The man uses a Rosary and makes the sign of the cross multiple times in the film. Martin Sheen is also a devout Catholic in real life, so it would make sense for him to be in a movie like this. I'm assuming his son is Catholic also.
shareAs is his pet penguin, Pablo.
What difference does it make? He plays a lapsed Catholic. The whole Camino experience is filled with hundreds of years of religiosity, so it's hardly surprising that as the journey progressed he was more affected by its spirituality.
People can be 'pick-and-choose' believers. For many people some religious practices come naturally to them and they are comfortable with them but then they come across a doctrine that does not suit their 'lifestyle', shall we say, so they go against the grain God established... like the biggie: premarital s ex.
I can see him having fallen away from his faith and maybe not wanting to have a priest try to push him back into it, maybe he didn't want to get into a religious discussion with him at that point either. It was easy to see that he wasn't always in a talkative mood during the pilgrimage.
When we're talking about Hollywood, how Catholic can one really be?! Nicole Kidman supposedly held on to her Catholic Faith all the time she was married to Scientologist Tom Cruise, but how well did she actually hold on to it?... They all say that there's nothing romantic about doing a love scene but they're still *naked* with people who are not their spouses. If they're single, it's still wrong for them to be naked with other people's spouses. Their spouses are not to be believed when they say it doesn't bother them, "he comes home to me.." blah blah blah..Many often fall in love with their costars and leave their spouses, too! These actors also have schedules that often prevent them from getting to mass on Sunday to practice 'their faith' properly. I remember reading that Jennifer Lopez was a devoted Catholic girl in an article that was talking about her 'Glow' advertisement campaign in which she was totally nude behind a sheer piece of fabric! Yes... very devoted Catholic girl!
James Caviezel (Jesus in The Passion of the Christ) still did a 'sex scene' with Jennifer Lopez in Angel Eyes, even though he supposedly insisted that she cover up her breasts during the scene.
The best example I have heard about someone actually being true to their Catholic faith in Hollywood was Neal McDonough refusing to do a nude/sex scene out of respect for his wife and his faith. I am trying to remember accurately if that cost him the job.
I was raised protestant as a kid.
I spent a year in a Catholic school.
I have read about many religions
and I am not religious at all.
I do not believe in magic or miracles, but I do believe
in the mystery of life.
I was very impressed with the way this movie hit on that
mystery without getting bogged down in religion and in
fact portraying religion … i.e. PEOPLE as good hearted
people. We need more of that in the world now.
I like to believe that religion helps more than it hurts.
I don't know, but I could see going on this walk, it looks
so spectacularly beautiful and it would be interesting to
meet people and see what they are about who do this.