Marc Barnes details a lesser-known feature of Warhol's life – that he was a practicing Catholic:
According to the wonderful book The Religious Art of Andy Warhol, by Jane Daggett Dillenberger, the man remained celibate, a fact revealed by his own declaration of virginity and at his eulogy, where it was recalled that "as a youth he was withdrawn and reclusive, devout and celibate, and beneath the disingenuous mask that is how he at the heart remained." He deliberately concealed who he was to the public — famously answering questions with "uh, no" or "uh, yes" — and he certainly concealed the fact that he wore a cross on a chain around his neck, carried with him a missal and a rosary, and volunteered at the soup kitchen at the Church of Heavenly Rest in New York. He went to Mass — often to daily Mass — sitting at the back, unnoticed, awkwardly embarrassed lest anyone should see he crossed himself in "the Orthodox way" — from right shoulder to left instead of left to right. He financed his nephew’s studies for the priesthood, and — according to his eulogy — was responsible for at least one person’s conversion to the Catholic faith.
(Photo: Warhol's grave at St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Cemetery in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, via Wiki Commons)
The Dish 