Homer J. Simpson, whose buffoonish character has many times driven even his own son, Bart Simpson, to disown him, is indeed a Catholic, according to Luca Possati's article published on the Sunday edition of the Holy See news service L'Osservatore Romano. In his article "Homer and Bart are Catholics" Possati claims, "Few know it, and he does all he can to hide it. But it is true."

Possati enumerated the numerous awards garnered by Matt Groening's Fox series "The Simpsons" since it debuted in December 17, 1989 including 27 Emmy Awards and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and cited examples that support the claim of Homer's religious preference.

Possati has been inspired by Jesuit priest Father Franchesco Occhetta's article recently published in La Civilta Cattolica, an Italian Catholic magazine, which claims that "The Simpsons are one of the few TV programs for children left in which Christian faith, religion and questions about God are recurring themes. The family says a prayer before their meals and, in their way, believe in the afterlife."

Orchetta was referring to the last episode of the series' sixteenth season "The Father, the Son and the Holy Guest Star" aired in the US in May 15, 2005. The airing of this episode was supposed to be on April 10 but this was rescheduled in reverence to the death of Pope John Paul II. The episode deals with the sensitive issue of religious tolerance where both Bart and Homer decide to convert to Catholicism after a series of events originating from Bart's expulsion from his school and temporary transfer to a Catholic school.