{"id":152984,"date":"2018-04-20T09:30:56","date_gmt":"2018-04-20T13:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\/"},"modified":"2024-10-22T15:12:26","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T19:12:26","slug":"ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\/","title":{"rendered":"“Ask a Priest: What If Family and Friends Don’t Believe in Jesus?”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Q:\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m so worried and concerned about my family. I have an agnostic father, very good Islamic friends, and other friends who are atheists. I really love these people, but they are not the type to listen to me talk about Jesus. They are quite confident in their own beliefs. My Islamic friends are brought up in that lifestyle and don\u2019t believe in Jesus the way I do. My atheist friends don\u2019t believe in anything in the Bible. And even though I respect that, I worry. I understand that the only way to God is through faith of Jesus Christ as the Son of God. But can you say there might be a chance that the people I love are judged as individuals by God? Is there any hope for those who have different beliefs? \u2013 S.<\/address>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC<\/em><\/p>\n

A:\u00a0The short answer is yes, people of other faiths and even of no explicit faith could attain salvation.<\/p>\n

Permit me to quote from a Church document, Lumen Gentium<\/a><\/strong>, which came out of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965):<\/p>\n

“But the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator. In the first place among these there are the Muslims, who, professing to hold the faith of Abraham, along with us adore the one and merciful God, who on the last day will judge mankind. Nor is God far distant from those who in shadows and images seek the unknown God, for it is He who gives to all men life and breath and all things, and as Savior wills that all men be saved. Those also can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience. Nor does Divine Providence deny the helps necessary for salvation to those who, without blame on their part, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God and with His grace strive to live a good life” (No. 16).<\/p>\n

The idea of salvation for atheists would need to be qualified, however, since people can reach a certainty of the existence of God based on reason. But in theory they too still have a chance, as Lumen Gentium says.<\/p>\n

One observation might be good to keep in mind. If you find that you can’t speak about Jesus around these folks, you might want to be sure you aren’t endangering your own spiritual life.<\/p>\n

One of the things that helps us in our Catholic faith is being able to share it and live it with others. In your relationships with these people, you need to keep learning how to do that in a loving, creative, constructive way.<\/p>\n

To that end, you might want to consider using this book of meditations written by my friend and colleague Father John Bartunek: Go! 30 Meditations on How Best to Love Your Neighbor as Yourself<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

If you find that you need to bracket off your religious beliefs from your interaction with your friends and family, that isn’t healthy.<\/p>\n

Ideally, our faith should encompass all aspects of our lives — what we speak about, what we read, etc.<\/p>\n

One suggestion would be to look for ways to network with believers with whom you can speak of the faith. Perhaps this is something to take to prayer. And keep praying for those people you love so much.<\/p>\n

