‘Now it’s a family thing’
Gene Gadient, center, smiles with his daughter Katie, left, and his wife Lisa after being welcomed into the full communion of the Church during a special Mass at St. Roch Church in Indianapolis on July 12. (Submitted photo)
By Natalie Hoefer
Visiting the Vatican in 2019 was not what lead Gene Gadient to feel called to the Catholic faith—but it did prompt him into action.
The 62-year-old attended different churches when he was growing up. From his teens through his early 20s, he was a member of the Nazarene Church, “but then I drifted away,” he said.
Gadient’s journey to the Catholic faith began years later, when he started joining his wife Lisa and their youngest daughter, Katie, at Mass at St. Roch Church in Indianapolis, the parish in which Lisa was raised.
He was soon impressed by then-parish pastor Father James Wilmoth.
“After [Mass], a group of us would go to breakfast, but we’d talk in the pews for 30-45 minutes first,” Gadient recalled. “Father Wilmoth would talk with us. It made me feel accepted even though I wasn’t Catholic at the time.”
After going to Mass at St. Roch for five or six years, he said, “I saw something about RCIA [Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults] in the bulletin and thought I’d like to do it, but I missed the start date. I never said anything about my interest.
“Then I saw it again in the bulletin the next year.”
By the time he visited Rome in 2019, “There were people at church who said they’d be willing to sponsor me if I wanted to become Catholic,” he noted.
What spurred Gadient to action was seeing the Vatican.
He and Lisa accompanied Katie’s high school show choir on a trip to sing in four historic churches in Italy, including St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.
“I was amazed at how big the Vatican was,” he recalled. “We took a tour before [the choir] sang. When I got into St. Peter’s itself and saw how big it was—wow! Seeing how old all the churches were—it was just impressive.”
That fall, Gadient signed up for RCIA at St. Roch Parish.
He said he learned “a lot” from the classes.
“But the main thing that really struck a chord with me is that the Catholic Church can follow its pope and leaders all the way back to Christ. I was in awe of that, that it had that kind of legacy, and it’s the only Church that can say that.”
He told his wife not long after receiving the sacraments that he would consider going to RCIA classes again in the future “for a refresher, because there’s so much to learn.”
When Gadient learned he would not be able to receive his sacraments at the Easter Vigil this year, “It was disappointing, but understandable,” he said.
But as COVID-19 spread and the death toll rose, there was one sacrament he was to receive that he began to ponder more—baptism.
“As you go through [RCIA], you understand about the need to be baptized to go to heaven. COVID made me think about that,” Gadient admitted.
When he finally received the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and the Eucharist at a special liturgy on July 12, there was one emotion Gadient especially felt.
“Thankfulness,” he said. “Thankful that I’d come this far. Thankful for the feeling like we’re now more of a family, sharing our faith together.”
That sharing continued when Katie, a junior in high school, received the sacrament of confirmation shortly after Gadient was confirmed.
For his own confirmation saint, Gadient chose St. Joseph.
“I always put a priority on being a good father,” he said. “I’ve always enjoyed being a father and doing things with the kids.”
Before, he couldn’t fully participate in Mass or the Catholic faith with his daughter and wife.
“Now, it’s a family thing,” he said. †
Related: Delay in receiving sacraments due to pandemic did not dampen joy for new Catholics
