Until the real problem at the core of The Present Crisis is acknowledged, it will not be dealt with properly.
I read at La Nuova Bussola, in Italian, a horrifying bit of news.
In the Italian town of Rivoli, near Turin, there is a movie theater owned by the religious order The Salesians. founded by St. John Bosco. They are to show at that movie theater a highly morally offensive movie, “Chiamami col tuo nome… Call Me By Your Name”. It is, basically, about pederasty and involves a “sex story between a 24-year-old and a 15-year-old, with a lot of masturbation and other obscenities”.
In a movie theater owned by the Salesians.
What would St. John Bosco say about this situation? The mind reels.
I wonder what Salesian Card. Rodriguez Maradiaga thinks about this movie.
CNS has a review of the movie, but the page would not open for me at the time of this writing. Bottom line: morally offensive. HERE
According to an Italian Catholic cinema organization, the film is “poetic”. HERE
Italian bishops, you ask? HA!
Loading ...
Yikes. Our parish was a Salesian parish for a while and our priests were the best. They wouldn’t compromise on doctrine and cared about protecting our children and encouraging adults to live chastely. We miss them.
“Down with this sort of thing!”
(With apologies to Arthur Matthews and Graham Linehan, writers of “Father Ted”, British sitcom of the late 90’s.) (See here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT9xuXQjxMM)
On a more serious note, I know very little about the Salesians but this doesn’t put them in a good light. How could they possibly let this happen in a cinema owned by them? It’s pretty outrageous really. Still, as in Father Ted, this rumpus should be good for publicity for the film and get viewers turning up in droves!
“I wonder what Salesian Card. Rodriguez Maradiaga thinks about this movie.”
When I spotted the headline his was the first name that came to my mind. We can assume what he “thinks” about it.
We know what John Bosco, Dominic Savio think about it. “Death, but not sin” was Dominic’s motto. Would that it be the motto of our episcopate.
What are the Salesians doing owning a movie theater in the first place? The entertainment biz has been walking down our morals for years and “Call me by your name” -and similar- is only the logical destination, the third basement, and the excavation continues for a stairway to Hell.
The Salesian movie theater would have had to be showing many morally offensive movies for years and for decades, if they have been in business that long. There are very, very few movies, even of relatively ancient vintage, that do not have something offensive to faith and/or morals in them, if not something salacious, then something vulgar, some bad language, some bad example and on and on. Very,very few have been vectors of the Gospel or Gospel values. Better they should open a liquor store or a race track.
PLEASE LORD let your HOLY Spirit bring this to the people that it needs to be brought to, to CANCEL this movie and never let anything like this be called ‘poetic’ or shown in a theatre especially one associated with the Salesians. GOD HAVE MERCY on us and on the WHOLE world.
A good sign why this whole push for legitimizing the presence of “chaste” homosexual priests in the Church – like that of Fr. James Martin’s – is complete BS. Legitimizing such would be to legitimize an unofficial gay subculture in the Church, which, after about a year or two of playing the “oppressed” victim card – would soon become the official gay subculture with no practical expectation for chastity, but plenty for accompaniment.
So sad to read this. I was educated by the Salesians, as were the boys of many working class Catholic families in my home town. I am ever thankful for their teaching me the same faith as my dear parents; and I remember clearly Saint Dominic Savio’s motto, death rather than sin, which obviously rings hollow to modern Salesians. But I remember best the joy of Saint John Bosco’s feast day on 31st January and everything he did for young people, and also the feast of Mary, Help of Christians, on 24th May, so dear to St John Bosco’s heart. We need to invoke the BVM under that title in these diabolical times.
What on earth could they be thinking? Don Bosco would have burned down the theater before showing something like that.
I haven’t seen it, and won’t be seeing it, but every description of the movie I could find says the boy is 17, not 15.
This movie is basically child porn, and portrays acts that are landing our priests in jail. Any religious order that would be involved in showing this needs to be investigated.
This is not art. It is smut that portrays child abuse.
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/abuse-boston-globe-slams-academy-award-nominated-gay-film-that-normalizes-m
Joseph Sciambra’s blog post is a graphic and realistic review. Not for children’s eyes, but very truthful:
https://josephsciambra.com/call-me-by-your-name-and-the-perpetuation-of-boy-love-in-gay-male-culture/
Some might fault the Jesuits – they have some problematic priests. Yet there no comparison with the ‘Spirit of V2’ bomb craters which are the modern Salesians or Redemptorists. Plentiful vocations in Africa and other poorer parts of the world, with, say, passable levels of recruiting in Poland, which are efficiently sent in some numbers to places like Ireland or Belgium with few young native vocations, means collapse into retirement or investment vehicles with a nice HQ, won’t be their fate imminently. A good many religious orders are now barely big enough to part staff a board of directors.
When Rome is restored, the Salesians need to have the Franciscan of the Immaculate treatment visited on them, especially since senior Salesians have been much used in the attempted Bergoglian evisceration of the Order.
Its not outrageous, its a calculated move by that infamous lavender mafia. The Salesians do a lot of good in following the example of Saint Bosco, they are an order that does a lot of work with children. They have been plagued by their own abuse scandals involving youth, much like that film illustrates.
A gay love story between a 20 something and a teenager involving poetic mastutbation and other poetic obscenities. What could go wrong.
Today, la Bussola issued a new article saying that a lot of other theaters owned by religious orders or by catholic organizations put this movie in their programs. I am left wordless.