Jewish Catholic, Catholic Jew?

Robert J. Kurland explores the distinction between being a Jewish Catholic and a Catholic Jew in an analysis for The Catholic Thing. Writing ahead of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Kurland examines how the order of these terms changes a person's fundamental identity.

Kurland, a former agnostic Jew who converted to Catholicism, notes that the second word in such phrases conveys a person's primary identity while the first acts as a modifier. He compares this to the difference between an Irish Catholic and a Catholic Irishman. He explains that while he previously felt a connection to Hebrew Catholics who sought to retain Jewish religious practices, his conversion led him to view his identity through the lens of his Catholic faith, similar to how an ethnic Catholic views their heritage.