Many fans of the hit show The Sopranos have been shocked to learn that late actor Tony Sirico, who played Paul ‘Paulie Walnuts’ Gualtieri in the series, has a brother high up in the Catholic church.
Father Robert Sirico – who fans of the show noticed looks just like Tony before realising he is his older brother – appeared on a television broadcast from Rome discussing the ongoing conclave yesterday.
Father Sirico is the co-founder of the Christian think tank Acton Institute and a prominent priest in the United States.
Many fans were floored by this strange connection, with @MorrisRadnor responding to a post about it on X with: ‘Talk about the most random fact for the week!’
@RRL1273947 agreed: ‘You can’t make it up…’
The brothers remained close friends up until Tony’s death in 2022.
Father Robert announced his passing with an emotional tribute at the time, saying: ‘It is with great sadness, but with incredible pride, love and a whole lot of fond memories, that the family of Gennaro Anthony ‘Tony’ Sirico wishes to inform you of his death on the morning of July 8, 2022.’
He continued: ‘I sensed that the end was coming. So as we sat in a private location, I pulled out a Confessional Stole from my pocket. I looked into his eyes and I said, ‘How about that confession?’ My brother agreed and I did one of the most significant things a priest can do for another human being. I absolved him of all of his sins.’
While Tony got into trouble with the law in his youth, his brother focused on religion from a young age.
He stepped away from Catholicism briefly in his youth and explored the Pentecostal Church in the 1970s, before returning to the Catholic Church and making headlines when he came out as gay.
(Picture: THA/REX/Shutterstock)
Father Robert was in Rome, along with many other members of the Catholic clergy, to be there during the papal conclave in the Vatican.
Earlier today, white smoke was seen billowing out from the Sistine Chapel, confirming to the world that a new Pope had been selected.
A bell has also rung out to mark the election of Robert Francis Prevost as the new Pope.
He was elected as Pope Leo XIV and emerged onto the balcony to an eruption of applause while people could be heard chanting his name.
Speaking in Italian, then switching to Spanish, he said Pope Francis was always ‘courageous and blessed Rome’.
‘The pope that blessed Rome gave his blessing to the whole world on that Easter morning,’ he said.
‘Let us follow up that blessing. God loves us and God loves all of you.
‘Sin will not prevail, we are all in the hands of God.’
He also said that the Catholic Church must be a church that ‘builds bridges’.
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