The Movie Box I

  Priests and Women

There are two films which question the relationship of a woman to a priest: “The Keys of the Kingdom” (1944) and “I Confess” (1953). In the first film, Gregory Peck grows up with a childhood friend who falls in love with him. She is deeply attached and wants to marry him. He decides however, to become a missionary priest and leaves her anguished. She is never able to accept his absence and dies brokenhearted.

In the second story, a woman falls in love with Montgomery Clift. He goes off to the war and then returns with the desire to enter the seminary. She too, suffers terribly with his absence. Though she is married to another man, she is unable to ever forget him. How do we analyze and approach the problem of the two women? The first step is to evaluate the emotional maturity of these four people, since this has an effect on their relationship.

Gregory Peck seemed to be an emotionally integrated person in the film, but did not know how to handle the feelings of his ex-girlfriend. His solution was to simply abandon the woman to her emotional fate. This was a bit cruel on his part. The woman, for being possessive and desiring Gregory Peck for her own human good and needs, was definitely immature in her outlook and relationship. If she had been psychologically mature, she would have rejoiced to know that her friend was dedicating his life for the kingdom of God. She could have continued her friendship with him and given him the human and feminine support and strength he could use from her to accomplish his mission. Her joy and comfort would be to know that he was well and growing in charity and sanctity. In her immaturity she was only able to see her own needs and died in her loneliness. Gregory Peck should have affirmed the feelings she had for him and helped her to come to maturity by being present as long as she needed this. By explaining with patience what real love and friendship consisted of, he could have weaned her to self-reliance, confidence, autonomy and emotional integration and maturity.

In the second film, both the priest and woman seemed immature. She too, was possessive and only sought her own good and emotional need. The priest seemed to feel guilty, confused and lost with the whole situation. Though emotionally weak, he did have a strong will and simply went persistently on his own way. The woman did have strong maternal tendencies towards him and treated him as if he were her son. He seemed to accept all this passively. The double frustration of this woman was the fact that she could not find the adult man that she was looking for in Montgomery Clift, but rather a child under her custody. Secondly, she did not know how to handle her left-over sentiments for him. This situation is more complex since two immature people are unable to help each other come out of their dilemmas. They would need a mature third party who could help them out. If they had another priest friend who was mature, wise and understanding, he could resolve the situation. He would first affirm the feelings of the woman for the priest and help her develop a healthy friendship and attitude towards him (as in the first case). Secondly, he would help Montgomery Clift mature in his emotional life by coming to adulthood and out of the adolescent state. As a real man, he could now relate in friendship to the woman. He too, could find strength and support from her who would rejoice also in his decision to expand God’s love to others.

Emotional maturity is the solution to relational problems and in its presence, there is joy and enrichment on the part of all. Mature priests and mature women could have wonderful and strong friendships that would be of great benefit, not only for themselves, but to all of society in general.


Anthony Mellace