The "Real" Father David Telemond

The casual observer, unfamiliar with various famous Catholic clergy of the modern era probably won't realize that the character of Fr. Telemond, who is a Jesuit in the film, is based on the very real Father Pierre Teilhard de Jardin, SJ. Dead for 12 years by the time this film was made, much of the dialog that takes place with Father Telemond before the Pontifical Commission formed to examine his writings, is a dead lift from Teilhard's The Phenomenon of Man. Like the mythical Telemond, many of Teilhard's writings were censured by the Church. Today however, he was been more or less posthumously "rehabilitated' by the Church. Retired Pope Benedict VI is a big fan.