The atheist community is in shock this week as one of their own – blogger Leah Libresco of Patheos – announced that she has converted to Catholicism.

The Blaze is reporting that Libresco made her announcement in the form of an article, entitled, “This is my last post for the Patheos Atheist Portal,” in which she explained her personal struggle understanding the root of moral law – a struggle which eventually led her to realize that truth and moral goodness must come from a personal God.

“I was ready to admit that there were parts of Christianity and Catholicism that seemed like a pretty good match for the bits of my moral system that I was most sure of, while meanwhile my own philosophy was pretty kludged together and not particularly satisfactory,” she wrote.

On the night before Palm Sunday, she was part of a debate on religion which was followed by a discussion afterward with a friend about morality. Her friend asked her to explain where the moral law comes from, and she couldn’t answer. It was then that she realized it had to come from something like a person or being.

“I believed that the Moral Law wasn’t just a Platonic truth, abstract and distant.  It turns out I actually believed it was some kind of Person, as well as Truth.  And there was one religion that seemed like the most promising way to reach back to that living Truth.  I asked my friend what he suggest we do now, and we prayed the night office of the Liturgy of the Hours together (I’ve kept up with that since) . . . .”

Her conversion was underway, but she wasn’t quite ready to go public. Raised in a secular household in Long Island, New York, she dated a Christian and agreed to go to church once a week in exchange for his participation in her ballroom dance class. The two would often spend all-night debating religion.

Apparently, her friend was very convincing and she eventually changed her mind.

“After I changed my mind, I decided to take a little time to make sure I really believed what I thought I believed, before telling my friends, family, and, now, all of you,” Libresco writes. “That left me with the question of what to do about my atheism blog.  My solution was to just not write anything I disagreed with. . . . ”

She admits that she’s still struggling with some elements of Catholicism, such as the Church’s teaching on homosexuality, but she intends to explore the issue as diligently as she has explored everything else leading up to this conversion.

“This post isn’t the final word on my conversion.  I’m sure there’s a lot more explaining and arguing to do, so be a little charitable in your read of this post and try to give me a little time to expand my ideas over the next few weeks. . . . ”

The Blaze describes the response to her announcement as “intriguing,” but are mostly enthusiastic and encouraging.

Libresco blogged on the Patheos site, which is dedicated to discussing and exchanging information on various faiths. Her blog will now move from the atheist section to the Catholic channel.

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