Popcorn with the Pope: A Guide to the Vatican Film List

In 1995—one hundred years after the birth of cinema in Paris—a Vatican-appointed commission compiled a list of forty-five significant films. The entries vary widely, ranging from light-hearted favorites like The Wizard of Oz to challenging arthouse features such as The Seventh Seal. 

This list, released under Pope St. John Paul II, was an important milestone in the dialogue between the Church and the wider culture. Yet for many Catholics and cinephiles alike, it remains undiscovered or unclear. What was the list for? And why did the commission choose these particular titles?

In this groundbreaking study, David Paul Baird, Andrew Petiprin, and Michael Ward walk readers through the entire Vatican List, film by film. The authors show that its aim was not to serve as a “best-ever” register, nor as an anthology of approved works; rather, it was to guide people in an appreciation of cinema as an artistic language and a bearer of spiritual and moral messages.

In addition to theologically and historically informed commentary, each chapter includes film stills, quotations, fun facts, and questions for further reflection and discussion. Elevated yet entertaining, Popcorn with the Pope is perfect for anyone interested in delving deeper into a Christian approach to movies. 

David Paul Baird is an award-winning film critic and Visiting Professor of Theology at Catholic Pacific College. His PhD, in Divinity, examined the theology of postapocalyptic narratives in both literature and film. He also has degrees in English, philosophy, and theology from Wheaton College, the University of Oxford, and the University of St. Andrews’ Institute for Theology, Imagination, and the Arts. 

Andrew Petiprin was a British Marshall Scholar at Oxford University, and also has degrees from the University of Pittsburgh and Yale University. He is the author of the book Truth Matters: Knowing God and Yourself, and is the creator of the YouTube series Watch With Me: Commentaries on Faith, Culture, and Film. He has published articles and reviews at the Catholic Herald, The American Conservative, The Lamp, Catholic World Report, The European Conservative, and National Catholic Register. He lives in North Texas with his family.

Michael Ward, a Catholic priest, is an associate member of the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Oxford, and Professor of Apologetics at Houston Christian University. An expert on the writings of C.S. Lewis, he has also reviewed films and plays for the Catholic Herald, Oxford’s Daily Information, and BBC Radio. He has been an extra in numerous movies (including Shadowlands, Hamlet, and Entrapment), had a featured cameo in the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough, and played the part of the parish priest in the C.S. Lewis biopic The Most Reluctant Convert.