Catholic Church
Priest -- Movie Review Part 1
16/05/11 10:33
The movie Priest directed by Scott Charles Stewart is based on the graphic novel written by Hyung Min-woo. I have not read the graphic novel, so my comments here are based strictly on the movie. (I do want to read the graphic novel now that I've seen the movie.)
The basic plotline is this: the world is divided between vampires and human beings. The war was going poorly for the human beings, until a group of human individuals with superior strength and speed arrived on the scene. They were organized by the church as priests and fought back against the vampire menace. After the war, vampires were relegated to reservations and priests were disbanded and lived meager lives in a society unwilling to accept them. Until, the (illicit) daughter of one priest is kidnapped by vampires and he sets out on a rogue mission to gain her back. The church hierarchy opposes his mission and sends others after him. What you have here is an action movie with two power groups in a dystopian world in which human beings are secluded in dark cities controlled by the church.
It doesn't take much to see that the church in the movie represents any general church but specifically the Catholic church. Further, the monsignors, who control the city and the priests, represent the hierarchy of the Catholic church -- bishops, cardinals, and pop. One central conflict of the story, then, is that between the everyday priest who fights for the people and the hierarchy.
If one sees that basic conflict, it isn't a leap, I think, to see that one issue the movie plays with is that of a hierarchy that tries to hide a secret -- that vampires are still out there ready to destroy us. The fact that the vampires kidnap a young girl calls to mind the Church abuse scandals -- even though it is a girl that is kidnapped. The fact that the rogue priest is her father should call to mind that priests are often seen as the father of the members of their flock. So, we can see a blatant criticism of the Catholic church hiding the bad guys -- those who abuse children -- from the rest of the world and willing to condemn any priest who exposes them.
Except two problems emerge here: first, it's not clear that there's any evidence that the Catholic church actually threatened sanctions against a priest willing to expose the dark secret of sexual abuse. Certainly, the hierarchy did not pursue and condemn the abusive ministers enough and they switched them from one parish to another -- here we see the reservation of the vampires in the film -- but I'm not aware of any priests that were threatened for revealing the scandal.
The second problem is with the movie itself: it's unclear to what extent the monsignors in the movie are aware of the vampires and to what extent they sanction vampire activity outside of the cities. Does the monsignor really believe there is no vampire threat or is he just trying to keep people from anarchy by hiding the threat? The reason this proves relevant is that the monsignor would have to actively be hiding something he knew existed in order for it to mirror what happened in the Catholic Church abuse scandal. Perhaps the graphic novel makes this clearer, but the movie does not.
Which brings me to a criticism of the movie: the movie seems torn between being an action movie with little concern for plot thread or motive and being a thinking person's movie that looks at motives and power struggles. While the movie hints at certain things concerning motives for the monsignor, it does not make clear what the monsignors believe or know and what their motivations are in denying the vampire threat which has clearly surfaced. So it is hard to assess the value of the movie as a dystopian piece focused on the real world.
I will have more to say about this in part 2 of the review tomorrow. In that, I will examine the movie, not from the lens of the Catholic Church and the sex abuse scandal, but from the lens of the wider society.
The basic plotline is this: the world is divided between vampires and human beings. The war was going poorly for the human beings, until a group of human individuals with superior strength and speed arrived on the scene. They were organized by the church as priests and fought back against the vampire menace. After the war, vampires were relegated to reservations and priests were disbanded and lived meager lives in a society unwilling to accept them. Until, the (illicit) daughter of one priest is kidnapped by vampires and he sets out on a rogue mission to gain her back. The church hierarchy opposes his mission and sends others after him. What you have here is an action movie with two power groups in a dystopian world in which human beings are secluded in dark cities controlled by the church.
It doesn't take much to see that the church in the movie represents any general church but specifically the Catholic church. Further, the monsignors, who control the city and the priests, represent the hierarchy of the Catholic church -- bishops, cardinals, and pop. One central conflict of the story, then, is that between the everyday priest who fights for the people and the hierarchy.
If one sees that basic conflict, it isn't a leap, I think, to see that one issue the movie plays with is that of a hierarchy that tries to hide a secret -- that vampires are still out there ready to destroy us. The fact that the vampires kidnap a young girl calls to mind the Church abuse scandals -- even though it is a girl that is kidnapped. The fact that the rogue priest is her father should call to mind that priests are often seen as the father of the members of their flock. So, we can see a blatant criticism of the Catholic church hiding the bad guys -- those who abuse children -- from the rest of the world and willing to condemn any priest who exposes them.
