Fr. Crowdy was born an Anglican in Pyrford, Surrey. At Baliol College, Oxford, he met Dr. Buchman and his flourishing “moral re-armament” movement. Buchman confronted Crowdy with what was called “radical questioning” and, as a result, Crowdy underwent a process of re-thinking which ultimately resulted in his conversion to Roman Catholicism in India, where he was stationed during the Second World War. After the war, Fr. Crowdy became a member of the London Oratory where he lived for 22 years.