Podcaster and public speaker Tammy Peterson, the wife of popular Canadian author and psychologist Jordan Peterson, has converted to Catholicism, saying the rosary and other prayers helped her recover from terminal cancer.
Tammy Peterson was confirmed into the Catholic Church over the weekend at the Easter Vigil mass at Holy Rosary Church in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Jordan Peterson reacted to his wife’s embrace of Catholicism in an interview with EWTN News.
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“It’s been very good for her,” he said when addressing his wife’s faith journey.
When asked if his wife’s conversion to Catholicism had positively influenced their marriage, he responded, “It’s been great.”
“Since she’s pursued her efforts at enlightening herself more thoroughly, and this investigation of Catholicism has been key to that, she’s much more who she is,” he said. “And that’s great because I love who she is.”
As for his own faith journey, Jordan Peterson indicated that it was “unlikely” that he would convert to Catholicism because he exists “on the borders of things.”
Colm Flynn, the EWTN correspondent who interviewed Jordan Peterson, also shared pictures of the Easter Vigil ceremony where his wife became Catholic on social media Saturday.
One picture showed the Petersons standing side-by-side, holding candles in the dark, as is customary during the Easter Vigil mass. The other showed the priest placing his hands on Tammy Peterson as she formally entered the Catholic Church. Flynn reported that after officially joining the Catholic Church, the psychologist asked his wife “if she felt like she had come home.” He noted that she answered in the affirmative.
Tammy Peterson detailed what led to her conversion to Catholicism in a previous interview with Flynn.
After learning in 2019 that she had untreatable kidney cancer that would leave her with less than a year to live, one of her friends gave her rosary beads and offered to pray with her.
Tammy Peterson accepted her offer and prayed together for two hours every day for five weeks in the hospital’s atrium.
She also prayed the Novena for the Sick as she faced a lot of pain and suffering amid her medical diagnosis.
“It was on the fifth day of praying those prayers that the leak in my lymph system closed up,” she explained.
Shortly thereafter, a nurse and an intern informed Tammy Peterson, “You’re better.” She attributed her health improvements to divine intervention.
While Tammy Peterson grew up as a Protestant, she told EWTN that she found a home in Catholicism because she used to “miss Mother Mary” as a child.
Recalling how she “felt like there was something missing,” she discovered that her great-grandmother was Catholic after her cousin contacted her and sent her her late ancestor’s rosary in the mail. From there, she decided to fully immerse herself in the Catholic faith.
Tammy Peterson concluded that the rosary was “a story of suffering and redemption” and “something to focus on when chaos is all around.” She maintained that the rosary can “center you for a moment in a profound way that you wouldn’t have been able to attain.”
“Life is suffering and you’re going to need to have something to hold on to when the world opens up and there’s nothing beneath you,” she added. “When that happens … God can bring you back up again.”
Tammy Peterson indicated that she prays the rosary every day on the porch at her home.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
