After filming Padre Pio in 2021, Shia LaBeouf decided to join the Catholic Church.
On Tuesday, January 2, a Facebook post by Capuchin Franciscans’ Western American Province shared that LaBeouf, 37, was reportedly confirmed into the church over the weekend.
“We are thrilled to share that our dear friend Shia LaBeouf has fully entered the Church this past weekend through the sacrament of confirmation!” they wrote in a statement. “The Capuchin Franciscan friars are overjoyed to welcome him into the fold and witness his deep commitment to his faith journey.”
The message shared that LaBeouf had “embarked on a profound spiritual journey” to join the Catholic Church and that they are “humbled and grateful to walk alongside Shia as he takes this important step” in his faith.
“We invite you to join us in celebrating this momentous occasion and to keep Shia LaBeouf in your prayers as he continues to deepen his faith and seek God’s guidance in his life,” the post explained. “May his example inspire others to explore their own spiritual paths and find solace in the loving embrace of the Church.”
Following the news of his conversion to Catholicism, LaBeouf’s confirmation sponsor, Capuchin friar Brother Alexander Rodriguez, explained to the Catholic News Agency on Wednesday, January 3, that the actor also wants to become a deacon “sometime in the future.”
Rodriguez noted that LaBeouf felt inspired after filming Padre Pio, which premiered in 2022. In the movie, the actor starred as Italian priest Padre Pio, who was venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church.
“He just spontaneously said, ‘I want to become a deacon,’ and he still feels that way,” Rodriguez shared.
Before his confirmation, LaBeouf had previously talked about how his role in Padre Pio led him to Catholicism at a dark place in his life.
“I can identify with Pio. He’s a man who suffered in silence and with patience,” LaBeouf explained in an interview with the National Catholic Register in June 2023. “When you feel like you’re being accused of things that aren’t real, you have multiple options: You can get on social media and start explaining, showing receipts. But as I learned about Padre Pio, I found that excusing certain behaviors, getting loud … all that started to fall away. The deeper I got into Pio, the more he gave me a very productive, instructive way of moving in the world, coming out of the ‘shame cage.’”
In December 2020, LaBeouf’s ex-girlfriend FKA Twigs sued him and accused the actor of “relentless abuse” and sexual battery. LaBeouf denied the allegations at the time, but later agreed to “participate in mediation” amid the case, per documents obtained by Us Weekly in January 2021.
After going through a rough patching following the accusations, LaBeouf shared that Catholicism led him to look at the world in a new way.
“So what Pio, and Catholicism in general, has done for me is to give me a hack to my suffering, a hack to my pain; I’ve found a way of looking at the death of self, the death of ego, as the supreme gift from on high,” he told the National Catholic Register at the time.
