Never since the High Renaissance has the aesthetics of Catholicism seemed so attractive: in the 16th century everyone went to see the rich paintings in cathedrals, and now we are watching Paolo Sorrentino’s rich series, which showed the Vatican to viewers in all its Renaissance splendor. And even with a completely atypical dad, Jude Law, who seems to have stepped out of Michelangelo’s frescoes. It is not surprising that while Pope Lowe was lying in a coma, which he fell into at the end of “The Young Pope,” Netflix came to the rescue and released the soul-saving “Two Popes,” where not so young Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce played real pontiffs - Benedict XVI and his successor Francis, discussing issues of spirituality and modernity. And now Lowe is coming back to life with a new season (now called The New Pope).
Let's talk more about this and other outstanding depictions of clergy in cinema.
The most important: Pius XIII
"The Young Pope", "The New Pope"
An American orphan from an orphanage became the vicar of St. Peter. The success story is purer than the one with which it all began more than two thousand years ago. This dad is not just young, he is a true son of his age: infantile, like Donald Trump, capricious, like a rock star, vacuous, like a real postmodern hero. Neo-romantic, absurdist, extremist. “The Young Pope” is in many ways a provocation; before the fateful conclave, he was called Lenny, like the most offensive comedian in history - Lenny Bruce. Pius XIII smokes, demands cherry cola, loves elegant vestments and power, but not of a divine, but rather of a mass-cult nature; power, understandable to those who look from the balcony of St. Peter's Square not up, but down, where a crowd of sufferers gathers. It seems that the sexiest feature of Jude Law's character is precisely his uncertainty about whether there is someone else above him. Is there a Almighty? And doubt always goes hand in hand with temptation.
The series can be watched on KinoPoisk HD with the KinoPoisk + Amediateka subscription.
Education
In Russia there are more than a dozen educational institutions where you can get an education as a clergyman. The most prestigious are:
- Moscow Theological Seminary;
- Theological Academy in St. Petersburg;
- Trinity-Sergius Academy;
- Russian Orthodox University.
In total, there are eight Orthodox universities, 50 theological seminaries, 32 theological schools and 1 church-wide postgraduate and doctoral school named after Saints Cyril and Methodius in the Russian Federation.
Seminary studies last for five years. During this time, students study basic theological foundations, including introduction to theology, Biblical history, catechism, dogmatics, comparative theology, pastoral pedagogy, and sectarianism. A psychology course is required. All this knowledge is required for further service in the parish church, compliance with all church traditions, and the ability to communicate with parishioners.
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Sexiest: Priest from Fleabag
"Fleabag"
It seems that before his appearance in the second season of Fleabag, even the most sincere fans of Andrew Scott would not have called him a sex symbol. Of course, this actor often played memorable supporting characters (sometimes priests, as in Ken Loach's Jimmy's Hall), and sometimes even sympathetic villains (like Moriarty in Sherlock), but certainly not sex idols. The Holy Father from Fleabag is a wish come true. So unbearable that it doesn’t even seem to have a name (just like the main character). Everyone sighs for him: Fleabag, the Lord God, and even Lucifer, who pretended to be a fox. Apparently, a well-chosen cassock and robe can work miracles no less than sincere prayer. It’s not for nothing that Scott’s character makes a pilgrimage to follow them all the way to Italy. Where else can you find a table of true plum color? This hero's romance with Fleabag develops according to the well-known scenario of a love triangle, in which the Holy Spirit predictably emerges as the third and most powerful peak.
Income of a priest during Russian times
In Russian times, a priest’s income consisted of a certain part of the amount of donations on which his entire family lived; the rest was spent on the improvement of the temple. Later, due to the small amounts of voluntary donations, the church established a fixed fee for a number of services provided by priests. Thanks to this decision, it became possible to plan the parish budget.
At the beginning of the last century, the priest’s income consisted of a land allotment, as well as payments for church ceremonies performed by him, while 2/3 was taken by psalm-readers. Payment was accepted not only in monetary terms, but also in natural products. The situation was aggravated by tax deductions of 25% for the maintenance of religious educational institutions.
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Most Technological: Father Patrick McKenna
"Angels and Demons"
Dad died, now in his place is Ewan McGregor, an adopted son from Ireland. Patrick's angelic appearance can deceive not only the conclave, but even the experienced Professor Langdon. Red-haired Briton McGregor is certainly not as flawless as his compatriot Jude Law, but his plan to ascend to the holy throne using antimatter and intimidating Rome with the Illuminati cannot fail to amaze; This is the only priest on this list who can fly a helicopter! In the finale, like the Dark Knight, he soars over his native Vatican with a bomb that should explode in the Roman sky with a star brighter than Bethlehem. Gotham will be saved.
