In Clarksville, woman becomes Catholic at 90, saying, ‘Better late than never’

Following the Rite of Election at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis on Feb. 18, Dolores Kopp, right, poses with cathedral rector Father James Brockmeier, third from right, and other catechumens and candidates of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Clarksville: Kirsten Nalley, left, Kylee Cornwell, Melanie Dixon and Brandon Skaggs. (Submitted photo)

By Natalie Hoefer

When Dolores Kopp’s husband Raymond, a Catholic, died in 1974, she decided to join the Catholic Church.

She followed through on her decision—50 years later at the age of 90.

On March 31 during the Easter Vigil Mass at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Clarksville, Kopp was received into the full communion of the Church when she was baptized, confirmed and received her first Communion.

Becoming Catholic is “something I thought about for a really long time,” says Kopp. “It’s so funny it took me this long to make that change.” (Related: See a list of all the new Catholics welcomed into the Church this past Easter)

‘I just didn’t feel I was good enough’

Kopp was not raised in a faith tradition, noting her parents “were not religious people.”

Her husband, on the other hand, “came from a very Catholic family,” she says. “He had a very religious upbringing.”

The couple married in 1955. As they raised their three children in the Catholic faith, Kopp would often join them at Mass.

“I enjoyed going,” she says. “I went to other churches, too, but I always went back to Mass. I just liked it better, the structure of it. But I always felt out of place because I couldn’t participate in Communion.”

Kopp says while Raymond was alive, she “thought about becoming Catholic for a long time, I really did. But my husband never asked me. And years ago, I just didn’t feel like I was good enough. I felt like I just couldn’t be a Catholic.”

She was sincere in her desire to join the Church after Raymond died. So why the half-century wait to act on that decision?

“I was just really busy after he died,” she says. “I had to go to work, and I’d never had to work before.”

Kopp still joined her family at Mass for special occasions and went “by myself periodically.”

But something “just clicked” for her recently.

“Pope Francis had a lot to do with it,” she says. “I think with Pope Francis, I feel the Church is more open than it used to be.”

She began searching online for Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) classes and found they were being offered at St. Anthony of Padua Parish, close to her home.

“I asked my daughter, Judy [Godbey], to be my sponsor. She lives nearby, so she could drive me to the evening classes,” says Kopp. “It was what I needed, just that little push.”

‘I just felt happiness’

Kopp had already started reading the Bible before joining RCIA. When she learned about Jeff Cavins’ The Bible Timeline Catholic study program, she purchased it to enhance her knowledge.

“I started out reading the Old Testament, but I skipped to the New Testament because it was easier to understand,” she admits.

Unlike many who become Catholic later in life, Kopp didn’t struggle with the Church’s reverence for the Blessed Mother.

“I always prayed to Mary,” she says. “But the saints, I didn’t know a thing about them.”

In searching for a confirmation saint, she discovered St. Margaret of Scotland (c. 1045-1093). Kopp was impressed by the one-time queen of Scotland’s charitable works for the poor and by the eight children she had with her husband the king.

“I researched, and she was just the perfect saint for me,” says Kopp. “I had a sister named Margaret, and I came from a large family, and my husband did too—six in mine and eight in his. She was just the perfect fit.”

Receiving the Eucharist was the pinnacle for Kopp during the Easter Vigil Mass.

“I don’t think I understood the true presence initially,” she says. “But the kind of person I am, I find it easy to believe.

“And I love that I can take part in Communion now. I find that very heartwarming. It made me so happy, receiving Communion. I just felt happiness when I went back to the pew.”

Kopp now enjoys the communion she shares with the members of St. Anthony, the children she raised in the faith, and other family members as well.

The grandmother of four and great-grandmother of seven is the third of her siblings to become Catholic. Two of her sisters also married Catholic men and were welcomed into the full communion of the Church. One is now a member of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in New Albany, just west of Clarksville.

“My mom’s dad [and] his parents—my great-grandparents—were Catholic,” she adds. “I feel like we’re connecting that chain. I’m just very happy about being Catholic, and I love going to Mass.”

Now that Kopp has joined the Church, she says she is “anxious to get more involved. I want to get involved in whatever I’m capable of doing.”

She acknowledges that being Catholic “is just something I always really wanted. And here I am, 90 years old. Better late than never, that’s what I say.” †

 

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