Prominent Lesbian TV News Anchor Returns to Catholicism
Rachel Maddow
A renowned lesbian television anchor has publicly reverted to her Catholic faith, crediting Popes Francis and Leo for her decision. Rachel Maddow, the longtime host of her eponymous show on MS NOW, and the first lesbian to host a major prime-time news program, said at a recent event that she now identifies with her inherited Catholicism after nearly 30 years away from the Church, reported Letters from Leo and Newsmax.
“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.”
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 beautiful testimony to his conversion.
—Jeromiah Taylor, New Ways Ministry, December 23, 2025
Good news story. 😃
Thanks for the wonder-filled, grace-filled news
Maddow is an intelligent, astute, and admired celebrity in the LGBT community. My hope is that she will inspire other lapsed LGBT to come back to Roman Catholicism, especially lesbians. Brava, Rachel! I share in her love for Pope Francis and her enthusiasm for Pope Leo.
Thank you Will for recognizing how important this is aside from my personal views about Rachel. I continue to pray for all fallen away lgbt community family members to reconsider their Catholic beliefs. WE are all loved and ALL are welcomed if given the chance to further explore current views within our faith.