Naveed
Jimmy Kimmel was raised Catholic in a close-knit Italian-American family, serving as an altar boy before his family relocated from Brooklyn to Las Vegas. Decades later, when a politician publicly questioned his Christian bona fides, Kimmel didn’t dodge the question — he answered it, in detail, on his own show.
| Raised As | Roman Catholic |
| Birthplace | Brooklyn, New York (Mill Basin), born November 13, 1967 |
| Family Heritage | Italian-American on his mother’s side (the Iacono family, from Ischia, Italy) |
| Childhood Role | Served as an altar boy |
| “Recovering Catholic” Quote | Not publicly confirmed — no interview attributes this specific phrase to Kimmel |
Raised Catholic in Brooklyn and Las Vegas
Kimmel was born in Brooklyn’s Mill Basin neighborhood in 1967 into a devoutly Catholic household. According to his own on-air account, he made his First Communion, was confirmed, and served as an altar boy as a child. His mother, Joan (née Iacono), came from a family of Italian immigrants who arrived from the island of Ischia, per Wikipedia.
When Kimmel was around 9, the family relocated to Las Vegas, where he attended Clark High School before briefly studying at UNLV. Kimmel has never publicly disputed his Catholic upbringing; if anything, he’s actively confirmed it when challenged, which is unusual for a late-night host who otherwise rarely discusses personal faith at length.
Why He’s Been Called a ‘Recovering’ or ‘Non-Practicing’ Catholic — and What He’s Actually Said
The specific phrase “recovering Catholic” does not appear in any verifiable interview or transcript tied to Kimmel — it should be treated as not publicly confirmed. What is documented is more nuanced: Kimmel identifies as Catholic and Christian when pressed, while publicly backing some positions that diverge from official Church teaching.
The clearest on-record moment came in December 2017, after Alabama politician Roy Moore challenged Kimmel’s right to comment on “Christian values.” Kimmel responded on his show: “I happen to be a Christian too. I made my first holy communion, I was confirmed, I pray, I support my church… Christian is actually my middle name.” In a 2021 post on X, he amplified a message reading, in part, “I’m Catholic and I support… a woman’s right to choose” — the closest verifiable parallel to what people mean by a “cafeteria Catholic,” even though Kimmel has not used that term himself.
How Faith and Religion Come Up on His Show
Religion surfaces on Jimmy Kimmel Live in a few recurring ways: personal defense, topical monologue jokes, and interviews with political guests. The 2017 Roy Moore response is the clearest example of personal defense, delivered as a full monologue segment in which Kimmel also joked, “At my church, forcing yourself on underaged girls is a no-no.”
Kimmel has also used his platform to push back on blanket criticism of clergy, telling former press secretary Sean Spicer during a taped interview — invoking their shared Catholic background — that it’s “unfair” when “people lump all priests together as child abusers.” More often, religion shows up as topical monologue material: in February 2024 he joked about the Catholic prayer app Hallow’s Super Bowl ad campaign, and in 2025 he weighed in on the dispute between Donald Trump and Pope Leo, siding with the Pope.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Jimmy Kimmel actually call himself a ‘recovering Catholic’?
No verified source confirms Kimmel using that exact phrase. On record, he has described himself as a practicing Christian who made his First Communion and was confirmed, while also publicly backing some positions that conflict with Church teaching.
