Cardinal Timothy Dolan, along with Archdiocese of New York Auxiliary Bishop Edmund Whalen, and Archdiocese of New York Vicar General Monsignor Joseph LaMorte, attended an Ash Wednesday eve advance screening of the feature film “Cabrini” at The Sheen Center.

 

The film centers on the life of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first American citizen to be canonized. Born near Naples, Italy, in 1850, Mother Francesca Cabrini moved to the United States to serve the needs of Italian immigrants in New York City, namely the orphans and the poor. She is entombed at the Mother Cabrini Shrine in Washington Heights, Manhattan.

 

“I was very moved,” Cardinal Timothy Dolan told The Good Newsroom the day after the screening. “It parallels what we are facing today, the criticism we face for being compassionate to migrants.” he said. Cardinal Dolan brought a relic of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini with him to the screening, from his personal chapel, he told the audience in opening remarks.

 

Also in attendance was Sister Mary Grace Walsh, superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of New York.

“Cabrini” reunites many members of the team that created the 2023 surprise hit, “Sound of Freedom.” The film is again produced by Angel Studios; Rod Barr and Alejandro Monteverde return as writers; and Monteverde again directs. It stars Cristiana Dell’Anna in the title role, with John Lithgow as Mayor Gould, and David Morse as Archbishop Michael Corrigan.

 

During a question and answer period after the screening, Monteverde described his film as a “painting” of Cabrini’s life. “On this particular film, her life, this is an origin story,” he said. “My job as a director is to create an impression of her life. My job is not to tell details because I only have an hour and a half and put it into a painting, this is a motion painting,” he said of the choice to focus on the period of her life between leaving Italy for the United States, and her struggle to open her first hospital.

 

“Cabrini” opens on March 8, which is International Women’s Day, in select theaters. Tickets are already on sale.