Priest Hoping to See Bernardin’s Life in Movie, Chicago Sun-Times, January 2, 2011

Priest Hoping to See Bernardin’s Life in Movie

Chicago Sun-Times
January 2, 2011

http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/3083287-423/bernardin-michael-priest-retreat-sneed.html

Cardinal Joseph Bernardin

After sex-abuse allegations were recanted against Cardinal Joseph Bernardin in the mid-1990s — and before the cancer that would claim his life was detected — he led a powerful retreat in Mundelein.

“He was emotionally very vulnerable, and somewhat euphoric,” recalled the Rev. Michael Sparough, a Jesuit priest who attended the spiritual gathering.

“He just talked about the trauma and the nightmares he had, and how tremendously stressful this whole thing was, but [how the truth was] ultimately triumphant. That retreat had a tremendous impact on my life,” Sparough said.

Now, he’s leading an effort to bring Bernardin’s story to the silver screen. The 60-year-old priest, who helps run a Barrington retreat center and has written a number of books, is working with two Hollywood script writers to turn Bernardin’s best seller, The Gift of Peace, into a mainstream feature film.