Alec Guinness’ conversion

Alec Guinness played the part of Father Brown, the fictitious character created by G. K. Chesterton. One day while filming in France, he was walking back to the hotel still in his cassock, when a young boy approached him, took his hand and walked with him, feeling very safe with ‘the priest.’ The boy talked to him in French, but Alec did not know any French but kept walking with the boy. At one moment the boy told him ‘Au revoir, mon pere’ (Goodbye, Father.) Alec Guinness was so impressed by this incident and realized how much of an impact the image of a priest has on people, including young children. He reflected on how the Catholic church can have such a big impact on people and inspire trust even in young children. After the filming, Guinness used to stop by daily at a church. He had a son with polio, and promised God that if his son recovers, he will not obstruct his wish to be baptized. In fact, his son Matthew was fully healed by the age of 15. Then even Alec himself started talking to a priest, made a retreat in a Trappist monastery. While filming in Los Angeles one day, he even attended a Mass with Grace Kelly. Within a few months he became Catholic and so did his wife and they remained practicing Catholics all their life.