There must be something in the, em, holy water. American commentator Candace Owens recently announced her conversion to Catholicism. She was formerly Protestant. Owens, a major media figure in the alternative media, is known for her strong opinions. Indeed, such is her fame that you probably know who she is without the need of an introduction.
She has been involved in a number of controversies and has recently parted way with her former employers, The Daily Wire. It would be no exaggeration to say that her announcement caused much talk online though she is not the only person in the public eye to do convert to Catholicism in recent months – Tammy Peterson, podcaster and wife of the writer Jordan, recently converted as did the very intense actor Shia LaBeouf.
Coming over to Rome seems to be quite the thing at the moment.
That said, it has not been all one way traffic for Team Papist. The actor, comedian and YouTuber, Russell Brand, recently announced his decision to be baptised. He spoke, eloquently, about his decision and what motivated it on his own YouTube channel.
Brand seems to be have been very much in the St Augustine mould until now – “Lord save me – but not yet”. He surprised many people when he prayed the Rosary and was seen recommending C.S. Lewis’ book, Mere Christianity, for his channel’s bookclub. (One wonders what the Belfastman would have made of the endorsement.)
It is certainly a little unexpected to hear someone of Brand’s reputation talk of Baptism and his rejection of the hedonistic lifestyle he once practised. He faces allegations about his past behaviour, allegations which he denies. Still, there is something quite incredible in lisetning to him as he tries to find his way towards a new life, one which, in his words, involves Jesus and seeing pictures of him being baptised in the Thames.
Not surprisingly, well-known commentators turning to Christianity, in all its different branches, gave other social media commentators who deal with Christianity plenty of content to discuss, much of it, perhaps surprisingly, measured and cautious. Brand’s New Age sympathies seem of some concern to many in the online Christian community.
For the Catholic commentators talking of Owens’ conversion, there seemed to be quiet pride and a little joy. Afterall, if someone as well known as Owens pulls on the jersey for the parish, it is no bad thing. That is not to belittle her choice or, indeed, some of the quite profound debate that followed her decision.
If nothing else, Owens, identified with the right, raised as many questions about Catholicism as Joe Biden, say, who is identified with the left and whose practice of his faith is problematic to many Catholics. Indeed, the former British prime-minister, another man of the left and of Iraq War infamy, also converted to Catholicism after leaving office. It is a wide tent, indeed.
It has been interesting too to watch Protestant reaction to Owens’ conversion and their own travails. One commentator, the Rev Brett Murphy, of the Free Church of England – yes, it appears there is such a thing – did his best to parse politely Owens’ decision while also urging his viewers not to give up on Protestantism.
Murphy, who speaks of himself as being formerly Roman Catholic, belongs to a section of Anglicanism that is much more traditional in its approach to issues of female ordination and lesbian and gay matters than the Archbishop of Cantebury, Justin Welby and his supporters. Another well-known cleric in the same mould as Murphy, is Father Calvin Robinson, who describes himeslf on his X/Twitter account as an “Old Catholic Priest serving an Anglican parish”. He had a prominent media role with GB News but, like many others, it is on social media that he gives voice to his concerns and interests.
Perhaps, even more surprisingly, Richard Dawkins, the world’s most famous athetist and author of The God Delusion, recently described himself to the British media as being a “cultural Christian” and that he was “slightly horrified” to see Ramadan being promoted in London during Easter. Oddly, he said he was happy to see that the numbers of Christians in Britain was in decline but did not want to see the architecture of Christianity – parish churches and cathredals – being lost.
The building of mosques in Europe was a cause of concern for him, he said, and if he had to choose between Christianity and Islam, he would choose Christianity “every single time”; he was “on team Christian” in the choice between Islam and Christianity in Africa, for example, though was of the opinion that what Christians actually believed was “nonsense”.
(Dawkins, in turn, was criticised for his views and called an “Islamophobe”.)
Of course, not everyone in the public eye is going soft on Christianity. Speaking to media in the US recently too, Scottish actor and star of the recent series Succession, Brian Cox, said he found the Bible to be “one of the worst books ever, for me, from my point of view. Because it starts with the idea that out of Adam’s rib, this woman was created, and believe it cause they’re stupid enough.” People needed “some kind of truth, and that is not the truth … It’s a mythology”.
Now that is the sort of coarse commentary with which Irish readers will be familiar when religious matters appear in the public square in this little corner of the world. Still, it is a lot of talk, in a short space of time, about Christianity, a religion that is supposedly of no importance and is in decline.