The Vatican film list from 1995 contains two films that Pope Francis declares to be his favourites. The first I’ve reviewed, Babette’s Feast; the second is an Italian film famed Italian director, Federico Fellini, his 1954 Oscar winner La Strada. ‘Fellini-esque’ is an important descriptor in film criticism these days. It denotes something whimsical, comic…

May 5 the Church celebrates a man who has indirectly affected the lives of a great many people on our shores, even today: Blessed Edmund Rice, the founder of the Presentation Brothers. As many readers will be aware, the Presentation Brothers are an order dedicated to helping and “forming Christ in the young,” particularly through…

OSV News Whether we want to admit it or not, life is full of changes. Some changes are easy, fun, and helpful: trying a different hairstyle, buying a new car, learning a new skill, landing a new job. Some changes challenge us – losing weight or quitting smoking – or transform us, like letting go…

As humanity grows in knowledge, it’s possible that we will forget the humbling and essential role of mystery in life, writes Jason Osborne Existence itself is a mystery, so it should come as no surprise that our lives are full of mystery too. By the grace of God, we Catholics know a great many things…

Given the content of most horror films, it’s not always a genre easily squared with the Catholic tradition. However, there is one horror film on the Vatican’s list of 45 significant films – Nosferatu (1922). The film is director FW Murnau’s unauthorised adaptation of Dracula and an important trend-setter in the realm of horror cinema.…

“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire,” our saint of the week is regularly quoted as saying. St Catherine of Siena certainly lived according to that maxim, so much so that not only is she a saint, she’s recognised as an esteemed ‘Doctor of the Church’ and…

The Wisdom of Pope Benedict XVI Without God man neither knows which way to go, nor even understands who he is. In the face of the enormous problems surrounding the development of peoples, which almost make us yield to discouragement, we find solace in the sayings of our Lord Jesus Christ, who teaches us: “Apart…

Learning to live and celebrate this Easter season confers many benefits on us, writes Jason Osborne Many of us are better at being penitential than we are at celebrating, unfortunately. As Pope Francis said way back in 2013, “sometimes these melancholic Christians’ faces have more in common with pickled peppers than the joy of having…

The Vatican’s 1995 list of significant films is very eclectic, catholic with a small ‘c’ (meaning broad and open minded). If one theme emerges strongly from the panoply, however, it’s the damage caused by war and the importance of human fraternity. I suppose it should hardly come as a surprise – many of those who…

Most of us are familiar with that famous image of a heavenly knight plunging his spear into a serpentine creature, even if we’re not overly familiar with the mysterious hero it represents. That would be St George, who is venerated far and wide to this day, despite the lack of concrete detail we have on…