Catholic Movies

While on the IMDB yesterday I was amused to find this cool 'Films of Faith' set being advertised. I say amused because it is something of an inside joke in my family about my love for Catholic theamed movies. Now I have been a 'Mormon' all of my life, I don't have any plans on converting to Catholicism, but I must say that I am a fan. Like Catholics, Mormons live with a faith that is very much wedded to an institutional church, which leads to a certain amount of blessings and a certain amount of disappointment. Human institutions regardless of how divine their mandate, are simply going to screw-up on a regular basis because they are staffed by humans! Much of the protestant world has abandoned strong institutional loyalties, so many of the issues that effect Catholics and Mormons in the area of organizational dynamics are not that big a problem for say a Methodist or Baptist. There have been many great 'Catholic' movies that deal with the issues of faith and church and the conflict that can often rise between them, a subject matter that Mormon cinema has yet to seriously tackle with the possible exception of Brigham City. So I must turn to Catholic film to find cinematic solace in this area and would just like to list a few of my favorites: The Shoes of the Fisherman (Pope Kiril almost makes me want to convert), The Cardinal (underrated Preminger) and The Song of Bernadette (under rated Vincent Price). I'm looking forward to many more great Catholic films to come.