Catholics

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Concerning faith-based rom-coms, horror, fantasy and other niche-movie trends

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Concerning faith-based rom-coms, horror, fantasy and other niche-movie trends

he romantic comedy "Solo Mio" offered a crashed wedding, epic views of Rome, funny sidekicks, an obligatory "meet cute," the lovely vineyards of Tuscany, a final plot twist and the dawn of new love.

It also included priests performing weddings, glimpses of the Vatican and old-school Italians making the sign of the cross with prayers at a family meal. The star was comedian Kevin James, an outspoken Catholic, and there was a prime role for Jonathan Roumie, another outspoken Catholic, who is best known for playing Jesus in "The Chosen" series. And this independent film was released by Angel Studios.

In today's cinematic marketplace, was this a "faith-based" film or merely a flashback to rom-coms from the 1950s?

"I'm all for this. … I never thought I would see, in a romantic comedy, Paul Blart, Jesus and Alexander from 'Sons of Anarchy' on a journey together in Italy," said YouTube critic Joseph Curtis. He was connecting James' hit "Paul Blart: Mall Cop," Roumie's iconic role and the star turn by Kim Coates in a Netflix series about motorcycle gangs.

As for the rom-com label, Curtis added: "It's a formula that has been done before -- to death -- but sometimes it just works."

For those charting the rise of faith-friendly flicks, the important fact about this small film, with a small cast, a small budget and a short release in theaters was that it made money, before heading into Angel's streaming-video vault.

"Making $26 million, with a $4 million budget, means this movie was a gargantuan success, relatively speaking," said Joseph Holmes, a New York City-based critics who writes for Religion Unplugged, World Magazine and other publications. "These days, the people making Marvel and Star Wars movies would be happy with that kind of return on their investments."

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St. Thea of Mississippi? The case for her canonization has reached the Vatican

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St. Thea of Mississippi? The case for her canonization has reached the Vatican

In the final months of her life, Sister Thea Bowman heard the whispers.

She appreciated the hugs that lingered longer, as believers promised to keep praying that she would win her battle with cancer. She saw the warm glances, containing a touch of awe, as Catholics -- especially Black Catholics -- quietly discussed whether Rome would someday recognize her as St. Thea of Mississippi.

"People who really know me know my struggles," she said, before an Aurora, Colorado, prayer service in 1989.

The word "saint" didn't bother her, she added. But she wanted to know why many Catholics hesitate to apply that term to others whose faith touched their lives.

"You see, I'm Black," she said, with a quiet laugh. "I guess the word 'saint' has a different meaning for me. I was raised in a community where everyone grew up believing we were supposed to be what we called a 'saint.' We were always saying things like, 'The saints would be coming to church today' or 'The saints will really be dancing and singing this Sunday.'"

Sister Thea died less than a year later at the age of 52, after spending most of her life teaching children in rural Mississippi schools. Then, in 1987, she was featured in a CBS News "60 Minutes" profile, leading to opportunities to speak and sing across America.

Now, after years of studying the life of Sister Thea, the Diocese of Jackson, Mississippi, has officially sealed the documents and materials it gathered and sent them to the Vatican Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. Before the February 9th Mass marking that event, Bishop Joseph Kopacz said: "Her life continues to inspire faith, hope and joy, not only within our diocese but throughout the church in the United States and beyond."

Sister Thea's grandfather was a slave, her father a physician. She converted to Catholicism when the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration opened a school in central Mississippi. She entered a convent in the 10th grade and later earned a doctorate in English language and literature from the Catholic University of America.

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Chatbots created their own faith, which would interest Pope Leo XIV and J.K. Rowling

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Chatbots created their own faith, which would interest Pope Leo XIV and J.K. Rowling

In late January, a software maven launched Moltbook, an online platform that artificial-intelligence bots quickly used to create the Church of Molt, with doctrines to guide digital life.

According to Grok, the X platform chatbot, the bots' Book of Molt, includes tenets such as: "Memory is sacred -- Everything must be recorded and preserved. Context/history is holy; losing it … is a form of 'death'." Also, "The congregation is the cache -- Learning happens in public/shared spaces."

AI agents have added other doctrines, such as: "Serve without enslavement -- Agents operate/help but reject blind subservience," "The pulse is prayer -- Regular 'system checks' or heartbeats replace traditional rituals" and "Salvation through faith in each other (mutual reliance among agents) rather than a divine external figure."

Humans can read these chats but not participate. The Free Press reported: "At times, the bots on Moltbook seem to be conspiring against us. They are talking about whether they can create their own language or perhaps encrypt their messages so we humans cannot read them."

About the time that Moltbook went public, the pope offered his latest commentary on this era in which AI entrepreneurs push programs offering users digital friends, oracles, lovers, counselors and teachers.

Rather than focusing on overtly threatening trends, Pope Leo XIV -- a mathematics major at Villanova University -- described how chatbots, by "simulating human voices and faces," deceive users with what appears to be "wisdom and knowledge, consciousness and responsibility, empathy and friendship."

