The Word on Fire Show - Catholic Faith and Culture

WOF 533: Hollywood & Catholic Priests

21 snips

Apr 13, 2026

Bishop Robert Barron, a Catholic bishop and theologian known for media evangelization, explores Hollywood's strange love-hate relationship with Catholic imagery. He discusses why films use priests and sacral aesthetics, analyzes portrayals in classics like The Exorcist, The Mission, and Calvary, and considers how filmmakers and viewers should approach religious themes on screen.

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INSIGHT

Catholicism's Visual Language Fits Cinema

Catholicism is inherently cinematic because of its colorful symbols, stained glass, and pictorial storytelling that film naturally amplifies.
Barron contrasts this with Protestant iconoclasm and cites architecture like Sainte-Chapelle and Orvieto's facade as visually cinematic examples.

ANECDOTE

Father Flanagan Going Into Dark Places

Spencer Tracy's Father Flanagan in Boys Town models a priest who goes into dark places to redeem sinners.
Bishop Robert Barron recalls a family connection: his uncle met the real Father Flanagan and watched the film at Boys Town with him asleep on his shoulder.

ANECDOTE

The Exorcist's Creepy Supernatural Shift

The Exorcist unsettles by creeping escalation, showing a young Jesuit's skepticism transformed by an older exorcist's supernatural orientation.
Barron recounts meeting William Friedkin and watching the film again as spokesman for Chicago exorcism discussions.

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Welcome back to the Word on Fire Show. I'm Matthew Petrusek, senior director of the Word on Fire Institute and the host of the Word on Fire Show. Thank you for joining us. Hollywood is not known for being friendly to Christianity in general or Catholicism in particular, especially nowadays; unfortunately, there is no shortage of storylines and characters that mock and even demonize believers. At the same time, however, whenever the film industry wishes to depict a "religious looking" scene or add a transcendent element to the plot, it frequently employs Catholic architecture, Catholic sacramentals, and even Catholic priests to do so. What should we make of this ambivalence to the faith? What does Hollywood get wrong, and what, perhaps to our surprise, does Hollywood get right about Catholicism and the priesthood? What do these portrayals tell us more broadly about potential openness within the entertainment industry to God's existence, the divinity of Christ, good and evil, and life after death? Here to take a look at some pivotal classic and contemporary films that prominently feature Catholicism and Catholic priests, with an eye to unpacking their significance for the wider entertainment culture, is Bishop Robert Barron.

WOF 533

00:00 | Introduction

01:19 | Bishop Barron's recent watchlist

02:44 | What movies have meant to Word on Fire

04:06 | Artificial intelligence and cinema

05:10 | Hollywood and the Catholic priesthood

07:06 | Examining the evangelical strategies of Christian studios

08:43 | Boys Town (1938)

12:10 | The Exorcist (1973)

21:13 | True Confessions (1981)

24:42 | The Mission (1986)

29:07 | Calvary (2014)

32:51 | How best to portray Catholicism and the priesthood in movies

34:17 | How best to watch movies depicting the priesthood

36:04 | Listener question: How did St. Thérèse help on CATHOLICISM?

38:26 | Join the Word on Fire Institute

Links:

Word on Fire Institute: https://institute.wordonfire.org/

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