According to a March 1 release from Sony Pictures, the movie Father Stu starring Mark Wahlberg and Mel Gibson will be released on the Wednesday before Easter, April 13.

What is not widely known is that  Wahlberg was given the California Catholic Daily story, “Boxer, actor, priest,” published on Aug. 25, 2014 after Father Stuart Long died.  Father Stu’s memorial Mass was held on August 30, 2014 at Holy Angels in Arcadia where he went through RCIA and was baptized in 1994.

According to the 2014 Cal Catholic story Father Stu “joined his parish Legion of Mary, acquiring a Marian spirituality while participating in door to door, pro-life, hospital and homeless ministries. He also spearheaded a community effort and effectively stopped the construction of a proposed Planned Parenthood clinic in the city of Monrovia.”

On June 14, 2021 California Catholic ran a three-part series of letters Father Stu wrote to his parishioners from Lourdes where he accepted his fate of death.

“My trip to Lourdes was very fruitful, but not at all what I expected. I did not receive the instantaneous, physical healing we were praying for. I did however, have two experiences that completely changed my life….”

Thanks to Robert Moscato who alerted us to the upcoming movie last year and gave us the Lourdes letters.