“We got the Duke!”

Today marks the passing of another famous convert who only entered the Church a few days before his death in 1979. John Wayne was raised a Presbyterian but he married three Catholic wives, and his children were all raised Catholic. One of my favorite stories related to Wayne’s conversion was told me by a Jesuit friend. As he recalls, in his particular community the older members who heard the news were jumping for joy shouting, “We got the Duke! We got the Duke!” (Sorry folks, but as a lifelong Wayne fan, I couldn’t resist adding him to the blog, however insignificant his contributions to the Catholic community at large.) H/T to Tim Drake for reminding me that Wayne’s grandson is a priest in California, Father Matthew Munoz.