Keep learning more with Ask a Priest<\/a><\/h3>\n

Got a question? Need an answer?<\/h3>\n

Today\u2019s secular world throws curve balls at us all the time. AskACatholicPriest is a Q&A feature that anyone can use. Just type in your question or send an email to AskAPriest@rcspiritual.wpenginepowered.com<\/a> and you will get a personal response back from one of our priests at RCSpirituality. You can ask about anything \u2013 liturgy, prayer, moral questions, current events\u2026 Our goal is simply to provide a trustworthy forum for dependable Catholic guidance and information. So go ahead and ask your question\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Q:\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m so worried and concerned about my family. I have an agnostic father, very good Islamic friends, and other friends who are atheists. I really love these people, but they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":362,"featured_media":145952,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3718],"tags":[4070,3855,4672,3861,4987,118],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-152984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ask-a-priest","tag-agnostic","tag-ask-a-priest","tag-atheist","tag-bible","tag-islamic","tag-jesus"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"","pp_force_visibility":null,"pp_subpost_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_force_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_subpost_visibility":null,"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n"Ask a Priest: What If Family and Friends Don't Believe in Jesus?" - Regnum Christi<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""Ask a Priest: What If Family and Friends Don't Believe in Jesus?"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Q:\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m so worried and concerned about my family. I have an agnostic father, very good Islamic friends, and other friends who are atheists. I really love these people, but they […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Regnum Christi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RegnumChristiEn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-04-20T13:30:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-10-22T19:12:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Ask-A-Priest-Header.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"3750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@RegnumChristiEn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@RegnumChristiEn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8ad2d347644cc6887ae52670c470c68b\"},\"headline\":\"“Ask a Priest: What If Family and Friends Don’t Believe in Jesus?”\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-04-20T13:30:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-22T19:12:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":702,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/Ask-A-Priest-Header.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Agnostic\",\"Ask a Priest\",\"Atheist\",\"Bible\",\"Islamic\",\"Jes\u00fas\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Ask a Priest\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\\\/\",\"name\":\"\\\"Ask a Priest: What If Family and Friends Don't Believe in Jesus?\\\" - Regnum Christi\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/Ask-A-Priest-Header.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-04-20T13:30:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-22T19:12:26+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/Ask-A-Priest-Header.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/Ask-A-Priest-Header.png\",\"width\":3750,\"height\":2500,\"caption\":\"Regnum Christi Spirituality Center Ask a Priest\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Portada\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“Ask a Priest: What If Family and Friends Don’t Believe in Jesus?”\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"RegnumChristi.com\",\"description\":\"Regnum Christi is a Catholic Community of Apostles including lay people, consecrated men and women, and the priestly order of the Legionaries of Christ\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"RegnumChristi.com\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/07\\\/open-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/07\\\/open-1.png\",\"width\":900,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"RegnumChristi.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/RegnumChristiEn\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/RegnumChristiEn\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/regnumchristi_english\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8ad2d347644cc6887ae52670c470c68b\",\"name\":\"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC\"},\"description\":\"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC, ordained to the priesthood in 2001, taught theology and Scripture at the then Mater Ecclesiae College in Rhode Island and is now a part-time chaplain at Overbrook Academy in Greenville, R.I. He holds degrees from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Connecticut, the Regina Apostolorum Athenaeum in Rome, and Northwestern University in Illinois. He was an assistant publisher of the National Catholic Register and Faith & Family magazine and an editor of the Zenit news agency\u2019s English edition. He has written for\u00a0SpiritualDirection.com\u00a0and\u00a0ePriest. Fr. McIlmail also worked in spiritual retreats in the Northeast, New England, the Midwest, and the South\u00a0and assisted with mission work in Mexico. Born in Philadelphia, he worked in journalism and was active in the pro-life movement before entering the novitiate of the Legion of Christ in 1992. His contributions to RCSpirituality include responding to\u00a0Ask A Priest\u00a0questions and sharing his insights in our\u00a0Weekly Newsletter.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/author\\\/emcilmail\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"Ask a Priest: What If Family and Friends Don't Believe in Jesus?\" - Regnum Christi","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"Ask a Priest: What If Family and Friends Don't Believe in Jesus?\"","og_description":"Q:\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m so worried and concerned about my family. I have an agnostic father, very good Islamic friends, and other friends who are atheists. I really love these people, but they […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\/","og_site_name":"Regnum Christi","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RegnumChristiEn","article_published_time":"2018-04-20T13:30:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-10-22T19:12:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":3750,"height":2500,"url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Ask-A-Priest-Header.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@RegnumChristiEn","twitter_site":"@RegnumChristiEn","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\/"},"author":{"name":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC","@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8ad2d347644cc6887ae52670c470c68b"},"headline":"“Ask a Priest: What If Family and Friends Don’t Believe in Jesus?”","datePublished":"2018-04-20T13:30:56+00:00","dateModified":"2024-10-22T19:12:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\/"},"wordCount":702,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Ask-A-Priest-Header.png","keywords":["Agnostic","Ask a Priest","Atheist","Bible","Islamic","Jes\u00fas"],"articleSection":["Ask a Priest"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\/","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\/","name":"\"Ask a Priest: What If Family and Friends Don't Believe in Jesus?\" - Regnum Christi","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Ask-A-Priest-Header.png","datePublished":"2018-04-20T13:30:56+00:00","dateModified":"2024-10-22T19:12:26+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Ask-A-Priest-Header.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Ask-A-Priest-Header.png","width":3750,"height":2500,"caption":"Regnum Christi Spirituality Center Ask a Priest"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-what-if-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-jesus\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Portada","item":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"“Ask a Priest: What If Family and Friends Don’t Believe in Jesus?”"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/","name":"RegnumChristi.com","description":"Regnum Christi is a Catholic Community of Apostles including lay people, consecrated men and women, and the priestly order of the Legionaries of Christ","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/#organization","name":"RegnumChristi.com","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/open-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/open-1.png","width":900,"height":600,"caption":"RegnumChristi.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RegnumChristiEn","https:\/\/x.com\/RegnumChristiEn","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/regnumchristi_english\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8ad2d347644cc6887ae52670c470c68b","name":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC"},"description":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC, ordained to the priesthood in 2001, taught theology and Scripture at the then Mater Ecclesiae College in Rhode Island and is now a part-time chaplain at Overbrook Academy in Greenville, R.I. He holds degrees from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Connecticut, the Regina Apostolorum Athenaeum in Rome, and Northwestern University in Illinois. He was an assistant publisher of the National Catholic Register and Faith & Family magazine and an editor of the Zenit news agency\u2019s English edition. He has written for\u00a0SpiritualDirection.com\u00a0and\u00a0ePriest. Fr. McIlmail also worked in spiritual retreats in the Northeast, New England, the Midwest, and the South\u00a0and assisted with mission work in Mexico. Born in Philadelphia, he worked in journalism and was active in the pro-life movement before entering the novitiate of the Legion of Christ in 1992. His contributions to RCSpirituality include responding to\u00a0Ask A Priest\u00a0questions and sharing his insights in our\u00a0Weekly Newsletter.","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/author\/emcilmail\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/362"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152984"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=152984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}