Tammy Peterson, host of the "Tammy Peterson Podcast" and wife of Canadian psychologist and author Jordan Peterson, announced she entered RCIA.
Sheila Nonato at The Catholic Register in Canada broke the story in an original report on Fri, Oct. 27, 2023.
RCIA, or the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, is the traditional name for the program the Church uses to prepare adults who hope to become Catholic. (The name was changed last year to the OCIA, Order of Christian Initiation of Adults.)
According to Nonato's story in The Catholic Register, Peterson was raised in a Protestant family, but when her parents stopped attending Church, she was left without any religious direction.
Peterson said she suffered health issues in 2015 with a cancer scare and painful arthritis. As her husband, Jordan, gained massive popularity as a media commentator, she struggled with daily tasks, such as walking up and down the stairs.
Her first biopsy showed renal cell carcinoma, while her second biopsy revealed much more devastating news, Nonato reported.
“ He [the doctor] said, ‘I’m sorry but we did another biopsy and what you have is much more aggressive than what we thought. You have what we think is 10 months to live.’ And my husband and I were quite shocked,” she told The Catholic Register in Canada.
After two surgeries, which successfully removed the tumors, Peterson once again found herself in the hospital. She was unable to eat, lost over 80 lbs, and her hair began to fall out.
The lymphatic leakage seemed incurable. However, she told Nonato that her friend Queenie Yu, a Catholic convert, visited when she heard the news of Peterson's illness.
Yu brought Peterson a rosary blessed by the Holy Father, a pamphlet on how to pray the rosary, and an image of our Lady with the Baby Jesus.
“Jordan and Tammy were together at the hospital and they both thought the image was beautiful. And when she saw the rosary, she said, ‘Oh it’s a rosary.’ I said, ‘Oh you know what it is.’ She said, ‘Yes, but I don’t know how to use it,’ ” Yu told The Catholic Register.
Peterson told Nonato that over the next five weeks, while she was in the hospital, they prayed the rosary together every morning and shared their thoughts about faith and family.
Now years later, Peterson spoke publicly about her faith and health scares.
“Through my illness, I found God and what could possibly be better than knowing your own Creator?’
Peterson told Nonato she prayed through her physical pain.
“I’d wake up at night and I’d pray the Lord’s Prayer until I went back to sleep. I didn’t allow myself to worry,” she said. “I pretty much prayed all night unless I was sleeping.”
In the video below, Tammy discusses the rosary with Catholic guest Jonathan Pageau. She even teaches her viewers how to pray it:
A Miraculous Healing
Before leaving for a Pennsylvania hospital for more tests, Nonato said Peterson’s friend Father Eric Nicolai gave her a blessing and novena to Saint Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei.
To Peterson's surprise, the day she was scheduled for another surgery and on day five of the Novena to Saint Josemaria Escriva, her doctors shared exciting news- her medical issue had resolved itself. Nonato said she no longer needed surgery.
Tammy’s husband, Jordan, commends his wife in her pursuit of truth, stating he is happy about her decision to enter the Church because "she's trying to aim up."
“This is an extension [of] what’s happened to her in recent years, of that vow she took when she first decided we were going to get married," Peterson told The Catholic Register. "It’s a crucial thing to commit to the truth.”
Through her trials and health battles, Tammy Peterson has gained a powerful testimony to her faith in the Lord. She plans to fully enter the Catholic Church on Easter, upon completion of OCIA, and we cannot wait to welcome her home.