Most demonic: Urbain Grandier
"Devils"
Ken Russell, who converted to Catholicism at the age of 28, did not tolerate conversations about morality and often offended public taste. In Aldous Huxley's film adaptation, he does this with the very first title, claiming that everything depicted on the screen took place in real life, and the coincidences with real people are by no means accidental. Indeed, nothing accidental: Russell really saw in the church an amazing repressive mechanism that for centuries fed the ecstasies of spiritual insights by suppressing human sexual and creative energy. It is in this spirit that the film's plot develops, supported by Derek Jarman's sweeping set design. “Satan always tempts us with that which is most agreeable,” in this case free will. The main character of The Devils, played by Oliver Reed, Monsignor Urbain is the embodiment of voluptuousness and love of life, a regional political predator who is naturally devoured by larger predators - Cardinal Richelieu and King Louis XIII.
A theological seminary graduate can become a priest
Those who have considered becoming a priest may have been put off by the challenges listed above. If so, it's for the best. You must either be prepared for difficulties or not take them on at all, so as not to be disappointed.
To become a priest, you need to go through a rather difficult path. The most difficult stage is completing theological seminary. The problem here is that people just don’t get into it. There are requirements:
- Sincere faith . How to prove that you believe or do not believe? Arguments will not help here. You just need to make the right impression at the admissions interviews.
To become a priest, you need to have excellent knowledge of Orthodoxy.
- Church service experience . People are admitted to the seminary upon a corresponding request from the parish priest. And you can receive this document only if you prove yourself well by helping in the parish. There are difficulties here. If you run into a harmful priest, he may, for some reason of his own, delay the procedure.
- Sufficient knowledge of the Church Slavonic language, Holy Scripture and prayers . Each seminary has its own level of sufficiency. But usually the requirements are quite strict in order to accept only worthy candidates for study.
Students of Sretensky Theological Seminary are future priests.
The benefits begin after a person is accepted for study. The main good news is that you don’t have to pay for your studies. Every day you will encounter new knowledge, and then there is a chance to continue your studies and get an education, for example, as a theologian.
If the path of a priest is preferable, then it is worth considering that, according to distribution, they can be sent to a distant village, thousands of kilometers from family and friends.
All these difficulties show that priests in Russia live differently. Someone was lucky to find a job in an excellent parish, perhaps even close to home. And someone is huddled in a church house, counting pennies.
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Most Fanatic: Jesuit Francisco Garupe
"Silence"
Father Garupe cannot be called seductive - this is due to the fact that in the process of preparing for the role of the Jesuit missionary, Adam Driver lost more than twenty kilograms. But the torture of the flesh spiritualized the actor’s appearance. He's not as sweet as his co-star Andrew Garfield. Suddenly, the cheekbones appeared especially sharply on the face, the nose became sharper, the ears protruded, and the eyes sparkled with the light of true religious fanaticism. However, even without the muscle mass gained in “Girls,” this Garupa had something to amaze the Japanese aborigines - if not with truly samurai determination in preaching, then at least with his height of two meters. Abandoned by his friend, Father Rodriguez, who cannot hear the voice of the Almighty, Garupe goes his way to the end, sacrificing many other people's lives and, ultimately, his own for the sake of faith. Such stubbornness, of course, deserves high praise from the feudal lords of the Land of the Rising Sun.
Church profits go towards utilities, salaries and various promotions.
We figured out how the church makes money. How does he spend it? The list here is impressive.
It’s good if as much as the parish receives, it spends as much. And if you manage to put it off, it’s perfect.
- Clergy salary;
- Correspondence;
- Communal payments;
- Repair;
- Petrol;
- Church equipment;
- Sunday Schools;
- Charity.
And much more. The same Eucharistic bread needs to be baked for something, but the church has a common capital for everything.
Most Enterprising: Father John Flaherty
"Monsignor"
The young chaplain from Brooklyn, played by Superman Christopher Reeve, like any superman, is not alien to anything human. For example, when the enemy advances, he, covering his comrades, may well stand behind a machine gun. With the end of the war, the humanity in his soul manifests itself with even greater directness. Finding himself as a financial advisor to the Vatican, Father Flaherty turns into a noble speculator. With the approval of the cardinals, he begins to import American cigarettes and push them to the Sicilians, and invest the proceeds in stocks. A temptation much more diabolical than gambling on the stock exchange is meeting a novice from one of the monasteries. “All my romances end in disaster, so I decided to become a nun,” she will say before getting into bed with the padre.
