Hollywood movie star Shia LaBeouf is contemplating whether to become a deacon after his recent reception into the Catholic Church.
The Transformers and Fury actor underwent a religious awakening when he played the lead role of St Pio of Pietrelcina – the 20th century Italian mystic and stigmatist – for the 2022 biopic Padre Pio.
The Franciscan friars who advised him during the making of the film have now revealed that he has expressed a wish to become a deacon.
The office would permit LaBeouf, who is married to British actress Mia Goth, to perform some of the functions of a priest, such as preaching and officiating at marriages.
Brother Alexander Rodriguez, who acted as LeBeouf’s sponsor at his confirmation on Sunday at the Old Mission Santa Inés Parish in Solvang, California, said the actor was now reflecting about whether he was being called to ordination into the diaconate.
“He just spontaneously said, ‘I want to become a deacon’, and he still feels that way,”‘ Rodriguez told the Catholic News Agency.
A statement released by the Capuchin Friars of the Western America Province added: “We are thrilled to share that our dear friend Shia LaBeouf has fully entered the Church this past weekend through the sacrament of confirmation.”
The statement said the actor “has embarked on a profound spiritual journey that has led him to embrace the teachings of the Catholic Church”.
Previously, LaBeouf undertook an RCIA programme and he has also revealed his devotion to the Traditional Latin Mass.
He spoke openly about his new faith in an 80-minute interview with US Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester and Word on Fire ministries, in which he described the reception of Holy Communion for the first time as a turning point in his life and he now regularly attends Mass, including during the week, and prays the Rosary.
“I start feeling a physical effect from it,” he said about the Eucharist. “I start feeling a reprieve and it starts feeling, like, regenerative, and start enjoying it to such a degree I don’t want to miss it, ever.”
LaBeouf’s mother was Jewish and he made his bar mitzvah at the age of 13. He was also baptised a Christian by a Methodist uncle at about the same time.
For some years in the last decade, he has admitted his life was a “complete mess”. He struggled with alcoholism, he was arrested several times and he was sued by a former girlfriend who claimed he knowingly gave her a sexual infection.
But his work took him to a Franciscan monastery where he said he experienced the mercy of God for sinners.
“When I got here, a switch happened,” he said. “It was like Three-Card Monte. It was like someone tricked me into it, it felt like. Not in a bad way. In a way that I couldn’t see it. I was so close to it that I couldn’t see it. I see it differently now that time has passed.”
“It was seeing other people who have sinned beyond anything I could ever conceptualise also being found in Christ that made me feel like, ‘Oh, that gives me hope,’” LaBeouf, 36, continued. “I started hearing experiences of other depraved people who had found their way in this, and it made me feel like I had permission.”
He added: “The reach-out had happened. I was already there, I had nowhere to go. This was the last stop on the train. There was nowhere else to go – in every sense.
“I know now that God was using my ego to draw me to Him. Drawing me away from worldly desires. It was all happening simultaneously. But there would have been no impetus for me to get in my car, drive up [to the monastery] if I didn’t think, ‘Oh, I’m gonna save my career’.”
The actor studied the life of Padre Pio and he also read the Gospels and discovered a figure of Jesus different from the “soft, fragile, all loving, all listening” person he had always thought Christ to be.
The Capuchin friars also introduced LaBeouf to the Mass and he found himself especially attracted to the Traditional Latin Mass, telling Bishop Barron that he felt as if someone was sharing a “profound secret” with him and “not selling me a car”.
On Facebook, the Capuchin Franciscan friars shared photographs from LaBeouf’s confirmation and said they were “overjoyed to welcome him into the fold and witness his deep commitment to his faith journey”.
“His decision to fully enter the Church is a testament to his sincere desire to grow in his relationship with God and live out the Gospel values,” they said.
“As Capuchin Franciscans, we believe in the transformative power of faith and the incredible impact it can have on one’s life” … and that they were “humbled and grateful to walk alongside Shia as he takes this important step in his spiritual journey”.
The statement added: “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.
“May his example inspire others to explore their own spiritual paths and find solace in the loving embrace of the Church.”
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