The Catholic Church’s Celebrity Culture

The recent phenomena of celebrity conversion to Catholicism, is not to the old Catholic tradition, but a New Catholicism, which is the result of the fusion of the Old Catholic with the ancient ritual that Mrs. Besant wrote about in the October 1916 Theosophist.

“There is slowly growing up in Europe . . . a little-known movement called the Old Catholic, with the ancient ritual, with unchallenged Orders, yet holding itself aloof from the Papal Obedience. This is a living Christian Church which will grow and multiply as the years go on, and which has a great future before it, small as it yet is. It is likely to become the future Church of Christendom ‘when He comes’.” [Quoted from the book Light-Bearers of Darkness p. 38.]

In the Vanity Fair article Behind the Catholic Right’s Celebrity-Conversion Industrial Complex by Kathryn Joyce Sept 10, 2024, Joyce opens with “From Russell Brand to JD Vance to Candace Owens, what happens when the Catholic Church chases influencers—and their legions of followers—down the rabbit hole of the right?”.  She describes how a group named Catholics for Catholics, established in 2022, threw a party to welcome Owens ‘home’ after her baptism at an evening Mass at Pheonix’s Joan of Arc Church.

In the article “Pay to Pray”: Why Are All the Celebrities Becoming Catholics?, on V Spehar’s ‘Under the Desk News’ Substack, he discusses Joyce’s article, that “outlines the various celebrities who have converted to Catholicism in recent years and either their pivots to the far right or their embrace of more Christian nationalist sentiment publicly”.

Spehar says Owens is “now able to headline events like the Catholic Identity Conference to tens of thousands of people”, and Catholics for Catholics boasted about “the conversions, or possible conversions, of Sound of Freedom filmmaker Tim Ballard, Shia Bebeouf, Rob Schneider, JORDAN PETERSEN . . . and Vice President JD Vance, who converted in 2019.”

Spehar quotes Joyce “When Trump lost, the Catholic right was a core part of efforts to overturn the election. Former campaign strategist and right-wing Catholic Steve Bannon transformed his War Room podcast into a ‘stop the steal’ machine. Catholic groups normally focused on abortion or religious liberty joined lawsuits to block Biden’s certification. [Nick] Fuentes led his groypers in the November’s ‘Million MAGA March,’ shouting ‘Christ is king.’ Texas bishop Joseph Strickland addressed the carnivalesque December 2020 ‘Jericho march’ rally – widely seen as a test run for January 6 – while January 6 organizer Ali Alexander announced he too was converting (to ‘fight the evils in Christ’s own Church’). On the day itself, a Nebraska priest exorcised the Capital.” [Groypers are a group of far-right activists and internet trolls, associated with white nationalism and Christian nationalism, led by Nick Fuentes.]

Spehar states “The truth? Christian nationalism is having a bit of a moment, and it’s paying celebrities big bucks to be diluted to you through pretty faces selling you happiness, at a price of course, but with the condition that you submit to a right wing religious and ‘traditional’ point of view. And the common denominator in all of this seems to be none other than The Hallow App, with campaigns being run alongside people like Gwen Stafani, Mark Wahlberg, QAnon peddler Jem Caviezel, antisemite and convicted abuser Mel Gibson, and alleged rapist Russell Brand. It is also an app that was financed in large part . . . by Republican superdonor Peter Thiel, and none other than Vice President & Couch Connoisseur JD Vance.”

All of these leaders and influencers are paving the way for Satan to present himself as the Messiah in the near future, as stated in the article Towards 2025 on Lucis Trust.