Lutheran church. He reacted negatively to being taught that man’s will is totally depraved, wanting only evil. He thought, how could beautiful art be created by depraved people? In high school and college he drifted and was basically a pagan, but he still had a deep love of beauty. One Sunday he heard Gregorian chant on the radio. He visited the parish and was so moved that he was led by God to come to the Catholic Church. Later he was guided to the vocation of the priesthood and was ordained in St. Peter’s Basilica by St. John Paul II, in 1991.