Two Papal Thumbs Up for John Paul II

CNS STORY has the story here!

The close-up:

It isn't every day that a pope gets to watch himself in a supporting role in a major movie.

Pope Benedict XVI did, and his character even prompted the biggest applause line at the world premiere screening of "John Paul II" Nov. 17 at the Vatican's audience hall.

The film depicted Pope John Paul, played by Jon Voight, selecting Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, portrayed by Polish actor Mikolaj Grabowski, as head of the doctrinal congregation in 1981.

"My mission is to lead the church into the third millennium ... and you will help me do it, my dear friend Cardinal Ratzinger," Pope John Paul says in the movie. The 6,000 people in attendance clapped and cheered.

Pope Benedict, Vatican officials and invited guests saw an abbreviated Italian-language version of the film, which will air on CBS as a two-part miniseries Dec. 4 and 7. It was being shown in Italy in late November.

The movie opens with the 1981 assassination attempt against Pope John Paul and focuses heavily on the late pontiff's role in sparking the fall of communism in his native Poland and the rest of Eastern Europe.

Pope John Paul is shown watching with interest as a U.S. envoy shows him satellite photos of Warsaw Pact troops; later, he tells Poland's outlawed Solidarity movement not to give up the fight for freedom. Meanwhile, in the Kremlin, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev is saying of the pope: "This man must be stopped."

Much of the film goes by like a video version of John Paul's greatest hits, and the scenes and lines are already familiar to anyone who followed his pontificate. The movie, which had Vatican consultation and cooperation, is so accurate that one could almost say Pope John Paul wrote the screenplay.

(snip)

Pope Benedict, who sat in a place of honor and in the most comfortable seat in the audience hall, gave the movie two thumbs up afterward -- though he had written his speech before the viewing. He said the movie honored the late pope's memory and stimulated reflection about the meaning of his papacy. Pope Benedict also tried to explain why these films are striking a chord with audiences.

"It's the latest confirmation of the love people have for Pope Wojtyla and of their great desire to remember him, to see him again and to feel him close," he said.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe premiers December 9th. John Paul II airs on December 4th and 7th. Two films that respect religion and religious figures go public in the same month, which happens to be in the season of Advent. Can anyone else hear the laughter of God in this "coincidence?"

Sounds like dedicated Fools have convinced the cha-ching!-ers in tinseltown and beyond that taking Christians seriously benefits the bottom line. Instruments of evangelization, operating through the highly influencial cultural mediums of television and cinema, now can deliver the Good News to the enshadowed societies of our world! God be praised!