A renowned lesbian television anchor has publicly reverted to her Catholic faith, crediting Popes Francis and Leo for her decision.
Rachel Maddow, 46, the longtime host of her show on MS NOW, and the first lesbian to host a prime-time news program, said at a recent event that she now identifies with her Catholic upbringing after nearly 30 years away from the Church, according to Newsmax and MSN.
“I was born and raised in a conservative Catholic family,” Maddow told the live audience. “After having not considered myself [Catholic] for some time, I do consider myself to be back in the faith.”
Maddow, an unabashed liberal, claims to have struggled with depression since she was 10 years old.
The anchor said that Leo’s election on the heels of Francis’ storied papacy struck her as “providential,” and struck a chord with her Catholic formation. For Maddow, her upbringing means that “the pope and the actions of the Church and the bishops honestly matter.” Leo’s papacy, and especially his Americanness, felt “like it was just grown in a lab to radicalize American Catholics” against the persecution of immigrants, she added.
She was especially moved by the recent Masses outside of the Broadview detention facility near Chicago, organized by the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership, in protest of the jailing of immigrants there.
“There’s something about the role of the pope that is unlike any other role on earth,” Maddow said, adding that if Leo “can soften people’s hearts and sharpen people’s vision on this topic, he may change the world — and [the Trump Administration] will regret messing with him on this topic.”
Despite being generally secular for much of her adult life, in a 2017 New Yorker interview Maddow described herself as having a “religious temperament,” adding that her Catholic formations had “stuck with her.”
Both news outlets reporting on Maddow’s announcement observed that she is the second high-profile LGBTQ+ person to publicly embrace Catholicism in recent weeks. Bondings 2.0 reported that gay “Good Morning America” co-anchor, Gio Benitez, was recently confirmed in the Church, having published a testimony to his conversion.
Maddow says that she prays every day, as a practicing Roman Catholic. We also pray that she finds Jesus Christ and His repentance, leading to a new life (2 Cor. 5:17).
A life unshackled by the rainbow rebellion of LGBTQ+.
****
“And such were some of you…” (1 Corinthians 6:11).