Late last week, in an interview with Bishop Robert Barron on his “Bishop Barron Presents” talk show, the actor Shia LaBeouf shared that working on a recent biopic about Padre Pio has modified his life. He now goes to Mass, receives Communion and particularly loves the Latin Mass. “Latin Mass affects me deeply, deeply,” he explained. “It looks like they’re not selling me a automobile. And when I’m going to some Masses with the guitars and stuff…it’s like they’re attempting to sell me on an idea.”
“It almost looks like I’m being let in on something very special,” Mr. LaBeouf said of the Latin Masses he has attended in Oakland, Calif. The choice of the Second Vatican Council to make the Mass more participatory was a “bureaucratic activation,” he feels. “There was a craving to activate the general public, in a man-made way.”
As you would possibly imagine, this created quite a stir. Latin Mass fans felt vindicated. Even “Even Stevens” [sic] likes the Latin Mass! Others wondered: Who cares?
“Latin Mass affects me deeply, deeply,” Shia LaBeouf explained. “It looks like they’re not selling me a automobile.”
Watching the video, I used to be surprised to find that discussion between Bishop Barron and Mr. LaBeouf ranged far beyond what I used to be hearing about on social media. Yes, they talk concerning the Latin Mass, and the be-hoodied LaBeouf throws some elbows (while also admitting he’s no expert on Catholicism; he talks about “the Old Testament Christ on a horse, cape dipped in blood, sword.”). But he and Bishop Barron also discuss suffering, shame and the unexpected ways in which God works in a single’s life. And far of their backwards and forwards has the form of free-wheeling curiosity and openness about spirituality that you may very occasionally find on a TV show like “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and more often on podcasts like America’s “The Gloria Purvis Podcast” and “Jesuitical” but few other places within the Catholic Church proper.
Bishop Barron has been doing occasional programs like this for a while now, and his relaxed, Charlie Rose-esque format is the form of thing we’d like more of within the church. Within the open-ended meandering that such a format allows, we’re in a position to get beyond a few of the standard topics and oppositions and into deeper, more meaningful conversations.
But additionally it is very difficult to look at the exchange because Mr. LaBeouf has been given this major platform to discuss faith during a time when he’s accused of getting domestically abused and sexually assaulted two different women, with two others supporting the ladies’s claims with their very own experiences of abuse and harassment from the actor. This issue is rarely raised by Bishop Barron, which is difficult to know. But Bishop Barron also allows Mr. LaBeouf to bring up the subject repeatedly, in ways in which paint him as a victim, without ever difficult or questioning these characterizations.
Early on, Mr. LaBeouf says he got here to the Padre Pio project “on fire: I didn’t wish to be an actor any more, my life was a large number, and I had hurt plenty of people, and I felt deep shame.” But soon after he’s talking concerning the rejection he has experienced from his peers and his family as if he was the just one hurt. “God taps certain people to undergo certain suffering,” Mr. LaBeouf says, quoting advice he says he received from a monk, “in order that they might be more practical at bringing the excellent news forward.” The bishop responds only by praising the wisdom Mr. LaBeouf has gained and the mentors he has had.
Having given Shia LaBeouf over an hour to discuss his spiritual journey, perhaps Bishop Barron would consider having an identical conversation with women who’ve survived domestic assault or sexual abuse.
Later Mr. LaBeouf says before working on the Padre Pio movie, he “was so upset, so resentful concerning the woman who accused me of all this…and now I see that woman saved my life. She is for me a saint in my life.” It sounds great, and it leads into an interesting conversation concerning the radical change in perspective that conversion can bring. But additionally it is a way for Mr. LaBeouf to recast himself as a martyr. He’s the innocent who suffered, and he or she is the villain that he’s now compassionate enough to forgive.
Earlier within the interview, when he remains to be willing to acknowledge some responsibility for the situation through which he finds himself, Mr. LaBeouf never acknowledges any have to do anything to repair what has been broken. Conversion, as he talks about it, seems to involve personal change with none form of repair or restitution. (In recent days Mr. LaBeouf has been willing to confess more guilt but only after director Olivia Wilde shared her fears for her lead actress after having him on her set.)
I haven’t any reason to doubt the bishop’s good intentions; again, I feel his show provides a meaningful forum for conversation about faith and life, one which the broader church could learn from. We want more opportunities like this to think and discuss our faith. But regardless of what his intent was, his conversation with Mr. LaBeouf offers one other example of the form of disregard for victims and girls that’s so often leveled against leaders within the Catholic Church. We are saying we stand with victims of abuse and that we support women, but again and again our selections show us as a substitute standing only with the boys who’ve been accused.
Having given Shia LaBeouf over an hour to discuss his spiritual journey, perhaps Bishop Barron would consider having an identical conversation on “Bishop Barron Presents” with women who’ve survived domestic assault or sexual abuse. In line with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in five women in america have experienced severe physical violence and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner of their lifetime, and one in 4 have experienced extreme psychological aggression. They, too, have stories to inform and wisdom to supply.
