A Study Guide by Marguerite O'hara
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© ATOM 2013 A STUDY GUIDE BY MARGUERITE O’HARA http://www.metromagazine.com.au ISBN: 978-1-74295-360-1 http://www.theeducationshop.com.au BY THE TIME I LEFT I WAS FEELING THE DISLOCATION. UP THERE AT THE CHURCH, LIFE HAD MEANING. THERE WERE ALL KINDS OF GOOD: WEDDINGS, BAPTISMS. AND THEN YOU GO AWAY FROM THAT AND ALL OF A SUDDEN, WHAT ARE YOU? Father Bob Maguire Introduction In Bob We Trust (Lynn-Maree Milburn, 2013) is a 100-minute feature docu- mentary about Melbourne Catholic priest Father Bob Maguire. With more than 98,000 followers on Twitter and a regular radio spot on ABC youth radio station Triple J on Sunday nights with John Safran, Father Bob has never been your average parish priest. The documentary was filmed over the KEY CREDITS past four years when Father Bob was pushed to retire as Parish Priest of Sts Writer/ Lynn-Maree Milburn director Peter and Paul’s Church in Melbourne’s Synopsis inner-city suburb of South Melbourne. Producers Richard Lowenstein, He had lived there for thirty-eight years, Every day for thirty-eight years, Father Maya Gnyp, Andrew working tirelessly with the community’s Bob Maguire opened the doors of de Groot and Lynn- poor and disaffected – ‘the unloved his beloved church at 7.00 am. Every Maree Milburn and the unlovely’ as he calls them. evening at 7.00 pm he made the same solitary journey to close its doors. He Editors Lynn-Maree Milburn, Richard Lowenstein, In 2009, when Father Bob turned knew everyone by name that passed Andrew de Groot and seventy-five, the Catholic hierarchy by; his own front door always open. Lora-Mae Adrao ‘invited’ him to step down from his position and leave his parish and his In 1973, straight from a post as army Camera Andrew de Groot, home. This film tells the story of how chaplain and inspired by the teach- Lynn-Maree Milburn, Lora-Mae Adrao and this situation played out over the fol- ings of the Second Vatican Council, Richard Lowenstein lowing years. It reveals the profound Father Bob was sent to the working- effects his leaving the parish church class Parish of South Melbourne. It 2013 © ATOM SCREEN EDUCATION In Bob We Trust is a Ghost Pictures had on Father Bob, his parishioners was promised he was there ‘for life’. production. Ghost Pictures have created and friends. As the cameras follow Vatican II had tried to dismantle the hi- some of Australia’s most iconic films, him on his daily rounds and meetings, erarchical structure of the church and including Dogs In Space (1986), He Died we witness the essential qualities of a opened up to people in a more hu- With a Felafel in his Hand (2001) and man who has become something of a mane way. Father Bob loved the humil- Autoluminescent: Rowland S. Howard hero to many and a thorn in the side of ity of its teachings and worked hard to (2011). the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy. win the parishioners’ hearts and minds 2 of this film, Lynn-Maree Milburn, has been able to capture rare and unique footage which will reintroduce people to this celebrated community figure, share rarely witnessed aspects of his work, and reflect on his philosophies and experiences. with its ethos. He set about finding perhaps for his own dignity but also It is Father Bob Maguire’s disarming, what he could do for the community’s for his sanity. He must find out who he and entertaining way of highlighting poor and disaffected. He discovered is, beyond the vital priest who cannot sad and confronting truths that this the needs of the troubled youth of the let go of his passion to preach, to help documentary captures. With all its parish were urgent. To them he opened the poor, to communicate, to be effec- attendant emotion, loaded history, the doors to the church, the parish, its tive, to be meaningfully provocative, to psychological and spiritual profundity, coffers and his own pockets. For thirty never say die. this story is captured with honesty, years he fought to bring about change humour and wisdom. in their lives. Curriculum Guidelines In Bob We Trust would be an excellent In 2002 a new milieu arose. New While some students may recognise film to show to secondary students bishops and cardinals were appointed the very distinctive face and voice of across a range of curriculum areas. whose philosophies differed from the Father Bob Maguire through his many Like Father Bob himself, it is difficult more open ethos of Vatican II. The appearances on radio and television to pigeonhole the film in terms of cost of his schemes, his need to help and in the news media generally, they school curriculum. At an obvious level, so directly and personally, brought are less likely to know the inside story it would be interesting for students Father Bob into conflict with the of his work in South