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The new feature film “Son of God” has Commonweal critic Richard Alleva scratching his head over the filmmakers’ vision.

Voice of the Faithful President Mark Mullaney believes the Francis papacy presents new opportunities to work with bishops on a raft of reforms. The 12-year-old organization, born of the laity’s shock and disgust over the clergy sex abuse crisis, holds its annual assembly in Hartford on April 5. It is open to the public. The theme: Turning Talk into Action. Click here for details: http://votf.org/

Will Hartford Archbishop Leonard Blair be at the Connecticut Convention Center to welcome VOTF? 

Former VOTF board member Jayne O’Donnell of West Hartford says in an email: “I wrote to Blair just before his arrival in Htfd. to welcome him and to invite him to meet with me and Mark (in Htfd.) I suggested that we had similar goals to protect children and that VOTF would welcome the opportunity to work with Blair. The AB never responded.  VOTF will continue to reach out to AB Blair but I believe it will not happen until after the April 5th Assembly.”

She adds: “Sadly, I learned that the Archdiocese of Hartford vis-a-vis the AB has filed an appeal in a recent case that granted the plaintiff ³Jacob Doe $1 million and it asks the CT Supreme Court to find CT¹s current SOL [statute of limitations] unconstitutional. He want to severely shorten the window. This would allow perpetrators to go scott free in many cases. And it would impact ALL children who are abused, not just Catholic ones. Not to mention that the battery of expensive lawyers are being paid with monies that parishioners put into the collection basket each week.”

The snippet of a song heard just before Richard Alleva’s review of “Son of God” is from Brooke (Fraser) Ligertwood’s cover of Hank Williams’s “How Can You Refuse Him Now?” Click here to hear it in its entirety: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW-vfSaNTeg

Is there anything you wish the Catholic Church understood about you or your LGBT loved ones? Michael Reynolds, a parishioner at St. Patrick St. Anthony in Hartford, is collecting stories to share with local pastors, to help them create more welcoming faith spaces. Email your thoughts to Mike by March 31 at wingsreynolds@gmail.com; include as much or as little identifying information as you’re comfortable with.

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Richard Alleva has written film criticism for the progressive Catholic journal Commonweal for 25 years.

What do you wish the Church understood about your LGBT friends and family? Gay Catholic Michael Reynolds, a parishioner of St. Patrick St. Anthony Church in Hartford, asks you to put it into words, using as much or as little identifying information as you’re comfortable with. He plans to disseminate the information to Connecticut Catholic pastors. Send your contribution to wingsreynolds@gmail.com by March 31.

FYI: La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty), discussed on today’s show, is playing through Thursday, March 6, at Real Art Ways, 56 Arbor St., Hartford. Go to http://www.realartways.com for info.