(Some Spoilers) The movie takes place in the not so distance future where the Vatican had revokes and changed most of it's old time ideas based on the Old Testament in order to get "with it" and become chic in the hip modern and not at all that religious world.
Sent by the Father General (Raf Vallone), the new title for the Pope, Father Kinsella, Martin Sheen, travels to the off shore Irish Island of Mork to lay down the law to it's religious leader the Albaesian Monk and Abbott, Trevor Howard, of the Island. The Abbott has been having the Catholic Mass recited in Latin which had been forbidden by the Holy Father, and See, as well as having the practice of private confession which also have been declared obsolete by the new, Vatican V, Vatican.
With the threat of being busted down to Monk or priest, from Abbott, for his insubordination to the Church Mork's Abbott is given an option to either forgo his new, well really old, found religion or be transferred out of the Island of Mork that he's been assigned to all his adult life. Father Kinsella at first does everything to get The Abbott, and his subordinates on Mork, to get on with the program of the Vatican V new edicts in it's modernizing of the Catholic Church.
We, the audience, as well as Father Kinsella and the Monks on Mork at first believe that the Abbott is honest and truly divinely inspired by his actions that can have him booted out of the Catholic Church that he loves so much and served so well and long. It's later that the Abbott lets it all hang out to his real feelings about the Church and those feeling have nothing at all do do with the Latin Mass or receiving private confessions from his church, or assembly, members.
The Island's Abbott in a tearful confession to Father Kinsella admits that for some time he'd given up the faith and stopped prying even when leading his congregation in prayer! The fact that his followers had become extremely orthodox in their Catholic beliefs had really nothing at all to do with him. The Abbott just, in a clever way of hiding his own insecurities, went along with them like a politician looking at how he can get the most votes from his constituent's.
I's then that both the Abbott and Father Kinsella come to a middle ground with him, the Abbott, going alone with the new Vatican edict to the shock surprise and disgust of his followers on the Island. This has Father Kinsella keep the truth from the Father General of the Abbott's real beliefs or disbelief's about the Catholic Church.
The Abbott of Mork Island has lost his faith in prayer some time ago when he traveled to our Lady of Lourdes Shrine in France. Seeing people coming from all over the world to have the Lady of Lourdes cure them, and their loved one, of their illness and nothing positive coming out of it just turned The Abbott around. It also turned him against everything that he believed, or was thought to believe, all his life by the Catholic Church.
The movie ends with The Abbott and his parishioners going into the Islands Abbey and kneeling down to pay, in English not Latin, and take the sacrament of their both Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But unknown to everyone that's there, with the Abbott in the front row leading the prayer session, he's the only person in the church who's not prying; he's in fact crying.
Sent by the Father General (Raf Vallone), the new title for the Pope, Father Kinsella, Martin Sheen, travels to the off shore Irish Island of Mork to lay down the law to it's religious leader the Albaesian Monk and Abbott, Trevor Howard, of the Island. The Abbott has been having the Catholic Mass recited in Latin which had been forbidden by the Holy Father, and See, as well as having the practice of private confession which also have been declared obsolete by the new, Vatican V, Vatican.
With the threat of being busted down to Monk or priest, from Abbott, for his insubordination to the Church Mork's Abbott is given an option to either forgo his new, well really old, found religion or be transferred out of the Island of Mork that he's been assigned to all his adult life. Father Kinsella at first does everything to get The Abbott, and his subordinates on Mork, to get on with the program of the Vatican V new edicts in it's modernizing of the Catholic Church.
We, the audience, as well as Father Kinsella and the Monks on Mork at first believe that the Abbott is honest and truly divinely inspired by his actions that can have him booted out of the Catholic Church that he loves so much and served so well and long. It's later that the Abbott lets it all hang out to his real feelings about the Church and those feeling have nothing at all do do with the Latin Mass or receiving private confessions from his church, or assembly, members.
The Island's Abbott in a tearful confession to Father Kinsella admits that for some time he'd given up the faith and stopped prying even when leading his congregation in prayer! The fact that his followers had become extremely orthodox in their Catholic beliefs had really nothing at all to do with him. The Abbott just, in a clever way of hiding his own insecurities, went along with them like a politician looking at how he can get the most votes from his constituent's.
I's then that both the Abbott and Father Kinsella come to a middle ground with him, the Abbott, going alone with the new Vatican edict to the shock surprise and disgust of his followers on the Island. This has Father Kinsella keep the truth from the Father General of the Abbott's real beliefs or disbelief's about the Catholic Church.
The Abbott of Mork Island has lost his faith in prayer some time ago when he traveled to our Lady of Lourdes Shrine in France. Seeing people coming from all over the world to have the Lady of Lourdes cure them, and their loved one, of their illness and nothing positive coming out of it just turned The Abbott around. It also turned him against everything that he believed, or was thought to believe, all his life by the Catholic Church.
The movie ends with The Abbott and his parishioners going into the Islands Abbey and kneeling down to pay, in English not Latin, and take the sacrament of their both Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But unknown to everyone that's there, with the Abbott in the front row leading the prayer session, he's the only person in the church who's not prying; he's in fact crying.