Angelus News | April 9, 2021 Vol 6 No 7

The other novelty in the film structure is how it creates
much drama and tension –– you could say it plays like a
thriller –– by opposing the apostles to two other groups, the
Jews and the Romans. Neither of these groups is really able
to accept Jesus.
I think the movie does a great job of showing the “scandal”
of the cross, how, as St. Paul says, “we preach Christ
crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles.”
If you will allow me a more personal question, what
has the cross meant for you as a Christian woman? And in
what way have you experienced the Resurrection?
The cross has been present in my life from the beginning.
When I was very young, my mother died unexpectedly of a
heart attack, without any warning. She had been the light,
the music, and the laughter in our family. When she passed
it was as if the light had been turned out and the music had
been turned off.
I don’t believe I had any help other than going to Mass and
looking at the cross. In front of that cross I understood a little
bit of the suffering of Jesus, but it was the promise of the
Resurrection that gave me back my joy, the realization that I
may live my whole life without my mother, but that one day
I would be back with her. This is the promise: He rose to let
us know that we can count on that, that we do not have to be
afraid. To receive this promise has been the greatest blessing
in my life.
In a 2009 address to the Roman Curia, Pope Benedict
XVI famously encouraged the Church to open a sort of
“Court of the Gentiles,” a space to dialogue with those
who may not believe. Can art, particularly film, be a space
for encounter? And can a movie like “Resurrection” speak
to the nonbeliever?
I certainly hope so. There is a quote by the Persian poet
Rumi: “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” I learned from him the
idea of meeting beyond the place where we disagree. There
has to be room for dialogue and connection. And it is not
that we are more divided now than we used to be, but we
have lost the grace to be able to disagree.
As far as “Resurrection” speaking to the nonbeliever, I can
tell you about my experience with “The Bible,” a series we
ran on the History Channel a few years ago. Many of our
friends in Hollywood told us not to make it, that no one
would watch it. So we were delighted when over a hundred
million people watched it in the U.S. alone. And so many
priests and pastors have come to share with us that many
people have returned to the Church because of the series.
Even people who did not know God came to know God.
How do you see your role as a Catholic woman in the
entertainment industry, an environment that is often
described as hostile to Catholics?
Roma Downey and Mark Burnett are the
married filmmaker duo behind “Resurrection.”
| METRO GOLDWYN MAYER
As we show in “Resurrection,” the great mission Jesus has
entrusted to his Church after the Pentecost is announcing
the gospel, and everyone answers their call to this mission
differently.
I have the privilege that I can combine what I believe with
what I do, and I have done it throughout my career, from
my days in “Touched by an Angel,” which at the height of
its success had over 25 million people tuning in every week,
hearing there is a God, that he loves you, and he wants to be
a part of your life.
And if you look at the movies I have produced and the work
I have created, you can see that this message is embedded
in all of them. Film and TV cannot provide a full answer to
one’s search for God, but they work as a visual way to remind
people that God loves them, is something that can begin to
open up hearts. Our lives are very busy and full of distractions;
we hardly ever have time to reflect. Films can help us
stop and create a time for us when we can hear this voice.
Hollywood is often described as a place that is hostile to
Catholics, but I have to tell you that my experience has been
different. Perhaps it is because I have been here and have
been an outspoken believer for so long, but people have
always been very respectful. I don’t feel I ever really had any
pushback. Somehow, I feel that God has come ahead of me
and made the path straight and prepared the way.
Stefano Rebeggiani is an associate professor of classics at the
University of Southern California.
April 9, 2021 • ANGELUS • 29