The Vatican Screening Of “The Greatest Beer Run Ever”

October 23, 2022291 views0

The Vatican Screening Of “The Greatest Beer Run Ever”

2022-10-23T12:56:21+01:00

By Church News

The Vatican treated new recruits of its police force and Swiss Guard to beer and popcorn at a special screening of the new film “The Greatest Beer Run Ever” last week.The moviegoers were also treated to a visit and photo opportunities with the film’s co-star, Russell Crowe, who was in Rome for a festival promoting another one of his films and who was honoured by the city of Rome on Oct. 14 as “Rome’s ambassador in the world,” two decades after his Oscar-winning performance in “Gladiator.”Based on a true story, “The Greatest Beer Run Ever” follows the adventures of John “Chickie” Donohue.Played by Zac Efron, the young Irish Catholic Marine veteran who sneaks into a war-torn Vietnam to deliver beer to his friends to show them their small Manhattan neighbourhood was still supporting them despite the quickly deteriorating public support for the war. A neighbourhood mother also asks him to bring a set of rosary beads to her son who is one of Donohue’s best friends.It’s a story of “faith and friendship during the war,” said Oblate Father Andrew Small, who has a cameo appearance playing a neighbourhood parish priest.“I just feel a kinship with the men here in the Vatican who are protecting us and I thought that inviting them and friends to a movie is what you do when you want to be friendly,” Small said.The event on Oct. 17 was organized by the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, in which Father Small serves as secretary. The commission invited members of the papal Swiss Guard and the Vatican gendarme corps to attend the screening of the film, which was released by Apple Studios in September.While guests were watching the film’s first showing, Father Small and Andrew Muscato, one of the film’s producers, visited Pope Francis, who lives in the Vatican guest house across the street from the Vatican movie theatre, to bless a bag full of rosaries for guests.ALSO READ Faith-Based Movie ‘Lifemark’ Opens In Top 10