‘Cabrini,’ Though Imperfectly, Tells a Proud Part of Catholic History
National Catholic Register, 27 March 2024
The saint carries on a tradition of powerful women religious that stretches back centuries.
Holy Week and Easter Week are a popular time for religious films, and many Catholics might head out to see Cabrini, the film about Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first American to be canonized.
Despite being dominated by religious characters — Mother Cabrini herself, Pope Leo XIII, Archbishop Michael Corrigan of New York, prelates, priests and sisters — it is not really a religious film, in that religion takes very much a secondary role. Indeed, some critics have judged (correctly) that the film is “an injustice to Mother Cabrini’s mission.”
“Unfortunately, the film sews a predictable, ‘Feisty woman fights the patriarchy to get really important things done’ thread throughout,” writes Anna Farrow in the Canadian Catholic Register.
The film was released on March 8, International Women’s Day, indicating both its approach and its orientation toward secular, not religious, themes. And yet the film does inspire, even if not in a Spirit-led way. It does implicitly teach an important lesson about the role of women in Catholicism.
In the 21st century it is difficult to appreciate how distinctive Christianity was in its treatment of women. Holy Week emphasizes that. During the holiest days of history, it is the men who come off badly, while the women shine.
In St. Mark’s account of the Passion, read this past Palm Sunday, it is a woman who is praised for her lavish anointing of the Lord, while Judas grumbles. Mark, for his part, records that he “ran away naked,” lacking even a fig leaf to cover his shame.
There is no masculine equivalent of the Eighth Station, focused on the weeping women of Jerusalem. The admirable man on the Via Crucis is Simon of Cyrene, himself commandeered by the Roman guards.
At the foot of the cross — and again on Easter morning at the tomb — it is only women present, save for St. John, who seems to have taken courage from staying close to the Blessed Mother. It is to Mary Magdalene — “Apostle to the Apostles” — to whom is given the astonishing news of the Resurrection.
The long life of the Christian Church is certainly marked by discrimination against women, the abuse of power by men that is a consequence of the Fall: “and he will rule over you” (Genesis 3:16). Yet, comparatively, it was the Church that provided for feminine creativity, authority and advancement when other paths were closed.
In Cabrini, this is demonstrated when the heroine appears before the Italian Senate, only to hear derisive shouts that no woman should speak in such a place. And the mayor of New York tells her that it was a pity that she is a woman, as she would have made an excellent man!
In contrast, Mother Cabrini is portrayed as speaking on equal terms with Pope Leo XIII, who supports her initiative and treats her with kindness. (It’s a delight to see Leo XIII portrayed as an avuncular, even portly, figure, rather than the more austere images we usually have of him.) Mother Cabrini frustrates Archbishop Corrigan, and they clash, but he provides a property for her orphan children and personally welcomes her sisters.
If the film is more woman-fights-the-patriarchy than on-a-mission-from-God, it is the worldly patriarchy that is more difficult to overcome. Whatever their shortcomings, Churchmen were on Mother Cabrini’s side in the film — and much more so in real life.
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