This page lists individuals in history who were at least nominally raised in the RomanCatholic faith and later rejected it or converted to other faiths including the related schismatic Catholic faiths. One study estimates that 10.1% of people in the United States describe themselves as former Catholics in some sense, in total the study reports that 44% of Americans profess a different religious affiliation than the one they were raised in. A majority converted to another religion while a substantial minority are counted as currently unaffiliated.[1]
Roman Catholic is a term sometimes used to differentiate members of the Catholic Church in full communion with the Pope in Rome from other Christians, especially those who also self-identify as "Catholic"; mainly Anglo-Catholics and Independent Catholics. It is also sometimes used to differentiate adherents to the Latin Church and/or the Roman rite from other Catholics, i.e. adherents of the Eastern Catholic Churches. As a term for the whole church it is not an official title used by the Holy See or bishops in full communion with the Pope as a designation for their faith or institution. It is instead a term that became common among non-Catholics, especially in English, which is now occasionally used by Roman Catholic officials.
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with approximately 1.3 billion baptised Catholics worldwide as of 2017. As the world's "oldest continuously functioning international institution", it has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilisation. The church is headed by the Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope. Its central administration, the Holy See, is in the Vatican City, an enclave within the city of Rome in Italy.
Note: The list includes those who leave the Catholic Church including any Eastern Catholic Church which is in communion with it. People such as Eddie Doherty, who were allowed to transfer from the Latin Catholic Church to an Eastern Catholic church, or vice versa are not considered as "former Roman Catholics", while Eastern Catholics who convert to a non-Catholic church or another religion are considered as such, even though Eastern Catholics do not typically refer to themselves as "Roman".
Edward J. "Eddie" Doherty was an American newspaper reporter, author and Oscar-nominated screenwriter. He is the co-founder of the Madonna House Apostolate, and later ordained a priest in the Melkite Greek Catholic Church.
The Latin Church is the largest particular church of the Catholic Church, employing the Latin liturgical rites. It is one of 24 sui iuris churches, the 23 other forming the Eastern Catholic Churches. It is headed by the Bishop of Rome - the pope, traditionally called the Patriarch of the West - with headquarters in the Vatican City, enclaved within Rome, Italy. The Latin Church traces its history to the earliest days of Christianity, according to Catholic tradition, through its direct leadership under the Holy See.
Individuals who converted to other churches, denominations and faiths
Eastern Orthodoxy
Rod Dreher, writer who converted to Catholicism and then to Eastern Orthodoxy
Ray Oliver Dreher is an American writer and editor. He is a senior editor and blogger at The American Conservative and author of several books, including How Dante Can Save Your Life. He has written about religion, politics, film, and culture in National Review and National Review Online, The Weekly Standard, The Wall Street Journal, Touchstone, Men's Health, the Los Angeles Times, and other publications. He was a film reviewer for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and chief film critic for the New York Post. His commentaries have been broadcast on National Public Radio's All Things Considered, and he has appeared on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Court TV, and other television networks.
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks is an American actor and filmmaker. Hanks is known for his comedic and dramatic roles in such films as Splash (1984), Big (1988), Turner & Hooch (1989), A League of Their Own (1992), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Apollo 13 (1995), You've Got Mail (1998), The Green Mile (1999), Cast Away (2000), Road to Perdition (2002), Cloud Atlas (2012), Captain Phillips (2013), Saving Mr. Banks (2013), and Sully (2016). He has also starred in the Robert Langdon film series, and voices Sheriff Woody in the Toy Story film series. He is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is widely regarded as an American cultural icon.
The name Greek Orthodox Church, or Greek Orthodoxy, is a term referring to the body of several Churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Koine Greek, the original language of the Septuagint and the New Testament, and whose history, traditions, and theology are rooted in the early Church Fathers and the culture of the Byzantine Empire. Greek Orthodox Christianity has also traditionally placed heavy emphasis and awarded high prestige to traditions of Eastern Orthodox monasticism and asceticism, with origins in Early Christianity in the Near East and in Byzantine Anatolia.
Alberto Cutié, priest who was received in the Episcopal Church after a leave of absence granted by his former bishop and decided to continue priestly ministry as a married man
Matthew Fox, scholar and priest who became an Episcopalian, after being silenced by the Vatican for heresy and expelled by the Dominicans for disobedience.
