GUNS & ROSARIES
Thursday 21 March at 22.15 on RTÉ One
Father Patrick Peyton was an Irish priest who became an unlikely Hollywood mogul, recruiting celebrities to a global prayer campaign that reached millions. Secretly, he also worked for the CIA in its Cold War battle with Communism.
Martin Sheen narrates this fascinating documentary on Father Patrick Peyton, the Irish-American priest who brought Hollywood celebrities and millions across the globe to their knees in praying the Rosary. From the mid-1940s and with his famous slogan ‘the family that prays together stays together,’ Father Peyton built a media empire in radio, TV and movies.
Controversially, Fr Peyton’s efforts came to the attention of the CIA which secretly funded his Rosary Crusade as a weapon of mass devotion to fight ‘Godless communism’ during the Cold War.
Guns & Rosaries features a wonderful collection of archive film, insightful comment and the recollections of those who knew Father Peyton, including Bob Newhart who is one of the last Hollywood Greats to work with the Rosary Priest.
An hour long TV documentary produced by Esras Films for RTÉ with the assistance of the Sound & Vision fund of the BAI © 2019
“He used the culture of celebrity to support his own message in ways that were innovative and hard to imagine today.”
Diane Winston, Professor of Media and Religion, USC
“He touched millions of lives but he remained a very humble man.”
Dana Rosemary Scallon
“Viewing him within the context of the Cold War and what we know now about the CIA, perhaps there are tough moral and ethical questions that could be asked.”
Hugh Wilford, California State University Long Beach
“Everybody knew who he was… and what he was selling.”
Bob Newhart
Commissioning Editor for RTÉ
Roger Childs
Editor
Eoin McDonagh
Produced and Directed by
Peter Kelly