Conservative Catholics are incensed that Pope Francis has approved the script for a remake of “The Bells of St. Mary’s” in which Father O’Malley and Sister Benedict get married at the end of the film. The remake, scheduled to begin production in the spring of 2024, will star George Clooney and Scarlett Johansson.
“This time the Pope has gone too far,” claims a spokesperson for Catholics for Christ, a lay organization. “It was bad enough when he announced recently that the Church was going to start blessing same-sex couples. Now look at what he’s done. Has the Holy Father lost his mind?”
Pope Francis is not apologizing. He asserts that “anyone who saw the original 1945 version of this movie with Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman knows that the smoldering on-screen chemistry between them could have blown the dome off of St. Peter’s Basilica. The time has come to tell this passionate love story in the way it was meant to be told.”