CINEMA & THE AUSTRALIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH by Peter Malone

CINEMA & THE AUSTRALIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

Peter Malone

Paperback, 250 pages, $39.95

ISBN: 9781923568488

September 2026 release

For more than a century, cinema has shaped the way people understand themselves, society and faith. In Cinema and the Australian Catholic Church, Peter Malone MSC presents the remarkable history of the Church’s engagement with film, both in Australia and internationally.

At the heart of the book is the Australian Catholic Film Office, which operated from 1971 to 2020. Drawing upon extensive records, reviews and personal experience, Malone traces the work of its three directors, Fred Chamberlin, Peter Malone and Richard Leonard, and explores the Office’s involvement in film criticism, media education, international festivals and the recognition of Australian films that reflected significant human values.

The book also examines changing Catholic attitudes towards cinema, from early concerns about morality and censorship to a broader appreciation of film as an art form and a powerful means of cultural dialogue. A substantial study of the controversial film Conclave demonstrates how cinema continues to provoke debate within the Church and the wider community.

Insightful, detailed and richly documented, this is an important contribution to the history of Australian Catholicism, cinema and social communications.