On the Friday morning before that epic Notre Dame-USC football game a couple of weeks ago, new Center assistant director Elizabeth Kirk and I had a chance to meet with Jim Caviezel, who of course is best known for playing Christ in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ (but who shouldn't be forgotten for his work in other films, including the much-lesser known but impressive, Frequency, with Dennis Quaid). Mr. Caviezel had expressed an interest in getting to know the Center as part of his weekend at Notre Dame, which included his participation in the rosary at the grotto on Thursday night.

Mr. Caviezel spoke passionately about many things having to do with a spiritual renaissance at Notre Dame. He urged us to take to heart the tremendous influence the University enjoys and to use it as a force for good. But when asked how the Center might best put these ideals into practice, his one-word answer was a surprising one:

"Film."

More precisely, his answer was, "Film school."

Film, Mr. Caviezel insisted, is the most important means of communication of our time, and he urged us, or at least Notre Dame in general, to consider founding a film school that would rival the secular orientation of the nation's most prestigious film school.

Which is where?

You guessed it. USC.

Joining Mr. Caviezel that morning was Fr. Willy Raymond, C.S.C., national director of Family Theater Productions in Hollywood, the institution founded in 1947 by the renowned Fr. Patrick Peyton, C.S.C. (now a candidate for sainthood), the man who coined the famous motto: "The family that prays together, stays together." The mission of Family Theater Productions is to evangelize culture by using mass media to entertain, inspire and educate families. FTP produces television dramas, documentaries, and radio programs, while also conducting the annual Angelus Awards Student Film Festival to honor college-level student films that respect the universal human family. More about FTP can be found at www.familytheater.org.

Elizabeth and I were glad to communicate to Mr. Caviezel and Fr. Willy the ways in which the Center has already recognized the great potential that film, and all the arts, have for contributing to cultural renewal. We told them about our Fall 2004 conference, "Epiphanies of Beauty: The Arts in a Post-Christian Culture," as well as our annual Catholic Culture Series, a series which features prominent Catholic writers. And we also discussed some future projects we are considering, such as a Spring film festival, which instead of highlighting an actor or director might screen films depicting a particular virtue, such as courage. Another wild hare of an idea that we mentioned was a Center-sponsored contest for screenplays or even films, much in the spirit of FTP's Angelus Awards, or the newly-established John Templeton Foundation Kairos Prizes for Spiritually Uplifting Screenplays....

"Film and football."

Those were Mr. Caviezel's parting words. A great force for good in the world of college football might also be a great force for good in the arts and entertainment.

What Mr. Caviezel had to say about the importance of film for our culture, as well as about what might be learned from the successes, not least financial, of The Passion of the Christ, is well worth the pondering....

Go Notre Dame. Beat USC.

Daniel McInerny