Rudy Giuliani Says He Was 'Headed for a Trial' with Gatekeeper of Heaven During Spiritual Experience in ICU
Rudy Giuliani Says He Was 'Headed for a Trial' with Gatekeeper of Heaven During Spiritual Experience in ICU
Meredith KileSat, May 16, 2026 at 3:56 AM UTC
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Rudy Giuliani talks to journalists outside the White House on July 1, 2020
Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty
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Rudy Giuliani had a "significant spiritual experience" when he was hospitalized earlier this month
The former mayor of New York City was hospitalized with severe pneumonia, even receiving his last rites from a priest
While sick, Giuliani had a vision he described as, "I can't say headed for heaven — headed for a trial"
Rudy Giuliani had a "significant spiritual experience" when he was hospitalized earlier this month.
The former New York City mayor was taken to the hospital on May 3 with a severe case of pneumonia. He spent time in the ICU, was placed on mechanical ventilation and even received last rites from a visiting priest. However, Giuliani, 81, ultimately recovered enough to be released. He returned to his streaming shows this week and opened up about his time in the hospital and his otherworldly moment.
"I also had a very, very, I believe for me, a very significant spiritual experience," he said on a livestream of his show America's Mayor Live on Wednesday, May 13. "I don't think I was unconscious, but I was in a state of like, you know, out of it. I would equate it to a dream."
Giuliani said that, in the vision, he was standing in a line. "I can't say headed for heaven," he described, "headed for a trial, I think with St. Peter."
However, before he arrived at the ethereal trial, Giuliani said, "There was a very, very significant intervention by my Peter."
That Peter was Peter J. Powers, Giuliani's high school pal turned political right-hand man and "friend of my lifetime," who was an instrumental part of his time as mayor. Powers died from lung cancer in 2016.
Rudy Giuliani wins re-election as mayor of New York City on Nov. 5, 1997
Credit: STAN HONDA/AFP via Getty
"Peter said some very significant words," Giuliani said of visualizing his late friend. "I made sure as soon as I woke up, I started telling people. Then I recorded it in part... and I also, as soon as I could write, wrote it out so that I wouldn't forget it."
"It's meant a lot to me, and I've been reflecting on it quite a bit," he continued, though he didn't share further details about the vision. "I do want to have the right time to describe it correctly. I don't want to embellish it. I don't want to deny what was there ... I did shortly after get a chance to discuss it with a wonderful, wonderful priest.
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Giuliani isn't the only politician to publicly speculate about his spiritual future. President Donald Trump frequently brings up the topic of whether or not he believes he'll get into heaven, even questioning the divine at the National Prayer Breakfast in February.
"I just don't think I qualify. I don't think there's a thing I can do," Trump, 79, mused. "But all of these good things I'm doing, including for religion — religion is back now, hotter than ever before."
Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump at Trump International Golf Course on Nov, 29, 2020
Credit: Drew Angerer/Getty
He leaned heavily on the public perception of religion in politics, boasting that he's done "more for religion than any other president" and mocking his opponents.
“I don’t know how a person of faith can vote for a Democrat,” Trump said.
Last summer, the president even sent out emails asking for donations that read, "I want to try and get to Heaven."
“Last year, I came millimeters from death when that bullet pierced through my skin. My triumphant return to the White House was never supposed to happen!” the email said, referring to the July 2024 assassination attempt in Butler, Pa.
“But I believe that God saved me for one reason: TO MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!,” the email continued. “I certainly wasn't supposed to survive an assassin's bullet, but by the grace of the almighty God, I did. SO NOW, I have no other choice but to answer the Call to Duty, but I can't do it alone.”
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
