(CP) A prominent conservative political commentator has announced that she has joined the Catholic Church, vowing to provide more details about what led to her conversion in the future.
Candace Owens, a conservative political commentator who formerly worked for The Daily Wire, took to X on Monday to announce that "Recently, I made the decision to go home." While she did not explicitly elaborate on what she meant in her post, images accompanying her announcement show Owens standing next to a Catholic priest at a Catholic Church.
"There is of course so much more that went into this decision and that I plan to share in the future," Owens added. "But for now, praise be to God for His gentle, but relentless guiding of my heart toward Truth."
Owens shared the Bible passage Isaiah 41:10: "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." She concluded her post by proclaiming, "I do not fear," adding, "Christ is king," accompanied by a symbol of the cross.
Many practicing Catholics left comments on Owens' post welcoming her into the Catholic Church. Pro-life activist Abby Johnson posted a response stating, "Welcome home, Candace."
Owens did not specify when the pictures were taken, although it's possible they were captured during the Easter Vigil Mass the evening before Easter Sunday, which is one of the most common occasions where new Catholics are baptized into the Church. The picture was definitely taken after March 9, when Owens responded to a question asking if she was Catholic by replying, "Almost there," accompanied by a symbol of the cross.
Catholic News World reported that the pictures featured in her post documented the internet personality standing next to Fr. Julian Large at the Brompton Oratory, described by the outlet as a "Latin mass community" in London, United Kingdom. The publication also noted that Owens is married to "a Catholic British activist and entrepreneur named George Farmer" who previously identified as a Reformed Evangelical Protestant.
Owens' social media post revealing her conversion to Catholicism comes a month after her employment with The Daily Wire ended amid a months-long clash with Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro due to a disagreement between the two over Israel's actions following the Oct. 7 terror attacks carried out by the terror organization Hamas. As many as 1,163 people, including 31 Americans, were slaughtered that day, and around 240 people were taken hostage into Gaza.
Some of Owens' critics derided as antisemitic her claim that Israel has committed "genocide" against Palestinians following the attacks.
While her conversion to Catholicism marks a new development in her spiritual journey, Owens has frequently discussed her Christian faith since entering the public arena in 2017. During a 2018 speech at Liberty University, she detailed how she strayed from her Christian roots, embraced alcoholism and suffered from anorexia after experiencing a childhood defined by poverty, abuse and racial threats from classmates that prompted the FBI to open an investigation.
Owens also suggested that the audience had an obligation to participate in the "culture war" engulfing the United States: "I believe in you. You can do it without government handouts. You can do it based off of good ideas. You can do it based off of hard work. You can do it with Jesus Christ."
"At the moment that you believe in yourself, at the moment that you get back to your center, that you align yourself ... with God, the universe will open itself up to you. It certainly did for me," she said.
More recently, Owens has warned that the term "Christian nationalism" has been used in a "sinister" way as part of an effort to put Christianity in the "same vein as white supremacy." She characterized the increased use of the term in popular culture as a new "attempt to divide and brainwash Christians, which is something that has gone on for decades."
