Film festival attendees mesmerized by the real
deal
By DIANE DE LA PAZ
Special to the National Catholic Reporter
An Irish-American priest from
Philadelphia may have looked out of place among the neon-clad skiers and
cell-phone-carrying actresses at the Sundance Film Festival. But Fr. John
McNamee said that, for the most part, he enjoyed himself among those he called
the beautiful people.
McNamee flew to the January festival with Eugene Martin, another
Philadelphian, whom McNamee baptized as a baby about 30 years ago. Diary
of a City Priest, a dramatic feature based on a book of the same name by
McNamee and directed by Martin, played to sold-out houses in Park City, Utah,
and during the post-screening question-and-answer sessions the two men warmed
to the crowds.
Its a form of homilizing, McNamee said during an
interview in the Sundance media hospitality suite overlooking the spectacular
Park City Mountain Resort. It might be a chance to speak the word where
it might not otherwise be said.
McNamee and Martin share a hope that their film offered both
Catholics and non-Catholics insights into a parish priests inner
life.
You dont have realistic portrayals, you dont
hear the authentic voices of priests in movies and television, Martin
said. When John speaks to people afterward, people are mesmerized by what
the real deal is.
McNamee, for his part, said he hopes Diary portrays
his church as a place that reaches beyond its geographic and denominational
borders. He quoted English Dominican Fr. Herbert McCabe: Theres
only one community: the human community. Neighborhoods around the parish,
McNamee added, are like dough, and the church can act as leavening.
Martin hailed McNamee as an inspiration to younger priests and to
the diverse people living in North Philadelphia. St. Malachys is
about a quarter African-American, a quarter Latino and half white families from
the suburbs, he said, adding that the parish has been a sanctuary for
Haitian refugees, immigrant farm workers and searchers such as him.
Im having a long journey, finding my way spiritually.
Its nice to know the doors are open.
Philadelphians belong to a dozen or more religious sects, Martin
added, but St. Malachys remains available to all of them. In
Johns church, youre welcome. You dont have to worry about
what to say and what to wear.
Yet McNamee said he knows many people still consider the Catholic
church to be insular. Guys of my generation believe it could be more
outgoing and resilient than it is.
As pastor at St. Malachys, McNamee reaches out to his
community in fairly mundane ways -- opening a food pantry, helping teenagers
apply for college scholarships -- and in an artistic fashion. In his poetry and
memoirs, he seeks to tell the truth about his spiritual life.
I like the conciseness, the crystallization of poetry,
he said.
Martin said he prefers the journal prose of McNamees
Diary of a City Priest. The pastor wrote those journal entries in a
hurry, between Masses, between answering knocks on the food pantry door,
meetings with parish schoolteachers, calls to the plumber and trips to
parishioners court hearings.
One of my favorite writers is Raymond Carver, who wrote
short stories when he didnt have time to write them, Martin said.
Carver, who as a young man had to support his family with janitorial jobs,
wrote under extreme duress. That brings out another kind of
writing.
National Catholic Reporter, March 30,
2001
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