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400 Jesuit Priests Will Get the First Peek at Martin Scorsese’s New Movie About Persecuted Jesuit Priests

Photo: Paramount Pictures

When considering the fringe benefits of belonging to the clergy, first-look movie screenings probably aren’t in the top ten reasons you devote your life to service of the Lord. But according to Deadline, director Martin Scorsese has decided to treat 400 Jesuit priests to a very special night out with an advance screening of his new movie, Silence, in Rome at the end of November. The movie is based on the 1966 Shûsaku Endô novel of the same name, which is about a young Jesuit priest who travels to Japan in the 17th century and endures persecution as he helps at the church presided over by his mentor (who might have committed apostasy). Scorsese’s screen adaptation of the story will follow a pair of priests played by Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver who “encounter violence and persecution” as they search for their mentor — so, a lot of persecution in both cases. But Silence should be looked upon kindly by the church, as a U.S.-based Jesuit priest named Rev. James J. Martin (characterized as “a preeminent force in the Society of Jesus” by Deadline) was closely involved with the film as a consultant to ensure it was as authentic to the Jesuit priest experience as possible. The movie could also serve as a sort of olive branch between Scorsese and the church, for anyone who’s still miffed about his adaptation of The Last Temptation of Christ.

Silence to Screen for 400 Jesuit Priests