| Director | Jack Gold |
|---|
Brian Moore's original novel was written in 1972. The film is set in the then futuristic year of 2000.
In defiance of the Sacrosanctum Concilium from the edicts of the Second Vatican Council, and a future Fourth Vatican Council, a group of monks from a monastery located on an island offshore the Republic of Ireland conducts the traditional Tridentine Mass in Latin on the Irish mainland. These traditional masses are so popular that groups from all parts of the world make pilgrimages to attend the masses and express their displeasure at the changes in the Roman Catholic Church. This future Vatican Council also destroys the mystery of the Mass, denies Transubstantiation, and insists that priests only wear clerical clothing on ceremonial occasions.
The Vatican is outraged at the beginnings of a potential Counter-Reformation, particularly when an upcoming interfaith dialogue is about to take place in Singapore. The Father General sends out Father Kinsella, a strong adherent of Liberation theology to order the monks to change their ways or face transfer to other monasteries.