Except two problems emerge here: first, it's not clear that there's any evidence that the Catholic church actually threatened sanctions against a priest willing to expose the dark secret of sexual abuse. Certainly, the hierarchy did not pursue and condemn the abusive ministers enough and they switched them from one parish to another -- here we see the reservation of the vampires in the film -- but I'm not aware of any priests that were threatened for revealing the scandal.
The second problem is with the movie itself: it's unclear to what extent the monsignors in the movie are aware of the vampires and to what extent they sanction vampire activity outside of the cities. Does the monsignor really believe there is no vampire threat or is he just trying to keep people from anarchy by hiding the threat? The reason this proves relevant is that the monsignor would have to actively be hiding something he knew existed in order for it to mirror what happened in the Catholic Church abuse scandal. Perhaps the graphic novel makes this clearer, but the movie does not.
Which brings me to a criticism of the movie: the movie seems torn between being an action movie with little concern for plot thread or motive and being a thinking person's movie that looks at motives and power struggles. While the movie hints at certain things concerning motives for the monsignor, it does not make clear what the monsignors believe or know and what their motivations are in denying the vampire threat which has clearly surfaced. So it is hard to assess the value of the movie as a dystopian piece focused on the real world.
I will have more to say about this in part 2 of the review tomorrow. In that, I will examine the movie, not from the lens of the Catholic Church and the sex abuse scandal, but from the lens of the wider society.
Comments
Rurum Novarum 120
14/05/11 20:16
On 15 May 1891, Pope Leo XIII issued Rerum Novarum, On New Things, or, sometimes translated, On the Condition of Labor. It's the 120th anniversary of that letter. The letter marked the new era of Catholic Social Teaching, and led to such encyclicals as Hope and Joy, On Human Work, and Love in Truth. Rerum Novarum laid out the key themes of Catholic Social Teaching in the contemporary period: a concern for the poor in a world divided between free-market capitalism and state capitalism, a recognition of the right to work, health care, and education, the need for labor unions, and the need to embrace peace with justice.
We should keep these ideas in mind, for the problems of Leo XIII saw have not disappeared. In our current recessionary economy, we see attacks on labor, on unions, on health care, and on the right to work. We see rhetoric that says that those who are unemployed are lazy and need to take responsibility for themselves. And we see continual attacks on social programs that provide not even the bare minimum standard of living.
What Rerum Novarum calls us to remember is that Jesus Christ came to minister to the poor and that we all have a responsibility to care for the least of those among us. This means, first and foremost, recognizing that in the modern world, governments must step in to provide security for the least well off in society. This government must secure the social right to property while maintaining the ability of people to satisfy their needs and live a good life.
Let's take this opportunity to dedicate ourselves to that goal.
We should keep these ideas in mind, for the problems of Leo XIII saw have not disappeared. In our current recessionary economy, we see attacks on labor, on unions, on health care, and on the right to work. We see rhetoric that says that those who are unemployed are lazy and need to take responsibility for themselves. And we see continual attacks on social programs that provide not even the bare minimum standard of living.
What Rerum Novarum calls us to remember is that Jesus Christ came to minister to the poor and that we all have a responsibility to care for the least of those among us. This means, first and foremost, recognizing that in the modern world, governments must step in to provide security for the least well off in society. This government must secure the social right to property while maintaining the ability of people to satisfy their needs and live a good life.
Let's take this opportunity to dedicate ourselves to that goal.
We are Resurrection April 2011
25/04/11 15:04
We are a Resurrection People!
We spent 6 weeks sacrificing, reflecting, and changing our habits.
Now we have 8 weeks to celebrate our Resurrection! Our renewal in new forms of habits, new virtues, new life! What this time means is that we celebrate our change: we continue to practice the new virtues and habits that we developed: whether that be walking or other forms of exercise, abstaining from meat or other forms of diet, complimenting people or other forms of social interaction, praying or other forms of personal relationship with God, our emergence from Lent into the Easter season means that we continue to progress as new people.
Easter represents new life -- life in God reflected in how we live everyday with each other.
The changes we have worked so hard for must pay off in how we live our everyday life. This means thinking about the person who cut us off in traffic and hoping he or she makes her appointment on time and safe. It means talking to each other and trying to understand the other person. Listening!