Melbourne. studying subjects such as Religion Archbishop. Mutiny was afoot from on and Society at VCE level. For instance, high but Father Bob’s wily ways with Few news stories have documented in Unit 4 – Challenge and Response – the media were deemed too clever. his daily trials, encounters and eve- students have an opportunity to study His detractors believed he would have ryday work within his community, a historical challenges to religious tradi- the public’s sympathy if they threat- vocation to which he is absolutely tions and practices by closely analys- ened his position. Instead they tried to bound. After many years building a re- ing a particular situation. control his behavior. lationship with Father Bob, the director When Father Bob turned seventy-five it was opportune for the Archbishop to enforce retirement. The parish fought and won a reprieve. Two years whizzed by, another failed campaign and suddenly Father Bob was on the street. Refusing anonymity and retire- 2013 © ATOM SCREEN EDUCATION ment, wishing to continue the fight for the poor and unprepared to relinquish his active priesthood, Father Bob set about establishing himself in the community. Wounded and grieving, he begins the process of transmut- ing his painful loss into fuel to fight, 3 However, the film’s appeal and rele- vance is rather broader, as attested by its popularity at the 2013 Melbourne International Film Festival. It deals with issues of Civics and Citizenship (in- dividuals in conflict with institutions), Politics and Society, Local History, and Ethics and Biography. For students of Film and Media Studies, this docu- mentary offers an interesting example of how the way a film is structured and Recently elected Pope Francis has echoed these views as he attempts to bring the church and the clergy closer to the people. He said on his recent visit to South America, ‘I want to see the church get closer to the people. I want to get rid of clericalism, the mun- dane, this closing ourselves off within ourselves, in our parishes, schools or structures. Because these need to get out!’ LITURGY – a prescribed form of public religious services. Prior to Vatican II, edited can closely reflect the complex- CLERICAL AND CLERICALISM – relating the Mass was in Latin and the priest ities and contradictions of the subject, to the clergy. These terms refer to the faced the altar with his back to the in this case, Father Bob Maguire. application of formal, church-based congregation. This is no longer usually leadership or to the opinions of or- the case except in very traditional and A preview of the documentary can be dained clergy in matters of the church conservative church communities. viewed at the official website: or in relation to broader political and <http://www.inbobwetrustmovie.com> sociocultural matters. Both terms PASTOR EMERITUS – retired or honour- are also sometimes used in a pejora- ably discharged from active profes- Background Information tive and negative manner to describe sional duty, but retaining the title of the the cronyism and cloistered political office or position. Most often it is used Church Language environs of the Church, often in refer- to refer to retired professors. Father ence to the Roman Catholic Church. Bob says that in relation to priests the Like many organisations and institu- The secretive nature of the Catholic title is given to all retired priests unless tions, a religious organisation such Church’s dealings with paedophile they are paedophiles or convicted as the Roman Catholic Church has priests is an example of clericalism at thieves and is therefore essentially 2013 © ATOM SCREEN EDUCATION developed its own language to de- its worst. Father Bob makes several meaningless. scribe and characterise aspects of the quite scathing references to ‘clerical- institution and its practices. For those ism’ in the documentary, implying it PARISH – a local area within a diocese brought up in the Catholic religion, is elitist, old-fashioned and designed or church district, e.g. Sts Peter and some of these terms may be familiar, to further separate the clergy from the Paul’s Catholic Church within the but for others they may need explana- people. Parish of South Melbourne serves tion and discussion. Catholics in that local community. 4 Some rose to national prominence. Father Ted Kennedy began one such ministry in Sydney’s inner city Redfern Presbytery in 1971 – an area with a large Aboriginal popula- tion. Working closely with Catholic Aboriginal laywoman ‘Mum’ Shirl Smith, he developed a theology which held that the poor had special in- sights into the meaning of Christianity, worked as an advocate for Aboriginal rights and often challenged the civil Most religions try to serve as many and church establishment on ques- of their followers as possible through tions of conscience.