The Georgia Bulletin

Fri, Dec 5, 2008


What I Have Seen and Heard - Archbishop Gregory's Weekly Column

Kidman-Urban wedding seen as spiritual homecoming for actress

Published: 2006-06-09

SYDNEY, Australia (CNS) -- Preparation for actress Nicole Kidman and country singer Keith Urban's anticipated June 25 wedding has helped guide her back to the Catholic Church, said a priest who knows her. "For Nicole, you know this is a spiritual homecoming, coming back to the church and her faith in her old parish," said Jesuit Father Paul Coleman, a longtime friend of the Kidman family who advised them on the annulment of Kidman's marriage with Tom Cruise. Father Coleman is chaplain at Mary Mackillop Chapel in North Sydney, one of two Jesuit-run parishes in the Sydney Archdiocese. In January, Kidman mentioned the chapel as a possible wedding venue. The Kidman family lives nearby, and the parish is where Nicole and her sister, Antonia, went to school. Kidman, accompanied by her parents, Anthony and Janelle, attended Good Friday and Easter Sunday services there. However, Father Coleman has said the chapel has no booking for the wedding. Born in Hawaii to Australian parents, Kidman grew up Catholic in Australia and was taught by the Sisters of Mercy.