Volume > Issue > Catholic Chic

Catholic Chic

GUEST COLUMN

By Richard Crepeau | April 2002
Richard Crepeau is Professor of History at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. This column previously appeared on PopPolitics.com.

Is it some sort of new chic?

Am I somehow suddenly “in”?

For some reason over the past several months there seems to have been a rash of people popping up “everywhere” who claim, and I emphasize “claim,” to have been “raised Catholic.” The most recent is the guy who played “Puddy” on Seinfeld, who made his confession to Terry Gross on Fresh Air.

Reading the newspaper, I discover politicians who were “raised Catholic.” Celebrities of all sorts from television, movies, or some esoteric branch of show business or the arts tell the world with a wink and a nod that they were “raised Catholic.” It seems to resonate with everyone. There seems to be an unspoken understanding of the precise meaning of this biographical fact.

Enjoyed reading this?

READ MORE! REGISTER TODAY

SUBSCRIBE

You May Also Enjoy

Briefly: April 1995

Reviews of Assurance of Things Hoped For: A Theology of Christian Faith... The Way of the Lord Jesus, Volume Two: Living a Christian Life... The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind... The Promise of Pragmatism: Modernism and the Crisis of Knowledge and Authority... John Henry Newman: Selected Sermons... Catherine of Siena: Passion for the Truth, Compassion for Humanity -- Selected Spiritual Writings... This Good Food: Contemporary French Vegetarian Recipes from a Monastery Kitchen... Rose Hawthorne Lathrop: Selected Writings... Natural Law Theory: Contemporary Essays...

The News You May Have Missed: October 2025

Good Over Evil?... Artificial Ineptitude... All Aren’t Welcome... Too Cute to Consume?... Suckermaxxing... A Life Between the Covers... and more

Letter to the Editor: April 2011

Spiritual Property Rights... A Sensible Compromise... Death By Neglect... Authentic Dialogue Is Possible... Notre Dame: An Insider's Perspective... Chredit Where It's Due... More Fun With Evolutionary Science... and more