In the beginning when Father Francis was speaking with Major, he said "He(Merring) was not one of us he was a simple parish priest." So which order is Father Francis from? Also what is Maryknolls and what is the matter about Jesiuts? Major says it's their business but Fr. Francis says we all serve to same cause. Finally, are there any differeneces between the Fr. Francis in Dominion and the Fr. Francis in the beginning?
shareAny ideas?
shareHi. I don't know the answers, but the Maryknolls are legit Catholic priests. You might consult this -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryknoll
However, the film errs terribly in saying that Merrin was just a parish priest. In Blatty's novel and in the Friedkin film, Merrin is a Jesuit - like Fr. Damien Karras, Merrin is Jesuit-trained for the priesthood and for archeology. This is a famous trait of Catholicism in general and the Jesuits in particular, where the Church educates priests in a chosen secular profession. BLATTY'S Merrin is never a parish priest, but a Jesuit/archeologist.
Contrary to what Dominion says, Merrin did not "take up archeology at the end of the war". He was already a famous archeologist and an infamous theological speculator - just as was Fr. Teilhard de Chardin, the Jesuit/paleontologist on which Merrin is based.
The notion of Fr. Francis and Merrin both working for the same cause means that the Jesuit serves Christ just as much as the Maryknoll. The only "problem with Jesuits" is that they have been "their own breed" and have a distinctive order and approach that may not always sit well with other priestly orders (probably some professional jealousy there). Of course, ostensibly, ONLY Francis is serving Christ at the beginning of the film, because Merrin has lost his faith, but by the end of the film, both Merrin's and Francis's cause are plainly the same.
Thank you very much for answers. How was Francis in book? By the way I think I heard Chardin, if I'm not mistaken after his works on paleontology and geology he claimed book of Genesis is something symbolic not literal. Today, Pope admire and agrees with his work. And as I know Jesuits are the intellectuals in the Vatican.
shareUmmm... to my best memory, Francis only exists in the movie tie-in book - he's not a Blatty character - by Steven Piziks, and I don't remember the book much except that it was almost unreadably bad. The Piziks book is a tie-in, however, to THE BEGINNING, not to Dominion, so I would imagine that Piziks' Francis is fairly close to Beginning's, not Dominion's, Francis.
Teilhard de Chardin was a fascinating mix of priest, paleontologist, and mystic. Of course, he never performed any exorcisms, which makes him different from Fr. Merrin. Yes, with many other educated Catholics, Teilhard viewed Genesis as a metaphor about God and man, not as a scientifically-accurate creation account.
Thank you very much you enlightened me :) And one last question what was the book's name and how can I find the book?
Well actually I asked two questions :D
You're welcome :)
The book is "Exorcist the Beginning" by Steven Piziks, Pocket "Star" Books, 2004.
This was released in a very small quantity and then disappeared quickly - you might try a used books source or Ebay.