All of these changes should reflect in our community and political involvement. I do not mean whether we vote democrat or republican, but the way we vote. How do we approach voting? How do we approach issues of social justice? How do we approach constructing the common good?
Christian life is lived everyday in community, the best political life is one lived in community seeking a common good and living virtuously so that all can be Resurrection!
That is our calling!
We spent 6 weeks sacrificing, reflecting, and changing our habits.
Now we have 8 weeks to celebrate our Resurrection! Our renewal in new forms of habits, new virtues, new life! What this time means is that we celebrate our change: we continue to practice the new virtues and habits that we developed: whether that be walking or other forms of exercise, abstaining from meat or other forms of diet, complimenting people or other forms of social interaction, praying or other forms of personal relationship with God, our emergence from Lent into the Easter season means that we continue to progress as new people.
Easter represents new life -- life in God reflected in how we live everyday with each other.
The changes we have worked so hard for must pay off in how we live our everyday life. This means thinking about the person who cut us off in traffic and hoping he or she makes her appointment on time and safe. It means talking to each other and trying to understand the other person. Listening!
All of these changes should reflect in our community and political involvement. I do not mean whether we vote democrat or republican, but the way we vote. How do we approach voting? How do we approach issues of social justice? How do we approach constructing the common good?
Christian life is lived everyday in community, the best political life is one lived in community seeking a common good and living virtuously so that all can be Resurrection!
That is our calling!
10 Ways to Commemorate Good Friday AND Earth Day
22/04/11 12:20
Here are ten ways you can commemorate Good Friday and Earth Day on 22 April 2011.
1. Don’t eat meat: a requirement for Catholics and many other Christians and does a lot to save the environment.
2. Walk or Bike to Good Friday Services
Bonus: Make it a family affair
3. Talk to someone about how abortion, the death penalty, mistreatment of women, and destruction of the environment are all part of the Culture of Death, and we cannot overcome the Culture of Death piecemeal by passing this or that piece of legislation against abortion or environmental degradation.
Bonus: write your legislators to produce the culture of death in all of its forms.
4. Adopt a pet from an animal shelter that kills.
Bonus: make sure it’s neutered
5. Walk the Stations of the Cross in the beautiful sunshine or the beautiful rain.
Many cities have outdoor Stations. Cincinnati, at midnight on Holy Thursday, you can join the hundred of people who climb the stairs from the river to Immaculata Church praying the rosary. In Mount Angel, you can pray the Stations as you walk the hill to the Abbey Church. I’m sure other cities have such beautiful places.
6. Carpool with someone: sorta the way Simon helped Jesus carry the cross.
7. On your lunch break, walk around the city and pick up trash, praying a bead on the rosary for each piece you pick up.
8. Paint a picture or write a poem that combines the themes of crucifixion and Earth Day.
9. Tell your loved ones you want a natural earth-friendly burial and call the funeral home to arrange it.
10. Play Copeland’s Appalachian Spring: the music for “Lord of the Dance” and Spring music.
Bonus #1: Make up your own list, post it below and share it with friends.
Bonus #2: Think of Ten Ways to Celebrate Easter and Earth Day and share it with friends.
Have a Blessed Easter!
1. Don’t eat meat: a requirement for Catholics and many other Christians and does a lot to save the environment.
2. Walk or Bike to Good Friday Services
Bonus: Make it a family affair
3. Talk to someone about how abortion, the death penalty, mistreatment of women, and destruction of the environment are all part of the Culture of Death, and we cannot overcome the Culture of Death piecemeal by passing this or that piece of legislation against abortion or environmental degradation.
Bonus: write your legislators to produce the culture of death in all of its forms.
4. Adopt a pet from an animal shelter that kills.
Bonus: make sure it’s neutered
5. Walk the Stations of the Cross in the beautiful sunshine or the beautiful rain.
Many cities have outdoor Stations. Cincinnati, at midnight on Holy Thursday, you can join the hundred of people who climb the stairs from the river to Immaculata Church praying the rosary. In Mount Angel, you can pray the Stations as you walk the hill to the Abbey Church. I’m sure other cities have such beautiful places.
