In the week before his death, conservative activist Charlie Kirk revealed to a Catholic bishop that he was seriously considering entering the Catholic Church.
According to Catholic News Agency, Bishop Joseph Brennan of Fresno, California, recounted a personal exchange he had with Kirk at a prayer breakfast in Visalia. The bishop’s brother, writer Robert Brennan, later shared the story in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ Angelus newspaper with the bishop’s permission.
Kirk reportedly spoke of his Catholic wife and children, noting that he attended Mass regularly with them. While acknowledging ongoing disagreements with Catholic teaching, he told Bishop Brennan: “I’m this close” to converting.
In one of his final recorded videos, Kirk even highlighted the role of the Blessed Mother, saying Protestants “don’t talk about Mary enough. We don’t venerate her enough.” He described Mary as “the solution” to what he called “toxic feminism” in American society (CNA). Robert Brennan reflected: “In his own way he was reaching out to her, and now, I am convinced, she is returning the favor.”
Barron Praises Kirk’s Witness
While news of Kirk’s openness to Catholicism emerged only after his death, other bishops quickly commented on his public witness. Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, praised him on social media Sept. 11 as “a kind of apostle of civil discourse, but above all, as a man who loved Jesus Christ,” according to National Catholic Reporter.
Barron explained that after watching Kirk on Jubilee’s debate program Surrounded, he was struck by how Kirk “kept his cool and his charitable attitude in the face of some pretty obnoxious opposition.” Barron said he had invited Kirk to appear on his talk show Bishop Barron Presents before the tragedy.
Not all Catholics welcomed this praise. Gloria Purvis, Catholic commentator and racial justice advocate, questioned the attempt to frame Kirk as a model of dialogue: “When did civil discourse change to include dehumanizing smears? When did demagoguery become charitable speech? Come now all you lovers of truth. Let us not rebrand evil speech as good.”
Vatican and Other Bishops Respond
Beyond these debates, the Vatican emphasized the need for respect amid deep political divides. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s secretary of state, told reporters: “We have to be very, very tolerant, very respectful of everybody, even though we don’t share the same view. If we are not tolerant and respectful, and we are violent, this will produce a really big problem inside the international community and the national community,” according to National Catholic Reporter.
Other U.S. bishops, including Timothy Senior of Harrisburg and Michael Burbidge of Arlington, similarly described Kirk as a promoter of dialogue. Meanwhile, German Cardinal Gerhard Müller referred to Kirk as “a martyr for Jesus Christ” and condemned the “satanic celebration” of his death by some detractors, according to Catholic News Agency.
A Divided but Prayerful Response
The Catholic response to Kirk’s death reflects both admiration and unease: a recognition of his openness to the faith and devotion to his family, and concern over rhetoric that often clashed with Gospel charity.
What remains beyond dispute is the tragedy of a young father’s violent death and the grief borne by his wife and children. For Catholics, it is also a moment to pray for his soul, as well as for a renewed witness to truth spoken with love, the kind of civil discourse the Church insists must always reflect Christ Himself.
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