Denzel Washington is baptized, becomes a priest during a live-streamed ceremony

Denzel Washington just got baptized and became a priest – and no, it wasn’t in preparation for a movie role.

Saturday 21 December at Gladiator II star, 69, was baptized at the Kelly Temple Church of God in Christ, located in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. He was also presented with a ministerial license which will allow him to be ordained in the future.

During the ceremony, which was live streamed via Facebook of the First Jurisdiction Church of God in Christ Eastern New York, Denzel – who was dressed casually in a gray T-shirt and black sweatpants – opened up to the congregation about embracing his faith just days before his milestone 70th birthday.

“I’ll be 70 in a week,” he said, according to Archbishop Christopher Bryant, per Page six. “It took a while, but I’m here.”

“If (God) can do this for me, there’s nothing He can’t do for you. The sky is literally the limit,” he added.

Denzel’s wife, Pauletta Washington, was also present for the special moment and tearfully spoke about her husband’s spiritual journey and how proud she was to see him take this next step with his faith.

“Forty-six years later, here I am still standing next to him as only God would have it,” Pauletta said. “So I’m very proud of you. You’re the head of our house and you’ve set a good example for our kids who are now grown kids who know the difference because we’ve shown them the difference.”

After the ceremony, which involved Denzel being immersed in baptismal water, the actor also posed for photos with his minister’s license and baptismal certificate.

The news of Denzel’s baptism comes just over a month after the Oscar winner opened up about religion in Hollywood, calling it “unfashionable” in a first-person essay for Esquire, published on 19 Nov

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In the essay, the actor recalled a life-changing first visit he made Pentecostal West Angeles church in Los Angeles at the suggestion of actor and director Robert Townsend. He referred to the experience as “the greatest moment of my life” as “I was filled with the Holy Spirit.”

The actor also noted that being open about your religion is somewhat frowned upon among his peers in the entertainment industry.

“Things I said about God when I was a little boy and just recited them in church with everyone else, I know now. God is real. God is love. God is the only way. God is the true way. God bless. It’s my job to lift God up, to give Him praise, to make sure that anyone and everyone I talk to for the rest of my life understands that He is responsible for me,” he wrote in his essay.

“When you see me, you see the best I could do with what I’ve been given by my lord and savior. I’m not afraid. I don’t care what anybody thinks,” he continued. “Look, talk about the fear of it — you can’t talk like that and win Oscars. You can’t talk like that and party. You can’t say that in this town.”

Although Denzel isn’t an ordained priest yet, he wouldn’t be the first celebrity to become one. According to Universal Life Church’s databaseThere are a lot of Hollywood stars that are ministersincluding Adele, Benedict Cumberbatch, Cardi B, Kathy Griffin, Whoopi Goldberg, Dwayne Johnson and Tom Hanks.