This year is the 70^th anniversary of Jesuit mystic and scientist Teilhard de Chardin’s death in New York City.  Maryland Public Television (Channel 22 in the Baltimore-Washington region) will broadcast the film, Teilhard: Visionary Scientist, on April 20, Easter Sunday 2025, at 3:30pm.  The film tells the story of the early 20th Century French Jesuit priest and scientist and his transformational insight into science and faith.  The film can also be streamed at your convenience here: https://www.pbs.org/…/teilhard-visionary-scientist-pt9dc1/    Find resources here connected to the film. For further reading from Teilhard de Chardin, click here. This link includes further reading by scholars.

Link to interview in L’Osservatore Romano, official newspaper of the Vatican.
(April 10, 2025 | By Roberto Cetera)

ENGLISH TRANSLATION
The life of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin has an adventurous character, spiritual and otherwise, that is well suited to a film representation. The intuition was picked up in the United States by the American filmmaker Frank Frost who made — in collaboration with his wife Mary — the docufilm Teilhard: a visionary scientist, released last year and now available on a streaming platform. «L’Osservatore Romano» reached Frost in his home in Washington DC.

Mr. Frost, why a film about Teilhard de Chardin? What inspired you?
I have always admired the figure of Teilhard, both from a spiritual point of view and as a scientist. I believe he represented a central figure in the thought of the last century, but whose fame did not go beyond the confines of insiders. So I thought of making a film that would make him known to the general public, not just the religious one.

What fascinated you about Teilhard?
I think he left us a strong legacy of knowledge of creation together with a spirituality rich in hope for the future. His evolutionary approach not only profoundly innovated theological thought, but above all paved the way for a no longer fearful understanding of anthropological changes, in a different Christological perspective. And then some of his essential themes, let me say, combine perfectly with a cinematic representation; I think for example of his taste for adventure, the search for existential meaning, the unresolved conflict with authority, the primacy of the spirit and the infinite power of love. And so also his biography: from the passion for geological and paleontological sciences that he took on during walks in the mountains with his father as a child, to the transmission of a deep and spiritual faith transmitted to him by his mother.

What does Teilhard say to today’s man, also through his film?
A lot. Starting from a necessary and renewed awareness of man’s destiny: his studies and his reflections force man to deal with his origin and his destination. As a species and as an individual. And then there is the stringent reference to themes that have become of pressing topicality today, such as the application of artificial intelligence and “transhumanism”.

How has the film been received?
The film was presented for the first time last May on the public network of Maryland and is now accessible through the app of the Pbs platform. We are working right now on an Italian-language edition, again through our production company, Frank Frost Productions, LLC.  It’s a work that from conception to completion took 13 years, includes 35 interviews that — together with the sourcing of documentary material — involved 25 locations in four countries on three continents. The feedback from the public and critics that we have collected so far has been extremely positive, and rewards the dedication with which we have approached this important work over the years. Teilhard was very important for our generation: we would like him to be known through this film also by a younger audience.

A year before Teilhard de Chardin’s death, his nephew heard him say, “I should like to die on the day of Resurrection.” He said he would take that as a sign the Lord approved of his life’s work. The next year, on April 10, 1955, when Teilhard died, it was Easter Sunday.

On this 70th anniversary of his death, as we remember the sentiment overheard by his nephew, we also recollect Teilhard’s contemplation on death, found in his essay, “The Heart of Matter”: “Lord, since with every instinct of my being and through all the changing fortunes of my life, it is you whom I have ever sought, you whom I have set at the heart of universal matter, it will be in a resplendence which shines through all things and in which all things are ablaze, that I shall have the felicity of closing my eyes.”

Our gratitude for the witness of his life and his legacy of thought is well-expressed in this prayer from the Episcopal Liturgical lectionary for today, the Feast of Teilhard de Chardin: “We give you thanks, Creator God , for your servant Teilhard, and for all those who help us to see you in your universe.”

Christine Tracy has written a lovely personal memoir that reads like a novel.  Introducing visionary Pierre Teilhard de Chardin as an inspiration and virtual mentor in her prologue, she takes us on a tour of her life, through thick and thin, in ten engaging chapters, each a story in itself.  Her title, Just Trust Life, springs from the inspiration she takes from Teilhard to face the obstacles (what he would call diminishments) in her life.  By interlacing Teilhard’s insights with her own existential encounters with life, she introduces us to this famous priest, scientist, and philosopher, while offering hope and encouragement to the rest of us who also face reversals and crises in our lives.  Teilhard was an evolutionist a century ago when evolution wasn’t cool in the Catholic Church and paid a price for it.  Above all, Teilhard’s version of evolution emphasizes the evolution of consciousness, offering a vision of hope for the future.  And this is the evolution that Dr. Tracy details in her own life.  She knows how to tell a story and makes reading a pleasure. 

Just Trust Life earns five stars for its readability. Just Trust Life is available on Amazon.

Christine M. Tracy is a writer, journalist, rhetorician, and Teilhardian scholar. She holds a Ph.D. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she studied the evolution of media and worked as a founding editor of one of the web’s first e-zine, Computer-Mediated Communication Magazine.) Read full bio at this link.

When it comes to Teilhard: Visionary Scientist, we are most grateful for much good news: streaming nationally and internationally; more than 35,000 viewers around the world; three broadcast dates; the film’s translation into Mandarin, as well as Arabic, Turkish, and Farsi, for future satellite broadcast in the Middle East and Northern Africa.

And the feedback from viewers has been extraordinarily positive:  “Riveting, moving, beautifully done.” “The content is deep, yet approachable and rich with history.” “I believe it will have a lasting impact on my life.” These are just a few of the comments from viewers from around the United States and across the world – Luxembourg, India, France, Russia, and Australia, to name a few places. Read more reviews from viewers at this blog link.

But our job is not done.  We need to keep expanding the film’s audience, and achieve its full impact through educational and community outreach. Teilhard’s evolutionary vision responds to many of the critical issues we face today, in both civil society, and in the world of religion. He models the resolution of tension between science and faith.  He speaks to a new generation deeply involved in climate change, technology, medical innovations, and space exploration.  His focus on the evolution of consciousness resonates with the ascent of artificial intelligence (AI).  In short, he calls us to accept our role and responsibility in co-creating the future. 

In addition to further broadcasts and distribution, this requires educational outreach to high schools, colleges, parishes, retreat houses, scientific institutions.  It means editing and adding our scholar interviews to our website, along with video clips we were unable to squeeze into the film. 

All of these efforts require financial resources – need your help.  Know that we are most grateful for whatever you can donate to support our ongoing efforts.