6. Carpool with someone: sorta the way Simon helped Jesus carry the cross.
7. On your lunch break, walk around the city and pick up trash, praying a bead on the rosary for each piece you pick up.
8. Paint a picture or write a poem that combines the themes of crucifixion and Earth Day.
9. Tell your loved ones you want a natural earth-friendly burial and call the funeral home to arrange it.
10. Play Copeland’s Appalachian Spring: the music for “Lord of the Dance” and Spring music.
Bonus #1: Make up your own list, post it below and share it with friends.
Bonus #2: Think of Ten Ways to Celebrate Easter and Earth Day and share it with friends.
Have a Blessed Easter!
Lent and Human Nature
09/03/11 12:22
Today marks Ash Wednesday for most Christian denominations. In the Roman Catholic Church, parishioners attend a special mass in which the priest marks their foreheads with a cross made from ashes. Then, for the next forty days, Catholics sacrifice things they love and also attempt to change behaviors, moving from bad behaviors to good or incorporating more good behaviors into their lives.
The traditions and practices we engage in say something about our conceptions of human nature. Lent makes little sense if we don’t first believe that human beings are fallen creatures or, at least, that we fall occasionally. Nor does it makes sense if we aren’t redeemable in part through out actions. In many ways, the actions Catholics and Christians unertake during Lent recognize the truth of Aristotelian virtue theory -- that we can become more virtuous by consciously changing our behavior. Such an understanding of human behavior entails some modicum of free choice on our part.
The tradition of Lent, then, reveals a rather complex and sophisticated view of human nature. It recognizes our free choice in determining what kind of characters we have (virtuous or vicious) and the need for human beings to renew themselves occasionally. Such renewal begins with a recognition of our failings and our frailties. It cannot end there, though, and in many ways people corrupt Lent by forgetting that we can change and, moreover, that Easter represents, not only the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, but our own resurrection. Fundamentally, Lent is hope. If we only sacrifice and do not actively pursue avenues of expansion of ourselves, we’ve really missed what Lent is about and, more importantly, what Easter is about. In recognizing that Easter is the most important Holy Day of the year, we can come to grasp that Hope rises up in our future because we allow God to form us as the best persons we can possibly be.
May your Lent be filled with hope and renewal and may God bless us with the Grace we need to change our lives for the better -- to change who we are for the better.
The traditions and practices we engage in say something about our conceptions of human nature. Lent makes little sense if we don’t first believe that human beings are fallen creatures or, at least, that we fall occasionally. Nor does it makes sense if we aren’t redeemable in part through out actions. In many ways, the actions Catholics and Christians unertake during Lent recognize the truth of Aristotelian virtue theory -- that we can become more virtuous by consciously changing our behavior. Such an understanding of human behavior entails some modicum of free choice on our part.
The tradition of Lent, then, reveals a rather complex and sophisticated view of human nature. It recognizes our free choice in determining what kind of characters we have (virtuous or vicious) and the need for human beings to renew themselves occasionally. Such renewal begins with a recognition of our failings and our frailties. It cannot end there, though, and in many ways people corrupt Lent by forgetting that we can change and, moreover, that Easter represents, not only the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, but our own resurrection. Fundamentally, Lent is hope. If we only sacrifice and do not actively pursue avenues of expansion of ourselves, we’ve really missed what Lent is about and, more importantly, what Easter is about. In recognizing that Easter is the most important Holy Day of the year, we can come to grasp that Hope rises up in our future because we allow God to form us as the best persons we can possibly be.
May your Lent be filled with hope and renewal and may God bless us with the Grace we need to change our lives for the better -- to change who we are for the better.
Denver Child Refused Catholic Schooling
11/03/10 10:33
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/denver_archbishop_explains_why_lesbian_couples_child_not_admitted_to_school/
The above is one of many stories about the decision of a Catholic elementary school in Denver to deny admittance to a child who has lesbian parents because her parents are lesbian. Let's say we agree with certain things, even if we don't: that lesbianism is wrong according to Catholic teaching, that the school has a responsibility to uphold certain Catholic moral standards, that the archbishop has a prophetic duty to witness to Catholic teaching, that the lesbian couple involved promoted their lesbianism to challenge the school's policy.
Does that mean that we punishb the child because her parents are lesbian?
I would think that charity-- love -- insists that we do not. What is the effect on the child from this decision: a lack of education in a Catholic faith, a lack of quality education provided by a Catholic school, removal from friends she's already met at the school, disruption of her life. Both the lesbian parents and the archbishop are responsible for putting the child in this situation.
