Harris' Attitude toward Religion

In middle age, Harris completely denied religion of any kind. In this interview from 1972 http://www.moviecrazed.com/outpast/harris.htm The article states: "It comes as a jolt to learn that Harris' children are receiving a Catholic education. Despite the fact that Harris is a fallen-away Catholic who totally denies the divinity of "that political agitator they crucified years ago. He said beautiful things, but He never wrote a word. The Bible is full of inaccuracies. The Red Sea? Anybody could have walked across that--it was all salt.

"My ex-wife has no religion; she was brought up in the Church of England or one of those religions that mean nothing at all. But for some reason, she insisted that a condition of our divorce be that the children be raised as Catholics. If one of them ends up a priest, that's O.K. with me, so long as he's happy. But he'll have a tough time in the parish explaining me away."

However, in his later years, he seems to have come back to the Church. In this interview with Charlie Rose in 1994 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GTbyh_7ksQ At 31:23 he calls himself a "religious person" who was "brought up a Catholic" and that he had gone into monastaries during "disturbing" periods of his life (ie. Catholic retreats).

In a 2002 interview with American Catholic, Catholic actor Jim Caviezel talks about making "Count of Monte Cristo" with Harris: "In the film, Jim and Richard epitomize the classic teacher/student relationship. As the two imprisoned characters spend years trying to tunnel their way to freedom, Abbé Faria teaches his young and illiterate cellmate to read, as well as learn mathematics, economics, swordplay and philosophy. But perhaps the greatest lesson the old priest imparts is the beauty of peace and how vengeance will darken Edmond's heart, describing revenge as "...a meal endlessly cooked but seldom eaten."

Offscreen, their relationship was slightly different, but the essence of the mentor/pupil relationship still lingered. They spoke of their shared craft of acting, the differences and similarities between European rugby and American football, as well as a mutual admiration and love for the Virgin Mary."