WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE ‘PRO-CATHOLIC’ MOVIE?

NORTH HAVEN, Conn. — Shrek 2 and The Day After Tomorrow weren't the only big motion-picture events Memorial Day weekend. The Register and its sister publication, Faith & Family magazine, also used the weekend to launch a nationwide online Catholic movie poll.

“We couldn't, and won't try, to compete with the excellent lists of films that explore Catholic themes,” said the Register's executive editor, Tom Hoopes. “Instead, in a time when so many on-screen presentations of the Church are considered anti-Catholic, we want to compile a list of the most popular films that are ‘pro-Catholic’.”

To nominate films that celebrate Catholic life, go to www.ncregister. com and click on the banner at the top of the page before June 20. After that, visit again to vote on the final list. Results will be published in the Register and in Faith & Family in the fall. This new list will be unlike previous lists of notable motion pictures. In 1995, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of cinema, the Vatican compiled a list of 45 “great films.” The list, divided into the categories of religion, values and art, included such films as the silent film The Passion of Joan of Arc, The Bicycle Thief and Walt Disney's Fantasia.

The Register's poll will recognize movies that affirm Catholic life — its beliefs, lifestyle, morals and pious practices.

“It's a great idea,” said Louis Giovino, director of communications with the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. “The Passion of the Christ has demonstrated that when a movie on something specifically religious is done well, and in this case is a work of art, it's clear that there can be a huge, positive response to it. This poll is certainly legitimate. Every group comes out with a list of their favorite movies.”

“Unfortunately, nowadays, the choices are pretty slim that show the Church in a positive light,” Giovino added.

After polling people in the office Giovino said he was going to nominate The Passion of the Christ, The Song of Bernadette, and A Man for All Seasons.

Hoopes, who along with his wife, April, is also editorial director of Faith & Family, said other nominated movies show characters’ Catholic lives, even though faith questions aren't the central element of their stories: Return to Me, Henry V and The Rookie.

The online poll reads: “The Register is seeking nominations for the top movies that celebrate Catholic life. We don't seek to repeat the excellent lists of films that treat of Catholic themes. Rather, we want to recognize popular movies that show how attractive Catholic life can be. What movies make you proudest to be Catholic?”

Renowned Polish film director Krzysztof Zanussi, speaking before the First International Symposium on Cinema held recently at the Catholic University of Valencia, decried the polarization taking place between Catholics and the media.

“Catholics don't love the media and the media do not love Catholics,” said Zanussi, who received the prize for best director at the Cannes Film festival. “This has led the religious public to expect little from art, and this is terrible.”

Barbara Nicolosi, director of Act One: Writing for Hollywood and who is also a Register columnist, described one pleasure of The Passion of the Christ: It affirmed her family's spirituality.

“We are rosary people. We are people who really, really do Lent and for whom Passion week is the center of the year,” Nicolosi wrote on her Web log, Church of the Masses. “The images in The Passion of the Christ … are pictures we have seen in our mind's eye millions of times.”

The Register's poll was designed in cooperation with the nonprofit Catholic World Mission and is being promoted through the assistance of a variety of online entities such as Catholic.net, Catholic Exchange and Godspy.com.

Blogger Mia Storm was one of the first to vote. She also chose the films A Man for All Seasons, The Song of Bernadette and The Passion of the Christ.

“What's so attractive about ridicule, suffering and martyrdom?” Storm asked. “That is the essence of Catholicism — death to self for life to others. Properly understood, that is what should make us proud to be Catholic.”

Tim Drake writes from St. Cloud, Minnesota.