Former New York City Commissioner Brian Andersson said it's "really remarkable" that actor Shia LaBeouf revealed his conversion to Catholicism after being cast as "Padre Pio" in a new movie about the late Italian monk, but Andersson also told Newsmax Tuesday that the announcement could "light a fire" between the church's traditionalists and conservatives and progressives.
"This fellow was self-destructing very publicly, and I thought his career was over for a long time," Andersson, a lifelong Catholic, said on Newsmax's "National Report." "Then I heard he had gotten this role and, quite honestly, the first thing I thought of was maybe this will have some impact on his life playing such a holy man, and it's come to pass, which is really remarkable, but he's certainly welcome."
But that fire, between conservatives and progressives, has played out in "every world we look at right now."
In the church, though, it's the difference between the more traditional, Latin Mass and Vatican 2, said Andersson.
"Vatican 2 is faulted by so many people ... it got so much away from this that you can't even go back to it," said Andersson. "You can't even practice the old-fashioned way, which was very solemn.
"I had to learn Latin in Catholic School. I didn't do well in it, but I knew the prayers. But, you know, Latin, as a language was very tough. But at the same time, there is something wholesome about it that is attracting a lot of people."
LaBeouf, speaking with Bishop Robert Barron during an interview uploaded to YouTube last week, said he feels that landing the role of Padre Pio was part of God's plan to save him.
"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," LaBeouf said.
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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