Salary today
Nowadays the situation is completely different. A worker at the Orthodox Church told us. That today clergy, like ordinary citizens, have a work book indicating their position, a number in the Pension Fund, and a compulsory medical insurance policy. Since 2009, all economic affairs in the Russian church have been managed by the Financial and Economic Administration of the Moscow Patriarchate.
The priest's salary is determined by the rector as a fixed amount; it is based on the average salary in each specific region. Its size largely depends on the financial situation of the parish. Sometimes this is a more than enough amount to live on, and sometimes it is minimal. Some church ministers even work for free, earning money elsewhere in their free time from serving.
The priest gave us some numbers to make it clear what we are talking about:
average income – 25 thousand rubles;
- in the Moscow region - 60 thousand rubles;
- in the Leningrad region - 50 thousand rubles;
- in the Primorsky Territory - 100 thousand rubles.
Most Soviet: Father Alexander
"Seeking My Destiny"
Soviet cinema did not always portray clergymen as comical old men who dream only of material things (like Father Fyodor from “12 Chairs” or the pop drunk who lags behind the bus in “Queen of the Gas Station”). Father Alexander (Eduard Martsevich) from Aida Manasarova’s film is a real Soviet engineer, albeit not of space rockets, but of human souls. He mostly wears civilian clothes, participates in subbotniks, writes a theological dissertation, juggles quotes from Marx-Engels, is married to a cold beauty (mother, like a real nomenklatura wife, all at resorts and sanatoriums). It is no wonder that such a prominent man will immediately fall into the trap of a love triangle and will ultimately choose the love of the cheerful atheist Nadezhda over the black Volga, the central parish and promotion.
Toughest: Father Michael Logan
"I'm confessing"
No matter how handsome young Montgomery Clift may be, walking around the dark cathedral in an unbuttoned cassock, he knows his pastoral work: first he confesses the murderer, and then he worthily guards the secret of confession. Even in the face of a court that could well sentence him to death, because the criminal was in the vestments of a priest. I Confess may not be Hitchcock's most famous or successful film. It did not collect enough at the box office, and the author himself later complained that the film lacked some shine and nuance. The director's upbringing had an effect: as you know, the master of suspense received his initial education at a Jesuit college. And the story of a Catholic priest, torn from within by a conflict more intense than erotic (although there is a love line in the film), did not imply much playfulness. Another thing is that in Protestant America the suffering of the vow-bound padre did not meet with much understanding.
Most ambitious: Father Ralph de Bricassart
"The Thorn Birds"
“What sin have you committed, what sacred vow have you broken? “What did they do that the church sent you all the way to Australia,” the matriarch of the Cleary family, Mary Carson, asks Father de Bricassart. Richard Chamberlain's appearance really raises questions and feelings among those around him that are not entirely compatible with his vows. Young and old alike yearn for him - both the gray-haired landowner and the teenage girl. But the padre himself, it seems, seriously strives for only one thing - the coveted rank - and successfully exchanges his attractiveness for a church career. “I can perfectly imagine you as a cardinal, red would suit you so well!”
The most incomprehensible: Father F.
"Sex and the City"
The Four Horsewomen of the Sex Apocalypse, in search of the perfect man, run into a Franciscan with a Spanish accent and a bold parting (Costas Mandylor). And the all-powerful Samantha goes to church to seduce the Holy Father with the prospect of Donald Trump arriving at one of the parish events for the poor (she is a PR woman, after all). After the courtly dialogue, a two-hour masturbation session with a postcard with St. Francis is coming. “Sort of like the Thorn Birds,” comments the well-read Carrie. All this would be funny if it didn’t smack of pure pornography, or, more precisely, a prelude to pure pornography, which Sex and the City, however, never reaches. Samantha fails to get through the priest.
What does salary depend on?
The income of each temple consists of donations for weddings, prayer services, baptisms, memorial services and similar events, sales of candles, books and various utensils, and commemorations. The rector of the church receives all these funds, and he is responsible for their distribution - he pays contributions to the diocese, pays for utilities, pays wages, purchases items for worship, and carries out repairs to the church.
This amount is different for each temple, since it depends on many factors: its location, the number of parishioners, the presence of trustees and patrons.
