What can great movies teach us about faith, virtue, suffering, courage, and the human person?

On Driving Home the Faith, Dr. Ken Craycraft speaks with Andrew Petiprin, founder and editor of the Spirituality of the Arts Institute and co-author of Popcorn with the Pope: A Guide to the Vatican Film List.

The conversation explores the Vatican's list of 45 important films, released in 1995 to mark the centenary of cinema. Rather than being simply a list of the "best" Catholic movies, the films are organized around three themes: Religion, Values, and Art.

Ken and Andrew discuss why the Catholic Church came to recognize cinema as an important art form and why Catholics should engage with great films even when those films are not explicitly religious.

Among the films they explore are:

• A Man for All Seasons and the courage of St. Thomas More
• The Passion of Joan of Arc and the enduring witness of St. Joan of Arc
• 2001: A Space Odyssey and the surprising depth Andrew discovered upon revisiting the film
• It's a Wonderful Life and its themes of prayer, community, human dignity, and the importance of one person's life
• The Leopard
• Modern Times
• Gandhi and some of the questions surrounding its inclusion on the Vatican list

The discussion also considers the relationship between art and evangelization. A film doesn't have to preach the Gospel explicitly to raise profound questions about human existence, morality, suffering, courage, sacrifice, and what ultimately gives our lives meaning.

Ken and Andrew also discuss St. Thomas More's martyrdom, the example of Blessed Franz Jägerstätter, and the importance of following one's conscience even when doing so comes at tremendous personal cost.

Ultimately, Popcorn with the Pope offers an invitation to look at movies differently—not merely as entertainment, but as works of art that can challenge us, deepen our understanding of the human person, and even open our hearts to the transcendent.

Great films can do more than entertain us. They can teach us how to see.