Famous People You Didn't Know Were Roman Catholic
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- Helga Esteb
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Following her divorce from the famous Scientologist Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman found her way back to the Catholic Church. She married her current husband, Keith Urban, in a Roman Catholic ceremony.
- Age: 57
- Birthplace: Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
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- Featureflash
- Shutterstock
Sean Connery is reportedly Roman Catholic, though he rarely discusses religion with the public.
- Age: Dec. at 90 (1930-2020)
- Birthplace: Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
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Julia Roberts was raised Catholic, but she converted to Hinduism as an adult. "I have no intention of demeaning any other religion simply because of my fondness for Hinduism. I don't believe in comparing religions or human beings. A comparison is a very mean thing to do. I have received real spiritual satisfaction through Hinduism," she said.
- Age: 56
- Birthplace: Smyrna, Georgia, USA
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- Ales Studeny
- Shutterstock
Mel Gibson has stated that he follows traditional Roman Catholic views, though he tries to be open minded about other religions. "It is possible for people who are not even Christian to get into the kingdom of heaven," he said.
- Age: 68
- Birthplace: Peekskill, New York, USA
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Just like Nicole Kidman, Katie Holmes returned to the Catholic Church following her divorce from Tom Cruise. She reportedly attends the Church of St. Francis Xavier in New York City.
- Age: 45
- Birthplace: Toledo, Ohio, USA
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- Metaweb (FB)
- Public domain
John Wayne ran in Catholic circles throughout his life. However, he did not convert to the religion until shortly before his death in 1979.
- Age: Dec. at 72 (1907-1979)
- Birthplace: Winterset, Iowa, USA
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Catherine Zeta-Jones is a practicing Catholic; her husband, Michael Douglas, is Jewish.
- Age: 54
- Birthplace: Swansea, West Glamorgan, Wales, UK
- Photo:
- The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
- flickr
- CC-BY-ND 2.0
Mark Wahlberg has stated that his Catholic faith is "the most important" part of his life. "I don't try to push it on anybody and I don't try to hide it," he said.
- Age: 53
- Birthplace: Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA
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Sophia Loren is a Roman Catholic and campaigned for the beatification of Pope John Paul II. "I jealously keep the memory of John Paul II in my heart. It is a daily memory. I went to the tomb of John Paul II in the Vatican to pay homage to him and pray, in order to show my great admiration and devotion," she said.
- Age: 89
- Birthplace: Rome, Lazio, Italy
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- Photo: Blue Lagoon/Jane the Virgin
Brooke Shields was raised Roman Catholic and she was confirmed in the church.
- Age: 59
- Birthplace: Manhattan, New York, USA
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- Sgt. Michael Connors - 302nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
- Wikimedia Commons
- Public Domain
Ryan Reynolds was raised Roman Catholic, although he no longer seems all that religious. "Religion poisons everything good in this world," he said.
- Age: 47
- Birthplace: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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- Jason Sandoval
- Getty Images
Mandy Moore was raised Catholic and attended a Catholic high school. "I grew up Catholic but not even a good Catholic. I don't think religion really factored in," she said.
- Age: 40
- Birthplace: Nashua, New Hampshire, USA
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- David Shankbone
- Wikimedia Commons
- CC BY 3.0
Bradley Cooper grew up Roman Catholic. "I was baptized. I always loved the pageantry of it. A lot of it had to do with loving my father and looking at him wear his tweed blazer to Mass. I loved the way he prayed, so I would pray like he would," he said.
- Age: 49
- Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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- classic_film
- flickr
- CC-BY-NC 2.0
Grace Kelly was a lifelong Catholic. She attended Catholic school and later married the Prince of Monaco in a Catholic ceremony.
- Age: Dec. at 52 (1929-1982)
- Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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Chris Evans was raised in a Catholic household, but he isn't very religious today. "I believe in science. I believe in evolution. I don’t necessarily believe in God, at least not the man with the beard and robes and things like that. God can be whatever you want it to be... it’s the universe, the thing that connects all of us, this innate energy that’s in the air, animals, trees, that’s God," he said.
- Age: 43
- Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Rita Hayworth is believed to have been Roman Catholic because her funeral services were held at the Roman Catholic Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills.
- Age: Dec. at 68 (1918-1987)
- Birthplace: New York City, USA, New York
- Photo:
- TonyFelgueiras
- flickr
- CC-BY-NC-ND 2.0
Mark Ruffalo was raised Catholic, but he lost his faith in the church. "The nun who was teaching me early on to read was very cruel because of my dyslexia... these teachings of Christ revolved around love and social justice, and then what I was seeing in that community, the way they did business, the way nuns treated children – all of that seemed to be at odds with each other. I lost my faith in that institution when I was very young," he said.
- Age: 56
- Birthplace: Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA
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Denise Richards is Catholic and her ex-husband Charlie Sheen is not, a fact that led to conflict in their marriage. "We also battled over the girls being baptized. Charlie and I had a Catholic wedding ceremony, which he knew was so important to me, but then he didn’t want to baptize our daughters. Sam is baptized; Lola still is not," she said.
- Age: 53
- Birthplace: Downers Grove, Illinois, USA
- Photo:
- Helga Esteb
- Shutterstock
Kevin Kline attended Roman Catholic school growing up.
- Age: 76
- Birthplace: St. Louis, Missouri, USA
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- s_bukley
- Shutterstock
Mary Tyler Moore was raised Roman Catholic and attended Catholic schools. She left the church at the age of 17. "Catholicism is the biggest provider of guilt. I was determined to use birth control, and that, of course, was a mortal sin," she said.
- Age: Dec. at 80 (1936-2017)
- Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, USA
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Although he often plays Jewish characters, Jason Biggs was raised Roman Catholic. "Everyone thinks I'm Jewish," he said.
- Age: 46
- Birthplace: Pompton Plains, New Jersey, USA
Mia Farrow was raised Roman Catholic. "If you're brought up a Catholic and you've had 13 years of convent education with nuns, there's no way you ever get out from under that. I've accepted that fact about myself so there are certain things – like my lost saint – that sometimes are not so lost," she said.
- Age: 79
- Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, USA
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Nick Nolte is reportedly Roman Catholic.
- Age: 83
- Birthplace: Omaha, Nebraska, USA
- Photo:
- Gracenote
"I don't ever remember not praying. Bedtime prayers, the rosary, praying for friends, relatives, for the sick and for those who had died. It was a natural part of our lives," said Roman Catholic actress Florence Henderson.
- Age: Dec. at 82 (1934-2016)
- Birthplace: Dale, Indiana, USA
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- Movie studio
- Wikimedia Commons
- Public domain
Clark Gable was baptized as a Roman Catholic when he was just six months old. He did not appear to follow any set religion as an adult.
- Age: Dec. at 59 (1901-1960)
- Birthplace: Cadiz, Ohio, USA
- Photo:
- Photo:
- Paramount Pictures
- Wikimedia Commons
- Public Domain
Gary Cooper reportedly converted to Catholicism near the end of his life.
- Age: Dec. at 60 (1901-1961)
- Birthplace: USA, Helena, Montana
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Dean Martin was raised Roman Catholic, although he did not seem to be very religious as an adult.
- Age: Dec. at 78 (1917-1995)
- Birthplace: Steubenville, Ohio, USA
