Famous Religious Conversions: 10 Celebrities Become Believers

Actors and singers, soubrettes and directors. 10 famous religious conversions that show us how, before God and faith, we are only men and women in search of a higher sense of existence

We are used to conceiving the personalities of the world of entertainment, cinema and music as men and women different from us, far from the existential problems that involve us and are part of our daily lives. Of course, this is not the case. While these people live situations that are undoubtedly different from those of those who lead a “normal” life, they are still subject to the emotional and spiritual experiences typical of humanity from its origins. In particular, the perception of the divine and the relationship with God. That is why it is not uncommon to talk about famous religious conversions: celebrities known to all for their successes in various fields who have become believers.

Speaking of famous conversions, the first thought inevitably goes to Saul’s epiphany on the road to Damascus, that is, Saint Paul the Apostle, a former tent-maker, a Hellenised Jew who became the prominent missionary of the Gospel of Jesus among Greeks and Romans. He was not a celebrity, but his transformation from a terrible persecutor of Christians to an apostle of the people makes us understand how deeply the discovery of faith can change an individual’s existence. We also think of Saint Augustine of Hippo, an inveterate sinner, who found in God not only a new life, but a new perception of himself, as we read in his surprising Confessions, a valid declaration of intent, the admission by an exceptional man, who became Father and Doctor of the Church, of how one can, at any time, revolutionise one’s life.

But what leads a famous actor or singer to embrace the Catholic faith? As we have mentioned, these are men and women no different from us, like all of us, subject to doubts, fears, and more or less traumatic experiences. Sometimes it is enough to scroll through their biography to understand what led them to become fervent, faithful. Often, you can learn it directly from them, who, just like Saint Augustine, choose to share with the world the story of spiritual evolution that led them to change.

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Saint Augustine with heart in coloured wood of Valgardena

Statue in maple wood, hand painted by the artisans of Val Gardena.

Here is a list of famous religious conversions, some of which are really amazing.

Nek

Filippo Neviani, aka Nek, a singer originally from Sassuolo, told on several occasions about his spiritual and human journey, from the experiences in Medjugorje, which transformed him from a lukewarm Christian to a fervent believer, to the discovery of the mediatorial work of the Virgin, to how he revolutionized his life, as a man, as a husband, as a father, and also as an artist, after embracing the faith. A proud supporter of the right to life, of respect for life in all its forms, Nek found in Chiara Amirante, founder and president of the New Horizons Community, a guide and a help in the search for the new self, in the healing of his own heart, so much so that he became a Knight of Light, men and women committed to the projects of the association,  from evangelisation to solidarity and support interventions.

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Our Lady of Medjugorje

We created a department entirely dedicated to the devotional objects to celebrate Our Lady of Medjugorje.

Walter Nudo

The conversion of Walter Nudo, former boxer and actor, was not linked to a single episode, to a sudden epiphany. He himself stated that: “The journey of faith is a journey where you stumble and get up, together with God.”  A path of growth and self-improvement, therefore, led by the artist for years, also following the model and inspiration of religious figures such as Saint Teresa of Calcutta and Saint John Paul II. He has always felt a deep spiritual bond with Natuzza Evolo, the mystic close to Padre Pio, from whom he says he received a spiritual embrace after her death.

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John Paul II

We created a department entirely dedicated to him, where you can find a wide selection of articles with his image or with the symbols of his life

Claudia Koll

With a past as an adult actress behind her (she was one of the muses of Tinto Brass),  Claudia Koll approached the Catholic faith during the Jubilee of 2000, after passing through the Holy Door and meeting Pope Wojtyla. From then on, a total transformation began, which led her first to approach the Catholic family from which she had left, then to a real mystical crisis, and finally to the choice to dedicate herself entirely to the church. Today, she is the artistic director of the Star Rose Academy, a training school founded by the Ursuline Sisters of the Holy Family, offering young people a three-year course in high-level artistic training in the field of entertainment and beyond. Talking about herself, Claudia confessed that she felt very close to the Prodigal Son, welcomed by the Father at a time in her life when no one else could help her anymore.

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Holy Family with decorations and strass

This icon is hand-painted according to the traditional Byzantine technique.

