List of ex-Roman Catholics
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This page lists individuals in history who were at least nominally raised in the Roman Catholic faith and later rejected it or converted to other faiths. It should be noted that according to Catholic canon law, only a formal act of defection renders a person an "ex-Catholic". Many individuals on the second list below are therefore, in the eyes of the Catholic Church, still Catholics.
Note: The title is a shorthand, the list actually refers to those who leave the Roman Catholic Church or any Eastern rite church in communion with it. Individuals like Eddie Doherty who were allowed to transfer from Latin rite to Eastern rite are therefore not counted as "ex-Roman Catholics" for the purpose of this list, while Eastern Rite Catholics who convert to a religion not in communion with Rome do.
Contents |
[edit] Individuals who converted to other denominations and faiths
[edit] Anglicanism
- Madeleine Albright, former US Secretary of State
- Very Rev. Miriam Byrne, Irish Catholic nun who became a Cathedral provost in the Scottish Episcopal Church.
- Matthew Fox (priest)-Catholic priest who became an Episcopalian priest
- Henry VIII of England, created the Church of England, though it was not at the time Protestant and retained Roman Catholic beliefs (see Six Articles)
- Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, first woman primate in the Anglican Communion
- Rt. Rev. Michael Nazir-Ali, Bishop of Rochester, raised Muslim baptised Roman Catholic at school, received into the Anglican Communion at age 20.
[edit] Buddhism
- Alanis Morissette, singer-songwriter
- Sting, né Gordon Matthew Sumner, British musician/actor
[edit] Calvinism
- Jean Calvin, French religious reformer
- Charles Chiniquy, American anti-Catholic writer
- Ann Coulter, author who reportedly attends the Redeemer Presbyterian Church[1]
- Tom Tancredo, U.S. Representative (CO-6), potential candidate for U.S. President in 2008, converted to Evangelical Presbyterian
- Dorothy Lucey, news reporter on Good Day LA, converted to a devout form of Presbyterianism
- Huub Oosterhuis, Jesuit who became a member of the Dutch Reformed Church
- Odile Stewart, younger sister of Phyllis Schlafly; became a Presbyterian
[edit] Christian Science
- Joan Crawford, American actress
- Doris Day, American actress
- Theresa Newman, Paul Newman's mother
[edit] Eastern Orthodoxy
- Karl Matzek, artist who joined the Eastern Orthodox Church.
- John Anthony McGuckin, scholar, poet, and priest of the Romanian Orthodox Church.
- Alexis Toth, Ruthenian Catholic Church priest who converted to Orthodoxy and became a saint in the Russian Orthodox Church.
[edit] Islam
- René Guénon, French philosopher.
- Murad Wilfred Hofmann, diplomat.
- Ingrid Mattson, President of the Islamic Society of North America. (However, she abandoned Catholicism years before her conversion to Islam)[2]
- Matthew Saad Muhammad, boxer.
- David Musa Pidcock, leads an Islamic party.
[edit] Judaism
- Abraham ben Abraham, Polish Talmudic scholar (conflicting stories though)
- Bishop Bodo, deacon
- Laurie Hibberd Gelman, Canadian-born TV personality.
- Cameron Kerry, brother of U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry
- Anne Meara, creative partner and wife of Jerry Stiller.
- Jean-Paul Sartre, French Philosopher who abandoned the idea of a God at an Early age. He apparently died a Messianic Jew.
- Mare Winningham, American actress.
- Mary Doria Russell, American author.[3][4]
[edit] Lutheranism
- Friedrich Heiler-Religious scholar in High Church Lutheranism. (Dispute about whether he truly left Catholicism)[5]
- Martin Luther, German monk
- Tim Pawlenty, current Republican Governor of Minnesota [6]
[edit] Scientology
- Tom Cruise - American actor [7] "RD: You were Catholic originally. Cruise: Well, we went from Episcopalian, to atheist, to Catholic..." [8] "In 1990 Cruise renounced his devout Catholic beliefs and embraced The Church Of Scientology claiming that Scientology teachings had cured him of the dyslexia that had plagued him all of his life."
- Jenna Elfman, American actress
- Katie Holmes, embracing Scientology under tutelage of her fiance, Tom Cruise
- David Miscavige, [9] leading figure in Scientology [10] (never very actively Catholic, converted in teenage years along with his parents)
- John Travolta, American actor, in 1975
[edit] Other
- Gregorio Aglipay, Filipino priest who founded the Philippine Independent Church
- Fidel Castro, excommunicated (Communism is essentially his system of belief)
- Irene Dailey, American actress who became a Unitarian
- Bob Enyart, Christian talk-show host, pastor of a nondenominational Christian church.
- Johannes Gossner, priest, became Protestant, probably Lutheran
- Harry Hay, British-born American gay activist, founded the Radical Faeries
- Edir Macedo, founded the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God
- Bob McCartney (activist), Colorado-based American evangelical/conservative activist
[edit] Lapsed Roman Catholics
[edit] Self-identity as atheist, humanist, or ex-Catholic
This section contains people who rejected Catholicism in favor of a non-religious philosophy or identified as "ex-Catholics." They are placed under "lapsed Catholics" rather than "ex-Catholics", despite their own preferences, due to canon law.
- Steve Allen, actor, TV show host, writer, pundit (Humanism)
- George Carlin, American comedian (staunch Atheist)
- Theodore Dreiser, American writer (Socialism and possibly Christian Science)
- Jack Clayton, British director who identified himself as an "ex-Catholic"
- Heather Graham, American actress (Transcendental Meditation)
- Julia Sweeney, atheist comedian on the advisory board of the Secular Coalition for America
[edit] Other
A section for those who left Catholicism, but have not made a clear statement on what philosophy or religion they now prefer.
- Chester Brown, Canadian cartoonist
- Robert Crumb, X-rated American cartoonist
- Phil Donahue, American talk show host
- Christopher Durang, American playwright
- Anne Jackson, American actress of Irish and Croatian extraction; married to Eli Wallach
- Bill Keller, New York Times editor who said he was a "collapsed Catholic"
- Conor Oberst, singer-songwriter
- Paul Provenza, Italian-American comic