And one must wonder whether the school expels the children of other Catholics who engage in practices that do not accord with Catholic teaching: what about divorced and remarried couples (without an annulment)? What about lawyers who defend criminals they know are guilty? What about people who support the death penalty or who are pro-choice?
All the archbishop has done here is make a bad situation worse. Perhaps if we cared more about individuals and less about dogma and doctrine, we might have more converts. Perhaps we should remember what Jesus said of the pharisees: white-washed tombs.
The above is one of many stories about the decision of a Catholic elementary school in Denver to deny admittance to a child who has lesbian parents because her parents are lesbian. Let's say we agree with certain things, even if we don't: that lesbianism is wrong according to Catholic teaching, that the school has a responsibility to uphold certain Catholic moral standards, that the archbishop has a prophetic duty to witness to Catholic teaching, that the lesbian couple involved promoted their lesbianism to challenge the school's policy.
Does that mean that we punishb the child because her parents are lesbian?
I would think that charity-- love -- insists that we do not. What is the effect on the child from this decision: a lack of education in a Catholic faith, a lack of quality education provided by a Catholic school, removal from friends she's already met at the school, disruption of her life. Both the lesbian parents and the archbishop are responsible for putting the child in this situation.
And one must wonder whether the school expels the children of other Catholics who engage in practices that do not accord with Catholic teaching: what about divorced and remarried couples (without an annulment)? What about lawyers who defend criminals they know are guilty? What about people who support the death penalty or who are pro-choice?
All the archbishop has done here is make a bad situation worse. Perhaps if we cared more about individuals and less about dogma and doctrine, we might have more converts. Perhaps we should remember what Jesus said of the pharisees: white-washed tombs.
Lenten Sacrifice
25/02/09 17:14
De Mello writes in the way to love that those things which delight us and grip our souls can lead us to God. What does that have to do with Lent?
Lent is about sacrifice, but it isn't about just any old sacrifice. Giving up coca-cola or candy is sacrifice, but the question is why ought one to sacrifice them? It's not because they are necessary for life. Nor are they necessary for living well. We sacrifice such sweets because, in the end, they aren't good for us, and they lead us toward evil, not towards good.
Lenten sacrifice is about giving up those things which drag our souls down. It is an opportunity to recommit ourselves to life. That is why itis just as valid -- perhaps more so -- to commit one's self to something rather than denying one's self something. Several years ago, I committed myself to writing for one hour a night, at least 500 words. I want to be a writer. I want to express myself, but I was approaching this goal in an ad hoc fashion. I let inspiration drive me. But ay Bradbury points out that inspiration doesn't come if it doesn't know where you're at. You have to sit yourself in the seat everyday at the same time, so the muse knows where to find you. So I committed myself. In the end, this meant I sacrificed something -- television. But had I given up television, I would have gone back to it after lent. Committing myself to writing helped me stay away from television after lent and helped me follow a path that brings me peace and love -- which in the end is God.
This year, I am committing myself to writing 500 words of philosophy per day. I am also committing myself to spening more time with my eight year old. In the end, this will require sacrifice, but it will also require growth. Christ's resurrection is about growth, more than about death.
Lent is about sacrifice, but it isn't about just any old sacrifice. Giving up coca-cola or candy is sacrifice, but the question is why ought one to sacrifice them? It's not because they are necessary for life. Nor are they necessary for living well. We sacrifice such sweets because, in the end, they aren't good for us, and they lead us toward evil, not towards good.
Lenten sacrifice is about giving up those things which drag our souls down. It is an opportunity to recommit ourselves to life. That is why itis just as valid -- perhaps more so -- to commit one's self to something rather than denying one's self something. Several years ago, I committed myself to writing for one hour a night, at least 500 words. I want to be a writer. I want to express myself, but I was approaching this goal in an ad hoc fashion. I let inspiration drive me. But ay Bradbury points out that inspiration doesn't come if it doesn't know where you're at. You have to sit yourself in the seat everyday at the same time, so the muse knows where to find you. So I committed myself. In the end, this meant I sacrificed something -- television. But had I given up television, I would have gone back to it after lent. Committing myself to writing helped me stay away from television after lent and helped me follow a path that brings me peace and love -- which in the end is God.
This year, I am committing myself to writing 500 words of philosophy per day. I am also committing myself to spening more time with my eight year old. In the end, this will require sacrifice, but it will also require growth. Christ's resurrection is about growth, more than about death.