This website explores the life and legacy of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, an early 20th Century French Jesuit priest and scientist, as it introduces an inspiring film about him, TEILHARD: Visionary Scientist.

STREAM TEILHARD: Visionary Scientist on your device here. This link allows INTERNATIONAL streaming.

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DVDs of TEILHARD: Visionary Scientist are now available through the Maryland Public Television online store. Order your copy at this link.

We will continue to add information and resources so as to offer a crossroads for conversation about Teilhard – the man, the visionary, the scientist, the mystic. Your support will facilitate the growth of this site, as well as educational outreach.

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Third Screening: Gregorian University

Our final Rome screening of Teilhard: Visionary Scientist was at the Gregorian University on April 22. “The Greg,” as students there call it, is the premiere theological university in the world, founded in 1551 by Ignatius Loyola, accredited by the Vatican. Bishops from all over the world send their top seminarians and priests there for graduate and post-grad work. It has expanded in recent years to welcome others, including women seeking theological degrees. Alumni include 17 popes, 83 saints and blesseds and 1202 of the world’s bishops.

The Greg paid a key role in the life of Teilhard de Chardin. When an essay Teilhard had written on Adam and Eve and Original Sin was anonymously sent to his Jesuit Superior General in Rome, Fr. Ledochowski sent the essay to theologians at the Greg for their reaction. Their verdict: incompatible with Church teaching.

Teilhard, sensitive to the scorn that a literal reading of Adam and Eve received from many scientists, had set about to reframe the story of Genesis to conform to the finding of evolutionary science. However, the net result was that after some negotiation with Rome, Teilhard was removed from his university position in Paris, forbidden to write about theological matters, and was exiled permanently to China.

That was in April 1926. Now a hundred years later Teilhard returned, via a television biography, for a screening at the Greg. He is welcomed by 250 students (from around the world), faculty, and a few guests. And followed by a panel discussion.

The only way the university could schedule the film was between the end of morning classes and the beginning of afternoon classes. So the Rector gave a special and unusual permission for them to eat in the Magna Aula during the film. Our faculty coordinator arranged for 250 bag lunches for them!

The film received robust and sustained applause. The panel discussion was kicked off by a thoughtful analysis of the film by a former Dean of the Philosophy Faculty, Fr. Louis Caruana, SJ. This led into lively comments and questions.

Teilhard not only returned. He will continue to be a subject for discussion by religious professionals soon returning to their home countries.

More News on Vatican Film Screenings

Our thanks to Joan Lewis for her generous spirit while we were in Rome for the screenings of TEILHARD: Visionary Scientist, and for sharing about those screenings and the film in this Vatican Insider Blog.

You can listen to our radio interview with Joan at this link; our interview begins around 11:30.

Second Screening: Vatican Film Library

The second of our three screenings in Rome was in the Vatican itself, in the filmoteca vaticana – Vatican Film Library – on Monday, April 20. It was the most notable because of its stature – co-hosted and introduced by two major Vatican departments – the Dicastery for Communication, and the Dicastery for Culture and Education. It was also attended by the prefect and the archivist of the Vatican Library.

Natasha Govekar, the Director of the Theology Department of the Dicastery for Communication, gave us a warm welcome, and Bishop Paul Tighe, Secretary for the Dicastery for Culture and Education, gave a marvelous summary of Teilhard’s thought and importance today.

Rev. Paul Samosumo of Vatican Radio attended and interviewed us later in the week. And Claudia di Giovanni, the head of the Film Library, arranged the screening and was also present. The Vatican screening, along with the Jesuit Headquarters screening, and the one at the Gregorian University, take on special significance in 2026, the 100th anniversary, to the month, of Teilhard’s exile from France to China. Teilhard’s life and legacy were now being celebrated with this film in the heart of the Vatican.

Special guests at the Vatican screening included colleagues: Teilhard’s great-niece, Marie Bayon de la Tour; the former head of the Teilhard archives in Paris, Merce Prats; and John Borelli, representing our longest supporter, Georgetown University. Some members of the film’s production team were also present – Editor Bob Kanner; Executive Producer Tricia Lloyd; Associate Producer Tracy Higgins; narrator Rev. Greg Friedman, OFM; and Italian subtitles translator Sr. Rose Pacatte, fsp. Even some of our nieces and nephews were there!

The hardest part was finding the right building once we were cleared by the Swiss Guards – luckily, we had done a scouting trip ahead of time. It really is a small city, with its own gas station. And our building was right next to it. When the screening was over, we hosted 20+ of the guests at a nearby restaurant, with excellent food and jugs of wine!

Next stop: the Gregorian University.

First Screening: Jesuit World Headquarters

Our first screening of TEILHARD: Visionary Scientist was on April 18 at the Jesuit Generalate (world headquarters) in Rome. One hundred years ago, in April 1926, Vladimir Ledochowski, SJ, then the Jesuit Father General, exiled Teilhard de Chardin to China for his attempt to apply evolutionary thinking to the traditional Church doctrine of Original Sin. Now, 100 years later, the current Father General, Arturo Sosa, SJ, welcomed the screening of a film of Teilhard’s life story. In introducing the film, Father Sosa spoke of his own personal experience of reading Teilhard as a teenager, which he said inspired his vocation.

We were joined by members of our team for this historic event: Marie Bayon de la Tour (Teilhard’s great-niece), Tracy Higgins (associate producer), Rev. Greg Friedman, OFM (narrator of the film), and Sr. Rose Pacatte, fsp (translator of Italian subtitles).

About 90 gathered for the screening, which took place in their Magna Aula (the meeting room where they have all the international Jesuit meetings). The room is a beautiful circular room with light wooden tables and skylight. The building itself, from the roof, has a spectacular view of St. Peter’s Basilica. At the end, the film was warmly applauded, and we were hosted at a reception afterwards.

Next stop: the Vatican Film Library Theater.

Vatican Screenings ‘In The News’

An initial look back at the exciting Rome screenings in April of TEILHARD: Visionary Scientist is found in this Vatican News article. The piece discusses the “applause and appreciation” the three screenings (Jesuit Generalate, Vatican Film Library Theater, Gregorian University) drew, along with the background on the documentary’s creation, the lasting legacy of Teilhard de Chardin, and what’s next in terms of spreading the word through colleges and universities. The screenings coincided with the 100^th anniversary of Teilhard’s exile to China. Read the full story at this link.