Jim McGreevey, former Governor of New Jersey , who became Episcopalian
The Rt Revd Michael Nazir-Ali, Bishop of Rochester, raised Muslim but baptised in the Roman Catholic Church at school and received into Anglicanism at age 20
Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury and Protestant Reformer who helped guide the Anglican Church during the early Reformation.
Gregorio Aglipay Cruz y Labayan was a former Catholic priest who became the first head of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, an independent Catholic Church in the form of a national church in the Philippines.
The Philippine Independent Church is an independent Christian denomination in the form of a national church in the Philippines. Its schism from the Roman Catholic Church was proclaimed in 1902 by the members of the Unión Obrera Democrática Filipina, due to the alleged mistreatment of the Filipinos by Spanish priests and the execution of José Rizal during Spanish colonial rule.
Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright is an American politician and diplomat. She is the first female United States Secretary of State in U.S. history, having served from 1997 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton.
Manuel Alonso Corral, known by his supporters as Pope Peter II, was the leader of the Palmarian Catholic Church, a mysticalist group not recognised by the Catholic Church, from 2005 to 2011.
The Christian Palmarian Church of the Carmelites of the Holy Face, commonly called the Palmarian Catholic Church, is a small schismatic Catholic church with an episcopal see in El Palmar de Troya, Spain.
Clemente Domínguez y Gómez was a self-proclaimed successor of Pope Paul VI and was recognised as Pope Gregory XVII by supporters of the Palmarian Catholic Church schismatic breakaway movement in 1978. His claim was not taken seriously by other mainstream Roman Catholics, the vast majority of whom were unaware of his existence.
Joan Crawford was an American actress. She began her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting as a chorus girl on Broadway. Crawford then signed a motion picture contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1925; her career would span decades, studios and controversies.
Doris Day is an American actress, singer, and animal welfare activist. After she began her career as a big band singer in 1939, her popularity increased with her first hit recording "Sentimental Journey" (1945). After leaving Les Brown & His Band of Renown to embark on a solo career, she recorded more than 650 songs from 1947 to 1967, which made her one of the most popular and acclaimed singers of the 20th century.
Philip Henry Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian,, known as Philip Kerr until 1930, was a British politician, diplomat and newspaper editor. He was private secretary to Prime Minister David Lloyd George between 1916 and 1921. After succeeding a cousin in the marquessate in 1930, he held minor office from 1931 to 1932 in the National Government, headed by Ramsay MacDonald.
Georges Sada, raised in the Chaldean Catholic Church, which is in communion with Rome. He is the President of the National Presbyterian Church and chairs the Assembly of Iraqi Evangelical Presbyterian Churches. (Also a Senior Warden at an Anglican church)
American writer Anne Rice converted from Roman Catholicism and made this official through several messages on her website on 29 July 2010. She no longer wishes to be referred to as a ‘Christian’, though retains her belief in Christ, disagreeing with various positions of the Roman Catholic Church.
This section lists some who, while adopting ideas that some others would consider incompatible with the Catholic faith, may have defected from the Church neither by a formal act nor even informally by an act of heresy, schism or apostasy. Mere attendance at services of another religion or adoption of certain meditation techniques need not signify abandonment of one's own religion. According to a 2009 survey of the Pew Research Center Forum on Religion and Public Life, one in five American Catholics report that they at times attend places of worship other than the local Catholic parish (which does not have to mean non-Catholic places). The same survey noted that some Catholics incorporate "yoga as a spiritual practice", emphasize psychics, and draw on and involve themselves in other religious movements.[18]
↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-05-13. Retrieved 2006-05-10. "RD: You were Catholic originally. Cruise: Well, we went from Episcopalian, to atheist, to Catholic..."
↑ "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."
↑ If any of them merely ceased to practice the Catholic religion without renouncing it, in the belief, for instance, that their ideas were consistent with the Catholic faith, they could be considered lapsed Catholics, rather than former Catholics.
↑ Solomon, Deborah, The Right Stuff, 23 October 2008, The New York Times
↑ Reid, Robert William (1974). Marie Curie. London: Collins. p.19. ISBN0-00-211539-5. "Unusually at such an early age, she became what T. H. Huxley had just invented a word for: agnostic."
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