‘The Word’ and Richard Leonard SJ
Brian Lynch speaks to Dr Richard Leonard, SJ, Director of the Australian Catholic Office for Film and Broadcasting in this month’s edition of The Word magazine: “Young people especially ‘are not lacking in an openness towards otherness and transcendence’ as evidenced by the predominance of science fiction and fantasy films at the top of box-office charts for the past three decades. Star Wars, The Matrix, Harry Potter; each incorporates altered states of reality, the existence of evil, and the need to confront it. ‘The generations who no longer go to Church are not lacking in the appreciation of a big story – and the Church has the biggest story in town. We actually have the biggest story there is. So it’s not what we’ve got to say; it’s how we’re saying it’.”
