Late last year, actor and comedian Rob Schneider announced his conversion to the Catholic Church.
In an exclusive ChurchPOP interview, Schneider sat down with editor Jacqueline Burkepile to discuss his conversion journey, along with his three family entertainment projects: the animated series, “Chip Chilla,” the film, “Daddy Daughter Trip,” and another film about the Shroud of Turin.
Schneider is known for his roles in movies alongside Adam Sandler, including “The Waterboy,” and “Fifty First Dates.” However, he said his wife never allowed his children to watch them due to the content. This prompted his decision to create more family-friendly entertainment.
“I wanted to make films that little kids can see,” he explained.
Schneider also provided an in-depth story about his Catholic conversion process. While the announcement came in October of 2023, he says he converted during the pandemic.
“I was the one drifting away and Jesus was always there,” he said. “When it became more obvious, and I when I saw Father [Chad] Ripperger, and I spent time with [a priest] in Phoenix…it became more reassuring to hear the words of a priest telling me that God–Jesus– already won. This is just a mop-up mission.”
Schneider also explains that “the Catholic Church works for me because it’s the closest to the actual words of Jesus Christ.”
“If you go to the Aramaic, to the Greek, to the Latin, it’s right there and that’s why Kevin James did a with did a prayer with me in Latin and understanding The Words the few words and getting to understand more words. I wanted to open that up so that it gets closer and so you can be as close as you can to Jesus Christ,” Schneider says.
“That proximity is something that has become very important to me as you see the world spin out. And as a foundation for my children–spiritual foundation. You can build a house, but if you build a house without faith, it’s like you say, it’s a house on sand. But if you build a house on faith, then you have something that no storm could blow away.”
Schneider says he is working on a film about the Shroud of Turin. While producing it, he says his faith was “breathed into him.”
“I was working on that as an entertainment piece and as a really interesting story. Then it became the broadening of my faith,” he says.” It was breathed into me and then it from there, it was really the beginning.”
He adds that “a confluence of things” brought him “back to Jesus Christ.”
“It was children. It was the pandemic. It was working on this piece and…I think you know how Jesus works,” he said. “I’ve come to a place of peace with it and I still have a long way to go.”