Falling in love helped one man find his faith again
When Paolo Bowyer fell head over heels in love with his girlfriend, he fell in love with God again. It had been 22 years since Bowyer took his faith seriously. He was 13 and still living in England, where he was raised in the Church of England. A busy soccer schedule and other commitments were enough to keep him from finishing the confirmation process.
“I don’t know if I lost my faith, but my faith was definitely tested over the years,” Bowyer, 35, said. “While I would still pray to God, I would also question if there really was a God because all these things were happening in my life.”
Bowyer is currently a candidate in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) program at St. Teresa of Avila Parish in Summit, where he lives. He will be among 700 people from parishes across the Archdiocese of Newark received into the Catholic Church this Easter season. Bowyer is already baptized, so he will be confirmed and receive his first Eucharist. He is looking forward to receiving the other Sacraments and said he enjoys digging into scripture every Sunday with his RCIA group.
Bowyer said his relationship with his girlfriend, Andrea Ortis, helped draw him back to God. When they met, he was going through a divorce and wasn’t seeking a new relationship.
“I wasn’t looking to be with anybody, and then this person came into my life who I just fell head over heels in love with,” Bowyer said. “To me, this connection we have, this love, is something only God could create. My faith was kind of unshaken at that point.”
The sudden bond was a “lightning bolt” moment for Bowyer, who said it helped him realize that there is a God and that God has a plan for him.
“I thought to myself, this is fate. This is destiny,” he said. “I met this person at this time in my life, and it just made me connect to God again.”
Bowyer and Ortis have been dating for a few years now, and he has gotten to know her family. He said he appreciates the Catholic values reflected in their lives. Ortis’ mother, Roseann, is Bowyer’s RCIA sponsor.
“It’s a big family affair,” Bowyer said. “Being around them all just feels right.”
Bowyer has two sons, ages 6 and 3, and would like them to be baptized.
“I’d like to lead by example and show them that if Dad can do it, you can do it too,” he said. “It’s definitely influenced my son. It’s little things. He’ll do the sign of the cross. He’s into Jesus, and he has this Jesus necklace and a cross. I’ve always said I don’t want to force religion on my children, but it seems that, as with me, you don’t choose your church. Your church chooses you. My 6-year-old is being drawn to it now, too.”
Rite of Election ceremony at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark on March 5, 2022. (Photos by Julio Eduardo Herrera/Archdiocese of Newark)
Bowyer owns a fitness studio in Millburn and is a personal trainer. His original career path was in the music business.
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about how I can use whatever talents God has given me to kind of bring more people to him, and I think music is one of the ways I’m going to be doing that going forward,” he said. “I want to be open and honest. I feel like a lot of people are ashamed to admit they are a certain type of religion.”
The differences between the Church of England and Catholicism are very noticeable, Bowyer said.
“I still get lost during Mass because I’m so well trained into the Church of England way of doing it,” he said. “The biggest difference to me is the traditions with the Catholic Church are much more steadfast and obviously older traditions, but you can tell the Church of England was kind of made up by someone. Whereas the Catholic Church it really feels like something that was from God’s work himself.”
Bowyer is among 400 candidates in the RCIA program who were baptized previously at some point in their life. During the Easter season, he and the others will be confirmed and receive their first Eucharist on a Sunday during the Easter season.
In addition to the candidates, the RCIA program includes 300 catechumens from parishes in the Archdiocese of Newark who will be welcomed into the fullness of the Catholic Church during the Easter Vigil and receive all three Sacraments of Initiation. Earlier this month, the catechumens participated in the Rite of Election at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark. Next, they will experience a ritual known as the Scrutinies during Mass at their local parish during Lent.
To learn more about the Archdiocese of Newark’s RCIA program, click here.
Featured image: Paolo Bowyer pictured at St. Teresa of Avila Parish in Summit where he is a candidate in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) program. He will be confirmed this Easter season. (Photo courtesy of Paolo Bowyer)
