Lino Rulli

Angelo Gino Armando "Lino" Rulli (born October 26, 1971) is an American radio host, author, producer, and former television host.

He is currently the host of The Catholic Guy Show, which is aired on The Catholic Channel on Sirius XM Radio Channel 129.

He was also the executive producer and host of the Emmy Award-winning television series, Generation Cross.

In addition to his radio and television work, Rulli has released two books, both of which discuss Catholicism in a comedic tone through personal anecdotes.

He is the personal media adviser to Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan.

Rulli was born on October 26, 1971, to an Italian American family in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

His family was the only Catholic family on his block growing up, and his father typically only attended Mass on Christmas and Easter.

His mother had two goals for him growing up: to teach him to speak French and to teach him the Catholic faith.

His two middle names were for his two grandfathers.

He has said that he remembers his grandfather Armando as either at work or at prayer.

His mother Gina, is one of three sisters, and the only one who was born in the United States.

She worked as a foreign language teacher at a local high school while his father Angelo worked as a probation officer during his early life.

When Rulli was 15, his father joined Circus Flora.

Rulli dropped out of school to perform as the assistant to his father's organ grinding and to ride an elephant as part of the finale.

The elder Rulli made the decision to make the career change after praying about it before the Eucharist in St. Peter's Basilica.

The son would dress up as a monkey and dance while the father played the music.

On one occasion, they performed at the singer Prince's birthday party.

The father was a frequent guest on A Prairie Home Companion.

While in college he was part of a hip hop duo and hosted a weekly radio show called D-Love and Lazy Lin's Show of Pleasure. They wrote and recorded a single song, "Whatever Happened To," a retrospective from the mid-1980s to the current date in 1991.

During his time in college, Rulli began to dabble in radio.

In 1991, he hosted his first program on college radio station KJNB.

He speaks of the forgiveness he received from his parents after being arrested twice for being in possession of alcohol while underage as a metaphor for the forgiveness of God.

He has also written of his experimentation with illegal drugs while in college.

During his junior year, Rulli found the body of his friend and roommate after he committed suicide by shooting himself inside his car.

Several days earlier he had discovered what he thought to be suicide notes but did not really discuss it with his friend.

The experience caused him to sleep with a nightlight for years until one night when he was on a retreat with the theme "The Lord is my light and my salvation" and forgot to plug it in.

It was in college that he began to get serious about his faith whereas before he treated Mass like going to the dentist, something to be done because those in authority decreed it.

He received the sacrament of reconciliation for the first time since his childhood during his freshman year, and then did not again until seven years later in Rome.

During his senior year, a professor offhandedly asked him if he had ever considered a graduate degree in theology which "picked some kind of lock in my brain."

Until that moment he had never considered theology as a major, but after that he said "it just made sense."

In 1996, Rulli moved to The Bahamas to teach high school religion at St. Augustine's College.

Rulli's father taught him about the birds and the bees in the seventh grade when he "threw a book in my general direction, and said, 'Let me know if you have any questions.'" He has a cousin who became an archbishop in 2000 and was friends with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI.

He is a graduate of the Catholic Hill-Murray High School in Maplewood, Minnesota.

He "lettered" in theater all four years.

In an attempt to be popular, he joined the wrestling team and played for varsity, but only because there was no one else in his weight class, and he was pinned in each of his matches.

Rulli would often pray to become popular in high school.

During his senior year, he picked the lock on the door, broke into the school, and placed a large B on the name above the front door so that it read Bill-Murray High School.

After being confirmed in the 8th grade, he no longer saw how the church fit into his life and so he quietly left the church.

From adolescence on, he aspired to a career in comedy.

Rulli received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications and a Master of Theology Degree from Saint John's University.