Sylvester Stallone

Despite being born into a Catholic family, American actor Sylvester Stallone has lost his faith. Only after turning 70 did the protagonist of great successes such as Rocky and Rambo return to embrace the Gospel. Not only that, it helps pastors and preachers in their work of evangelisation and considers the church the gymnasium of the soul. It is no coincidence that his character, the boxer Rocky Balboa, also discovers Jesus in the sixth film dedicated to his story.

Antonio Banderas

For many years, the Spanish actor and producer Antonio Banderas has been travelling to Malaga, Spain, to participate in Holy Week, an important religious, social and cultural event characterised by processional rites that take place from Palm Sunday to Good Friday, in which the confraternities lead through the city the Mysteries related to the Passion of Jesus. Banderas himself takes part in the processions, leading the throne of the Most Holy Virgin Mary of the Tears and Favours of the Royal Brotherhoods through the streets of the city. A Catholic by birth, Banderas moved away from the faith as a teenager, but later returned to embrace it, driven by a new need for spirituality and a desire to make Christ’s commandment of Love his own.

Andrea Bocelli

Agnostic for years, singer Andrea Bocelli has embraced religion to give meaning to life. “Without faith, our earthly transit is a tragedy foretold that, at best, ends with old age, sickness and death,” he admitted in an interview. After years of trying to give meaning to life by relying only on logic and reason, he returned to questioning everything and seeking a higher meaning in every event, good and bad, also thanks to reading Leo Tolstoy.

Al Pacino

Among the famous religious conversions is that of the actor Al Pacino, a practising Catholic who, having distanced himself from religion in his youth, returned to embrace it during the filming of The Godfather. Perhaps it was precisely the film’s theme of sin and redemption, Francis Ford Coppola, and the rich Catholic imagery present in the Corleone family’s events that aroused Al Pacino’s spiritual awakening.

Justin Bieber

For those who believe that only when they reach a certain age do famous people have a kind of withdrawal that leads them to embrace religion, the case of Justin Bieber is indicative of the opposite. The young Canadian singer has always professed to be a fervent Catholic, has declared on several occasions that he prays before each concert, and has pointed to Jesus as his role model. He and his wife, Hailey Baldwin, arrived at the wedding without having sex, but his observance of good Christian rules doesn’t stop there. After a youth plagued by arrests for drunk driving, acts of vandalism and other pranks, today Justin, who is not yet thirty years old,  is engaged in charitable works (he brings food to the homeless) and evangelises through his social channels, empowered by the ascendancy he has over the younger boys and girls who love and follow him.

Jonathan Roumie

A few actors who have portrayed Jesus in various films have had no personal consequences for their approach to the character. This is inevitable. Think of Robert Powell, who was the protagonist of the screenplay Jesus of Nazareth (1977) by Franco Zeffirelli, and think of Jonathan Roumie, the protagonist of the most extensive media project ever made in crowdfunding: The Chosen, the first TV series about the life of Jesus of Nazareth, based on the stories told in the Gospels. To sustain this role, the actor, who was already a practising Catholic, learned Aramaic, the spoken language of Christ himself and his disciples. On the occasion of the series’ presentation, he met Pope Francis, crowning his lifelong dream. The actor admitted that this role allowed him to deepen his experience as a man and as a Christian. Roumie has also always had a special bond with Padre Pio.

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Pope Francis

This department is entirely dedicated to Pope Jorge Mario Bergoglio.

Mel Gibson

In addition to the actors who played Jesus, some directors wanted to tell his story. If Martin Scorsese wanted to become a priest and studied to become one, bringing his tormented human and religious experience to the screen with immense films such as The Last Temptation of Christ, Mel Gibson, the Australian actor and director of The Passion of the Christ (2004), is a practising and very devout Catholic, but it has not always been so. After the years of youthful success, accompanied by absolute disinterest in religion, he wanted to get closer to the faith by making this very controversial film, with which he told the story of Jesus realistically to the point of crudeness, also deserving criticism from the Jewish world. So we are defended: “This is not a story of Jews against Christians: Jesus himself was a Jew, his mother was a Jew, and so were the twelve apostles. But it is the truth that, as the Bible says, “He came among his own and his own did not receive him”; I cannot hide it. But this does not mean that the sins of the past were worse than the sins of the present. Christ paid the price for all our sins. This film is about hope, not offence.”
Today, Gibson proudly brings his faith into Hollywood circles and is engaged in social work.