Confession in the Movies: The Transmission of Sacramental Tradition Through Film

Authors

  • Eileen M. Condon University of Toledo

Abstract

Not unlike confessional role-playing among seminarians or pre-sacramental practice sessions between parents and children, cinematic confession scenes re-present Penance as a traditional performance, making a teachable cultural moment out of a rite which, when performed in solemnity, cannot be observed or examined directly by a third party. For this reason, movies can be a useful tool for introducing Catholic penitential belief and practice to students in the secular education classrooms, as the author discovered in working with Catholic and non-Catholic students at the University of Toledo. Confession scenes from six films can be related to themes in medieval exempla, church teachings, and folklore related to the Sacrament of Penance.

Downloads

Published

2000-09-01

How to Cite

Condon, E. M. (2000). Confession in the Movies: The Transmission of Sacramental Tradition Through Film. Catholic Education: A Journal of Inquiry and Practice, 4(1). Retrieved from https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/cej/article/view/228

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 1 (2000)

Section

Focus Section

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).