This week, Shia LaBeouf, an actor best known for his work in the films “Transformers” and “Fury,” gained notoriety for the intimate details he revealed about how his on-screen depiction of Padre Pio inspired him to develop a fresh love of the Catholic Church.
LaBeouf talked extensively in an 80-minute interview with Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester and Word on Fire Ministries about his love of St. Augustine and Thomas Merton’s writings, his devotion to the Traditional Latin Mass, the peace he experiences when praying the rosary, and his first-ever experience receiving the Holy Eucharist.
He remarked of taking Communion, “I start experiencing a bodily consequence from it. I begin to feel relieved and it begins to feel rejuvenating, and I grow to love it so much that I never want to miss it.
Even while it was enlightening and maybe unexpected coming from a big Hollywood celebrity, the interview left many of his Catholic admirers wondering if Shia LaBeouf had indeed “converted to Catholicism,” as Fox News and other secular media sites have claimed.
CNA spoke to a canon lawyer and a Franciscan friar who became friends with LaBeouf while working on the “Padre Pio” film project to learn more about the processes required to become a Catholic and the actor’s spiritual journey. Here is what we discovered.
How Padre Pio saved LaBeouf’s life.
LaBeouf, 36, claims that before discovering God, he was agnostic.
He admitted to Barron that despite becoming a bar mitzvah at the age of 13, he never really accepted his mother’s Jewish beliefs.
His life was in disarray despite his acting triumphs. He’s had run-ins with the authorities before, and now his ex-girlfriend is suing him for allegedly abusing her.
LaBeouf, who had become distant from his mother as a result of his downward trajectory, confessed to Barron that he had reached the point where he no longer wanted to live, stating, “I don’t want to be here anymore.”
LaBeouf said that he thinks God guided him toward recovery and inner peace by using his desire to revive his flagging film career.
An invitation to play the lead in Abel Ferrara’s next movie “Padre Pio,” which will have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival next week and hit theaters on September 9 officially, marked the turning point.
LaBeouf jumped at the possibility even though he had little to no knowledge of the well-known Italian saint or Catholicism in general.
LaBeouf thinks that in the end, God didn’t want to salvage his career.
He spent time with Franciscan friars to prepare for the part, which piqued his interest in the religion that motivated Padre Pio.
They pointed him in the direction of the Gospel of Matthew and the writings of other significant Catholic authors, which he ate up.
Before reading the Gospels, LaBeouf described Jesus as “soft, vulnerable, all loving, all listening,” but lacking “ferocity, no romance” in the interview. He claimed that the Christ portrayed in the Gospels was substantially different and more manly.
LaBeouf was also introduced to the Mass by the friars. He admitted to Barron that the Traditional Latin Mass really appealed to him. He said that the traditional liturgy seemed to be more centered on God than the congregation, in contrast to the Novus Ordo Masses he had previously attended. Regarding the guitar playing he’d seen at another Catholic church he frequented, he said it gave him the impression that someone was “sharing a deep secret” with him, “not selling me a vehicle.”
He confessed to Barron that while attending the Latin Masses given by the Institute of Christ the King in Oakland, California, he felt as if he had “discovered something.”
So, is he a Catholic in law?
LaBeouf and Brother Alexander Rodriguez, O.F.M., a Franciscan Capuchin, became good friends while the actor trained for the part of Padre Pio, which included going to Solvang, California’s Old Mission Santa Inés.
Rodriguez later traveled to Italy with LaBeouf and is even mentioned in the movie. LaBeouf refers to Rodriguez as “his right-hand guy in life and in the film” in the interview with Barron.
Rodriguez said that LaBeouf had enrolled in the Santa Inés Rite of Christian Initiation, or R.C.I.A. LaBeouf never completed the catechetical instruction program, the friar confessed, because to problems with his shooting schedule.
According to Rodriguez, the actor discovered that Padre Pio had been baptized when he was 13 by his uncle, a Methodist minister, while visiting San Giovanni Rotondo, Padre Pio’s birthplace in Italy.
LaBeouf inquired about receiving Communion from the Italian Capuchins after learning about his baptism, according to Rodriguez. The Capuchin, according to Rodriguez, told him: “You can’t portray Padre Pio without getting Communion!”
LaBeouf informed Bishop Robert Barron that he had a “reprieve” after receiving the Eucharist and that he made the decision to never skip Mass again as a result.
LaBeouf, according to Rodriguez, regularly attends Mass on Sundays and as often as he can throughout the week. The priest said that LaBeouf is in touch with Rodriguez and is “always willing to learn” more about the Catholic religion.
LaBeouf plans to receive the rite of confirmation, the friar said, but has not yet done so. LaBeouf may or may not have partake in the sacrament of reconciliation, according to Rodriguez.
What is necessary to become a Catholic legally?
The R.C.I.A. program is the typical way for an unbaptized individual to convert to Catholicism, according to Father Philip-Michael Tangorra, a canon lawyer and priest for the Diocese of Paterson in New Jersey.
For people who have previously undergone genuine baptism, the situation is different, he said.
A person who has already been baptized is not a convert to the faith; rather, they are being brought into full communion with the Church and only require the catechesis required to profess their faith and get ready to receive the other two sacraments of initiation: confirmation and the Eucharist, according to Tangorra.
Of course, someone who has already received baptism would benefit from the sacrament of penance as they prepare for confirmation and their First Eucharist, he said.
The canon lawyer said, “one has to be in communication with the faith, the sacraments, and the ecclesiastical authority of the Church,” notably the pope, to be in full communion with the Catholic Church.
Then, can LaBeouf legitimately partake in communion?
Father Tangorra emphasized, “I am not at all acquainted with Mr. LaBeouf’s religious background.
“He would need to go through catechetical teaching to prepare himself for these sacraments if he is already baptized but not confirmed and had not had his First Eucharist,” he said. A decent confession would be suitable “if he is already Catholic and had strayed away for a while but is now returning.”
CNA was unable to get in touch with LaBeouf. When approached, Word on Fire had no more information on LaBeouf’s spiritual development.
But if the actor’s interview is any guide, LaBeouf seems to be well on his way to joining the Church, even if he hasn’t officially done so yet.
“In the end,” Father Tangorra told CNA, “we should rejoice that Mr. LaBeouf wants to, and identifies with the Catholic faith.”