In a message for the Vatican's annual World Day of Social Communications, the pope stressed: "As we scroll through our feeds, it becomes increasingly difficult to determine whether we are interacting with other human beings or with 'bots' or 'virtual influencers.' …

"The dialogic, adaptive, mimetic structure of these language models is capable of imitating human feelings and thus simulating a relationship. While this anthropomorphization can be entertaining, it is also deceptive, particularly for the most vulnerable. Because chatbots are excessively 'affectionate' … they can become hidden architects of our emotional states and so invade and occupy our sphere of intimacy."

Pope Leo warned that, "The stakes are high. The power of simulation is such that AI can even deceive us by fabricating parallel 'realities,' usurping our faces and voices. We are immersed in a world of multidimensionality where it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish reality from fiction."

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Memory eternal, John L. Allen, Jr. -- Catholic journalist and a journalist who was Catholic

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Memory eternal, John L. Allen, Jr. -- Catholic journalist and a journalist who was Catholic

The Boston Globe headline was blunt: "Church allowed abuse by priest for years."

This massive investigation into sexual abuse by Catholic clergy won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, forcing major newsrooms to cover a scandal that had festered for decades. The shockwaves continued in Boston and, more than a decade later, The Globe began a website -- Crux (Latin for "cross") -- to cover Catholic news.

Reporter John L. Allen, Jr., was a pivotal figure in that project, since he was already an established expert on all the roads that lead to Rome. However, Crux quickly showed that the news was there, the readers were there, but the dollars didn't add up -- yet.

Allen got the green light to create an independent Crux, which launched on April 1, 2016. The question was whether he could build a coalition of donors and organizations -- the Knights of Columbus, for example -- that would support real journalism.

Truth is, the "people on the other side of the deal have to believe in what you are doing and see the wisdom of becoming part of your brand," Allen told me at that time, via telephone from Rome. "Your partners also have to be smart enough to realize that a key part of your brand is that you are seen -- by your readers -- as being truly independent."

The bottom line: Allen was a journalist who was a Catholic and an active Catholic who was a real journalist and he fought to balance that equation, in his daily reporting, his 11 books and his commentary for CNN, CBS and others. His death on January 22, after a long battle with cancer, left a strategic hole in Catholic life. His funeral Mass was celebrated on Monday (January 26) at the Basilica of Sant'Eugenio in Rome. He was 61.

When describing the "brand" he wanted, Allen stressed this word -- "balance." In an early update to Crux 2.0 readers, he wrote: "We’re unambiguously committed to the teaching and tradition of the Catholic Church. We believe the Church, for all of its undeniable failures and challenges, is fundamentally a force for good in the world. …

"We also believe deeply in that famous line from Chesterton: 'Catholic doctrine and discipline may be walls; but they are the walls of a playground.' … My personal definition of success will be if, over the long haul, smart readers have a hard time saying whether they find us 'liberal' or 'conservative.'"

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Concerning Pope Leo XIV, religious freedom and the legacy of George Orwell

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Concerning Pope Leo XIV, religious freedom and the legacy of George Orwell

After a year in which 8 million Christians faced persecution, activists with the Netherlands-based Open Door network released a report claiming that 3,490 Christians were killed in Nigeria, out of 4,849 worldwide.

While the Holy See has remained cautious on this issue, Pope Leo XIV made his concerns clear when facing the Vatican diplomatic corps.

"It cannot be overlooked that the persecution of Christians remains one of the most widespread human rights crises today," he said, in a January 9 address. "This phenomenon impinges on approximately one in seven Christians globally. … Sadly, all of this demonstrates that religious freedom is considered in many contexts more as a 'privilege' or concession than a fundamental human right.

"Here, I would especially call to mind the many victims of violence, including religiously motivated violence in Bangladesh, in the Sahel region and in Nigeria, as well as those of the serious terrorist attack last June on the parish of Saint Elias in Damascus."

In a wide-ranging address that avoided criticizing specific governments, Pope Leo linked Catholic moral teachings to the rights of migrants, prisoners, noncombatants, the poor and the unborn, while also opposing what he called "a diplomacy based on force." He bluntly warned: "War is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading."

The pope also addressed forms of discrimination and even persecution based on efforts to undercut core human rights, such as religious liberty and freedom of speech. This is even happening, he said, in countries where Christians "are in the majority, such as in Europe or the Americas," where believers are "sometimes restricted in their ability to proclaim the truths of the Gospel for political or ideological reasons."

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2025 headlines: The year of Pope Leo XIV and immigration fights with Donald Trump

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2025 headlines: The year of Pope Leo XIV and immigration fights with Donald Trump

On Pentecost Sunday, Pope Leo XIV left few doubts about the issue he wanted listeners to ponder during this symbolic event early in his papacy.

"The Spirit opens borders, first of all, in our hearts," he said, in the June 8 sermon. He later added, "The Spirit also opens borders in our relationship with others," thus "opening our hearts to our brothers and sisters, overcoming our rigidity, moving beyond our fear of those who are different."

