As fans of Katy Perry will know, she mentions God quite often. Her social media and her interviews often end up being about her relationship with god. However, she rarely ever states what her religion is. This leads many to wonder whether Katy is a Christian.
No, Katy Perry is not a Christian. She was brought up in a strict Christian household. However, she abandoned her faith when she started working on pop music. That said, Katy is still very religious, and she claims that her spirituality has helped her through some tough times.
Let’s take a look at Katy’s tumultuous relationship with Christianity.
Katy Was Brought Up in a Christian Household
Katy’s upbringing was quite bizarre when you look at it from an average person’s point of view. Her parents were Pentecostal pastors, and Katy lived a strict life. In fact, the vast majority of music that she listened to was Christian in nature. She finally became acquainted with artists such as Marylin Manson and Madonna when she handed out pamphlets titled ‘How to Find God’ outside their concerts.
Katy mentioned that ever since she started singing, she finally got to see the world as it was, and began to backslide out of her faith. She mentioned that she had lived a fairly restricted life as a child, but she always questioned the teachings of her faith, many of which did not make sense to her.
Alas, it should come as no surprise that Katy’s relationship with her parents has not been perfect. In fact, she has stated in an interview that she put her parents ‘Through hell and back’ as a child due to her behavior.
Katy is still fairly close with her parents, though they still have their differences. A prime example of that was seen when her parents made an appearance on American Idol, where Katy was a judge. What seemed like good-natured ribbing between parents and their daughter could just as easily have been tension between them, which is expected due to their extremely different points of view.
Katy Initially Sang Gospels
Not only was Katy in her church choir, but she also released an album where she sang Christian music. It was released under her original name, Katy Hudson, rather than Katy Perry.
The album, titled eponymously, received mixed reviews and did not sell more than a few hundred copies. Still, it acquainted the world with Katy’s immense talent. It also made Katy realize that she did not want to live the life that her parents had lived.
The themes of her first album are pretty much the complete opposite of her 2008 album ‘One of the Boys’. She went from tracks like ‘Faith Won’t Fail’ to ‘I Kissed a Girl’. While this led to her fame, a small percentage of her fans still prefer the older Katy to the new one.
Katy is Still Religious
Although Katy does not consider herself a Christian anymore, she is still quite the spiritual individual. She mentioned that her mother has been praying for her to come back to God, but she never left him.
Despite her spirituality being more secular than it was during her upbringing, she still has a healthy respect for Christianity, and she even met Pope Francis in 2017. She even has a tattoo of Jesus on her wrist.
Katy has struggled with depression throughout her life. She believes that the ‘Grace of God’ helped her avoid depressive and suicidal thoughts and lead to the resurgence of her mental health. This essentially proves that while Katy may not be a Christian, she is still in touch with her spiritual roots.
Her mother still does not seem to be content with letting Katy live her life the way she wants. Her place in her society and church seems to impact that much more than her love for her daughter.
One thing is obvious: Katy will do what she wants. She seems to be in a much better place in her life, both mentally and spiritually. Her discovery of God has been on her own terms, and she seems content.