A former Roman Catholic, Tancredo is now a member of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.[13] Tancredo is married to Jackie Tancredo. They met at Drake Junior High School as teachers, and married in 1977.[14] They have two children and five grandchildren.
On April 17, 2008, Tancredo alleged that Pope Benedict XVI was encouraging illegal immigration to the USA to boost membership in the Catholic Church. In response to a statement by the Pope at a Mass in Washington, Tancredo stated, "I suspect the pope's immigration comments may have less to do with spreading the gospel than they do about recruiting new members of the church." While Tancredo was raised a Catholic, he now attends Cherry Hills Community Church, an evangelical Christian church.[84][85] In a rebuttal of Tancredo's claim that the Catholic Church "has been losing members rapidly," the USCCB publishes data that records over 150,000 adults being received into the Catholic Church in 2007 through adult baptism and other rites of acceptance.[86]