She’s an Italian nun who fought back against the Pope, cardinals, archbishops and the mayor of New York, an activist against racism and sexism, and an entrepreneur who started a global network of orphanages and hospitals. , all with six other women. .

And this little dynamo was canonized as America’s first saint.

A newly released film about this remarkable woman, Francesca Xavier Cabrini, is more feminist than pro-faith.

“Go over there, Barbie,” she gushed over the “Catholic Mom” ​​podcast. “We need a Cabrini.”

This isn’t your typical religious movie, but the cult of the saint is quietly present throughout the 142-minute film. Rather, it’s a movie about a woman who “changed the world,” executive producer J. Eustace Wolfington said in an interview, “and she happened to be a nun.”

Her life “was her sermon,” Wolfington says.

“Charismatic presence strong in business”

Cabrini was born in 1850 in a small town in northern Italy. She wanted to join a missionary group and travel the world, but her chronic heart disease prevented her from doing so. There she founded her own order, the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

She repeatedly pressured Vatican officials, including Pope Leo XIII, to send troops to China. Instead, Leo (who later defended her efforts) guided the nun to New York City, a metropolis filled with poverty, chaos, disease, and hostility toward Italian immigrants.

Despite opposition from politicians and the city’s Catholic hierarchy (mostly Irish), she established schools, hospitals, and orphanages, especially for immigrants who routinely endured vilification, discrimination, and exclusion.

Cabrini soon received requests from around the world for orders to open schools. She has traveled throughout Europe, Central and South America, and the United States. Ultimately, she made her 24 Atlantic crossings and built an empire that included 67 institutions.

According to her online history, she had a “saintly, charismatic presence and a sound head for business.” “When needed, she can be a tough negotiator, drive tough deals, grow orders by leaps and bounds, and operate on sound business principles.” The original seven missionary sisters The group had grown to more than 1,000 people by the time of her death. ”

The sickly but indomitable woman died in Chicago on December 22, 1917, and was canonized 29 years later by Pope Pius XII “in recognition of her holiness and service to humanity.”

“A movie for our time”

Understandably, Catholic viewers are moved and uplifted by Cabrini’s life and work, but so are many other viewers, Wolfington said.

Producers say they come to theaters worried about the world collapsing, fearful of the future and feeling helpless. They “lead excited about life again, motivated and inspired to move forward.”

Latter-day Saint author and filmmaker Margaret Blair Young spoke about the influence a film about another Catholic nun had on her father, Robert Blair.

“He saw ‘Bernadette’s Song’ in 1943 when he was 13 years old,” Young says. ” movie [about reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes in France] He was so moved that he knelt on the ground before entering the house. There he dedicated his life to God. He later became a Mormon missionary and mission president, but that movie was as sacred to him as any LDS book or movie. ”

Margaret Blair Young, a former English professor at Brigham Young University who, with her husband Bruce, helped produce the first Latter-day Saint film made in Africa by Africans, said “Cabrini” also appealed to church members. He says it could have the same effect. Jesus Christ and other believers in Latter-day Saints.

“This film will inspire them in the same way the 1943 film inspired my father,” Young says. “It’s a beautiful movie.”

The nuns “confronted government and church officials to further their mission of serving the poor,” the authors say. “She could find goodness in the midst of filth and degradation, beauty in a brothel. She saw Christ in every face.”

Indeed, Wolfington says his films, with their universal themes, should appeal to modern audiences. Although set in the late 19th century, the film focuses on issues of immigration, women, homelessness and the poor, making it “a film for today,” he explains.

Angel Studio based in Utah

“Cabrini,” which opened on thousands of big screens on March 8, grossed more than $7.6 million during its theatrical run.

It’s the complete opposite of the previous film, “The Sound of Freedom,” by Provo-based distribution company Angel Studios.

The controversial film, inspired by the work of embattled Operation Subway founder Tim Ballard, tells the story of a muscular man who rescues sex-trafficked girls. . The film was extremely popular, grossing nearly $20 million in the first weekend of summer 2023, and ultimately grossing more than $240 million worldwide. .

But the nun’s story reflects Angel Studios’ commitment to faith-based storytelling, similar to the popular TV show “The Chosen,” which depicts the life of the Biblical Jesus. The studio is currently not distributing the series (according to creator Dallas Jenkins).

Both films were directed by the same Mexican director, Alejandro Monteverde, and feature the same richly textured cinematography and music, with a final touch by world-famous tenor Andrea Bocelli and his daughter Virginia. Also includes works of art.

“This effort is likely to prove far less divisive.” [than ‘Sound of Freedom’] “If not commercially so,” wrote Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s an old-fashioned, classic-style biopic that could very well have been made by Warner Bros. in the 1930s, with Bette Davis in the title role and Paul Muni as the Pope.”

story behind the movie

More than 60 years before embarking on this film project, Wolfington came across a statue of Francesca Cabrini in a church he visited.

“I learned about her life, and I made her my patron saint, because she made things happen and I wanted to make things happen,” the executive producer says.

The producer talked about the saint every chance he got, but it wasn’t until 2015 that he thought of making a film about her.

That’s when Sister Mary Louise Sullivan of the Missionary Sisters of Cabrini College in New York began pushing Wolfington.

In the 1950s, Italian actor Sophia Loren wanted to play Cabrini. In the 1970s, Martin Scorsese planned a film about saints.

When neither effort bore fruit, Wolfington, an ardent believer, stepped in. He read dozens of books about the saint, collaborated with screenwriters, scouted locations in Buffalo, New York and Rome, and hired Italian star Cristiana del Anna to play the saint. lead.

“This is a $50 million production,” he says, with the best cinematography, acting, music and dialogue the team can muster. “We wanted to make a movie that was on par with the major Hollywood studios.”

Wolfington also claimed that he would produce the film as a 501(c)(3), or non-profit organization, and that all net proceeds from the film would be donated to charity.

This is “our movie,” Wolfington declares, “but we made her an ‘executive producer.'” [from heaven].

She “guided us all the way,” he says.