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Publications and Promotions
F ollowers ofthe Christian faith regard this time ofthe year as one ofthe highlights ontheir religious calendar as theycelebrate the birth and crucifiction of Christ.Theyreflectontheir personal
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Ignatiusin1491, first provides an overview of hislife and then discusses the changing fortunes ofthe order over the lastfive centuries.Particular attentionis paid to the aims andachievementsof whatisthelargest private educational systeminthe world, withsome ofthefootagehavingbeenfilmed at Stonyhurst College in England.It
spirituallives, values and philosophies and attempts to shedlightonwhatmotivates the
Jesuits, with comments from a number of attemptto communicate a spiritof peace and goodwillto their fellow men.
individualmembers ofthe order.The pro-
Quite remarkable, as the different folgrammeispresented byactor Cyril Cusack.
lowers ofthe Christian faith have been involvedin religious upheavals, intrigue, conflict and persecutions since the earliest times.Various religiousleaders have come
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to the fore during these troubled times and their stories still continue to fascinate.
Seeing thatthe Christianfaithis currently inthe spotlight, interesting material from the Central Video Collection featuring various aspects ofthis religionis highlighted here.
Some 800 years after his birth,St Francis of Assisi (1181/82-1226) is stillvenerated as one ofthe world's most remarkable religious figures.Though bornthe son of a wealthycloth merchant, he embraced poverty and, together with his first disciples, attempted to live according to the gospel.Through his itinerant preaching and
Since it was founded by Ignatius of Loyolain1540, thereligious order known as the Societyof
Jesus has been bothloved and feared.Once regarded as the spiritual elite ofthe Roman Catholic
Church, the Jesuits have always played a prominent role in educationalmatters, while at various times in history they were muchinvolvedin politicalintrigue.This programme, madeto commemoratethe birth of St dynamic leadership he reached thousands of people and his teachings had a profound influence onthe religious thinking of his time.This filmpresents his story againstthe background ofthe annual Calendimaggio festival, during whichthe citizens of Assisi remember their medieval heritage.It also relates the founding and growth ofthe
Franciscan orders of men and women, discussing the difficultyof living uptotheideals of St Francis today.Finallyit reflects upon the continuing appeal of his philosophy and depicts the influx of pilgrims and tourists whovisitthe various shrines associatedwith him.
St Patrick was a fifth century bishop who converted Ireland to Christianity.Beyond
that, relativelylittle is known about him, except what he reveals about his personalityin his`Confession'.Despite this, he is now the patron saintof everything Irish and this programme takes a look at someone who, over some1 500 years, has become anicon.While many ofthe faithful still undertake pilgrimagesinhisname, formany more he is the emblem ofthe St Patrick's
Day parades, which are especially popular inthe United States.The film examines his changingimage over the centuries, discussing suchinfluences such as the Norman conquests and the Reformation.Itis based onthe book The living legend of St Patrick by Alannah Hopkin.
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) was one ofthe most remarkable women ofthe
Middle Ages.Born of noble parents, she was beset byextraordinaryreligious visions from an early age.As prioress ofthe
Benedictine cloister of St Disibod onthe
Rhine, she recorded, painted and dramatisedthese visions, aswell as setting themto music, some of which survive to this day.
This programme dramatises a key period of herlife, whenthe befriending of a young, persecuted girl andthe care she shows for a
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dying, butexcommunicated crusader, leads herinto conflict with her abbot.Forbidden
to take communion and singing the divine service, she takes her case to the Archbishop of Mainz andis eventually acquitted.
Itends with her, some of her nuns and her priest, leaving the monastic community to found a new convent.The leading roles are taken by, amongstothers,Patricia
Routledge,Peter Vaughan and Janet
Suzman, and the makers make extensive use of Hildegard's original songs and illustrations.
As withtheir counterpartsin secularlife, the accomplishments of womeninthe
Roman Catholic Church have generally beenignored.Eventoday, nuns must struggle to be heard by the exclusively male hierarchy and are seldom allowed to play the leading roles to whichtheir numbers and abilities should have entitled them.This
two-partfilm offers a perspective onthe turbulent history and remarkable achievements of womenin religion, from pre-
Christian Celtic communities to the radical sisters ofthe1980s.Part I contrasts the experiences of activist nuns withthose of a young woman whose search for spirituality inthe1960sled her to aTrappist monastery near Rome.It also explores the roots and manifestations ofthe denigration of religious women.Part IIreviews exceptional periodsin history when women did wield powerin religiouslife and focuses specifically on early Christian experiencesin
Europe.Today many nuns are challenging the status quo and seek some measure of influence in church decisions.The filmmakers have interviewed a number of very eloquentindividuals who speakoftheir commitmentto this cause, as well as oftheir religious vocation and the role ofthe nunin modern society.
In pre-Christian Europe, many pagan religions held sway andin mostofthem women, especially older ones with a knowledge of healing, played a dominant role.As the power ofthe male-dominated church spread, these women were regarded with suspicion, especially as the influences of ancienttraditionswere slow to die out.The church regarded these remnants of female power as resistance to its authority and, over the years, there was a concerted effortto identify even positive aspects of paganism with devilworship.As
a result, countlessindividuals, the majority ofthemwomen, werepersecutedandkilled as witches.This programme takes anindepthlook atthe history ofthese persecutions.Inthe processit analyses the reasons for such witch hunts, discussing bothits religious and politicalimplications.
Made from a strongly feminist perspective, it reveals details of a previously neglected partof socialhistory and argues for an attemptto regainthe knowledge and spirituality thathasbeen suppressed for solong.
This programme traces the history of
Christian anti-semitism, the role ofthe church during the Naziperiod and the tentative pathtowards reconciliation between the Jews and Christiansduring thepost-war period.
In1973 members of an archaic sectofthe
Russian Orthodox
Church settledin a remote settlementin
Northern Alberta.They
see themselves as thelast
Christiansleft and by avoiding contact withthe outside world, they hope to preserve the purityof their faith.This film offers an insightinto a way of life thatis a perpetual actof worship of great moralcertainty.
By visiting both giantcathedrals and humble village churches, and talking to believers ranging fromthe Patriarch of
Alexandria to a young monk, the film reassesses the role of religionin Soviet society.
These titles are veryrelevantduring this period and will certainly enhance displaysin anylibrary!
Note: Reviews by Freddy Ogterop, Film/ Video
/ DVD Selector,Western Cape Provincial
Library Service.
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