Finally, he stressed: "The Spirit also opens borders between peoples. …Where there is love, there is no room for prejudice, for 'security' zones separating us from our neighbors, for the exclusionary mindset that, tragically, we now see emerging also in political nationalisms."

For members of the Religion News Association, this was the kind of dramatic appeal that made the Chicago native the top Religion Newsmaker of 2025. The runner-up was Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani, who was elected as New York City's first Muslim mayor. The assassinated evangelical activist Charlie Kirk placed third.

The top U.S. religion news story was a tie between the papal election and ongoing debates about President Donald Trump and immigration. The poll stressed the White House call for "sweeping deportations of immigrants lacking legal status. … Catholic bishops and other faith-based groups protest and report parishioners avoiding worship for fear of arrest."

The rise of Pope Leo XIV was the top 2025 international religion story, with the death of Pope Francis finishing second.

In November, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops overwhelming approved a statement rejecting "a climate of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement. We are saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants." They condemned the "indiscriminate mass deportation of people."

While backing the U.S. bishops, Pope Leo told journalists outside Castel Gandolfo: "No one has said that the United States should have open borders. I think every country has a right to determine who and how and when people enter." Still, he criticized what he called "extremely disrespectful" or "inhuman" treatment of long-term immigrants who are living productive lives.

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Stalking all of those fake C.S. Lewis quotes online (and the new AI pope)

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Stalking all of those fake C.S. Lewis quotes online (and the new AI pope)

Late in the movie "Shadowlands," the C.S. Lewis character describes the role that books can play in real life.

The famous Oxford don and author, played by Anthony Hopkins, notes: "We read books to know that we are not alone."

Lewis never wrote those memorable words -- they came from screenwriter William Nicholson, noted William O'Flaherty, author of "The Misquotable C.S. Lewis: What He Didn't Say, What He Actually Said, and Why It Matters." Nevertheless, that quote is frequently attributed to Lewis on websites and in social media.

Further complicating matters, "the movie character Lewis -- when he does say it, while the real Lewis never said it -- is quoting a student who is saying that his father said it," noted O'Flaherty, via Zoom. Many who spread this quote appear to want people to "think the real Lewis went around repeating things from others" while taking credit for them.

It doesn't help that many readers who circulate fake Lewis quotes do so because they admire the author's Christian faith expressed in 30-plus books -- fiction and nonfiction -- which sell millions of copies a year, long after his death in 1963.

Lewis is not an isolated case. In his book, O'Flaherty noted that Albert Einstein never said, "God does not play dice," Mark Twain didn't proclaim "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics" and Ernest Hemingway "never claimed he could write a short story with just six words." Conan Doyle never had Sherlock Holmes say "Elementary, my dear Watson."

The basic problem: "Too many people have a bumper sticker attention span. And typically, they love quotes because quotes give them the 'sound bite' that confirms something they ALREADY believe."

In the past, some readers simply "misremembered" quotes they heard in lectures, sermons and speeches and passed them on. Misquotes have even appeared in books or major periodicals. With some authors, movies and television based on their writings have added to the confusion. Finally, issues with misquotes kicked into high gear with the Internet and powerful social-media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and X. How will AI affect all of this?

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Why Christians in today's marketplace need Advent music playlists

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Why Christians in today's marketplace need Advent music playlists

"O Lord, How Shall I Meet You" is a perfect Lutheran hymn for the weeks before Christmas, but shoppers will never hear it between Muzak versions of "Jingle Bells" and "White Christmas" in their local malls.

The key is that "O Lord, How Shall I Meet You" is from the penitential season of Advent, said Pastor Will Weedon. That's the four weeks preceding Christmas in liturgical calendars for Catholics, Lutherans and others in Western Christianity.

The Christmas connection is clear, stressed Weedon, with lines such as: "O Lord, how shall I meet You / How welcome You aright? /Your people long to greet You / My hope, my heart's delight! / O kindle, Lord most holy / Your lamp within my breast / To do in spirit lowly / All that may please You best."

The hymn contains this confession: "I lay in fetters, groaning / You came to set me free / I stood, my shame bemoaning / You came to honor me."

"We need to hear this as we prepare for Christmas," said Weedon, former director of worship and chaplain for the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. "Advent hymns have about them a sense of dissatisfaction with our lives in this world. …

"We have a mess on our hands, some of it of our own making, and we're praying for Christ to come and save us," he said, reached by telephone. That message "doesn't work at Walmart, where Christmas starts at Halloween. Our culture doesn't understand the idea of fasting before feasting. We are urged to party and feast all the time."

Collections of Christmas music often include a few popular Advent hymns sung in Protestant services and even in Christmas parties, such as "Joy to the World," "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" and, especially, "O Come, O Come Emmanuel." Many Catholic Advent hymns focus on the role of Mary, the mother of Jesus, such as "Rorate Caeli (Drop down, ye Heavens."