As a rule, rectors of large and wealthy churches in large cities have high incomes. Sometimes it is comparable to the earnings of a mid-level businessman. That is, it will be enough for good repairs in the apartment, a foreign car and annual trips abroad. Ordinary priests, including those serving in these luxurious churches, and rectors of churches in villages and small towns have average earnings, if not low. Therefore, the monthly salary can vary from 10 to 100 thousand rubles.
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The most environmentally friendly: Father Ernst Toller
"The Shepherd's Diary"
The direct heir to the sad shepherds from Bresson’s “The Diary of a Country Priest” (in the evenings he keeps a diary, not forgetting to pour whiskey into his glass) and Bergman’s “Communion” (also inevitably concerned about the problems of world harmony and the environment - his parishioners want to have an abortion out of fear of the coming climate crisis disaster), but with the appearance of Ethan Hawke, the most delicious of American intellectual actors over 45, the ideal hero-lover made famous by Richard Linklater. The plot of the highly experienced Paul Schrader copies three-quarters of the circumstances of “Communion”, and in the final coda it clearly refers to Tarkovsky, but even this level of spirituality does not prevent the viewer from sincerely wishing happiness to the couple that has suddenly formed in the frame.
The parish earns money from donations and personal initiatives
The parish has several ways to replenish its capital:
Donations . These are voluntary contributions that parishioners make for no reason or for certain services and goods (requirements, candles, books, icons).
Trade . It has already been discussed above: it is condemned, but it is one of the main sources of income for the church.
Fees . Sometimes, usually on holidays, the priest may announce that the parish needs money for certain needs. It never happens that among the people there are not those who will give one hundred or five hundred rubles.
Sponsors . It happens that there are rich people or organizations who simply agree to help the church financially. It’s not always finance; sometimes it’s construction materials or something else. But this is a fairly common practice. When a person is rich enough to painlessly part with a significant amount of income, such situations no-no do happen.
Sometimes the priest himself can announce to parishioners that the parish is in need of finances
Personalized bricks . This is when the names of those who made some donation for the repair or construction of the temple are written on the bricks. This practice is usually found during the construction of a building. People want to become involved in the creation of the shrine. During renovation work, people's interest is no longer so great.
Entrepreneurship outside the church . The church has the legal right to conduct commercial activities, but only for its own needs: repairs, restoration, charity. For example, one priest sold milk and earned more than from candles. The income is taxed, but still it is something.
Saving . In many ways, the parishioners help the priest. If there are people with initiative, with head and hands, then they are able to provide repairs and get a discount where necessary.
Most family-friendly: Jacob Fuller
"From Dusk Till Dawn"
A widowed pastor with two children and a mobile home, there is something damn attractive about Harvey Keitel's Father Fuller. Maybe the way his muscular arms tightly grip the cross made of a shotgun and a baseball bat in the face of the ghouls? Or the dexterity with which he turns ordinary tap water into a poison fatal to ghouls? Doubts regarding God's providence that possessed the pastor after the death of his wife also added up. Fortunately, the vampires quickly cured him of them. It is said that Father Jacob must have also uttered the common quotation from the book of Ezekiel about “great vengeance with fierce punishments,” as if he had watched the movie Pulp Fiction, which had been released shortly before, where the Book of Ezekiel was also commemorated. But the good Tarantino took pity on us: we could no longer bear such a progressive holy father.
Trade in the church is condemned by the Sixth Ecumenical Council, but locally it is practiced everywhere
Rule 76 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council also prohibits trade in the temple and on its territory:
“No one should make purchases inside the sacred enclosures, while maintaining reverence for the churches. For our Savior and God, teaching us through His life in the flesh, commanded us not to make His Father’s house a house of purchase. He scattered money to the money changers, and drove out those who created the holy temple into a worldly place (John 2:15-16). Therefore, if anyone is convicted of the crime mentioned above, let him be excommunicated.”
But we have traded and continue to trade. The typical excuse here is: “If you allow candles to be taken for donations, then no one will donate a penny.” The fears are fair, but it still doesn’t happen once in a while. Those priests who allow themselves such statements speak too negatively about the parishioners. If there is a miser, there will also be a generous person.
Profits from the distribution of candles and literature in the church go towards the needs of the parish, including the priest’s salary.
In addition, we have the example of the Greek Orthodox Church, where candles are given out free of charge. But the situation there is different: the church is under the protection of the state, and therefore financial problems are not so terrible for it. In Russia, the church is also constantly rushing into politics, but here it is fair to separate the situation at the top and the problems of a village parish abandoned by everyone.
It is clear that in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, financial problems are nonsense.
Under favorable circumstances, a priest can increase his salary through the commercial activities of the parish, but these are all hypothetical possibilities.
