2025 FRCT-Hitchcock’s I Confess (1953) and the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm with Dr.Timothy Penner

Dr. Meredith Pakola introduces the 'Formations and Reformations in Catholic Thought' lecture series, highlighting St. Paul's College as Canada's largest Catholic studies program. She then introduces Dr. Timothy Penner, a valued member of the college and the department of English, film, theater, and media, who specializes in media constructions of popular persona and the intersections of film and Catholicism. Dr. Penner will speak on Hitchcock's 'I Confess' and the Ignatian pedagogical paradigm.

Dr. Penner introduces Alfred Hitchcock's 1953 thriller 'I Confess,' noting it's set exclusively in Canada and is Hitchcock's most overtly Catholic film. He outlines the plot: a priest, Father Logan, receives a murder confession and then becomes the prime suspect due to circumstantial evidence, unable to clear his name because of the seal of confession. This film is used in Dr. Penner's 'Catholicism on Film' course as a thought experiment.

The 'Catholicism on Film' course critically examines the intersection of commercial cinema and the Catholic Church, using films that thoughtfully engage with Catholicism without simplistic celebration or denigration. Dr. Penner emphasizes the role of cinema in generating empathy. He notes Hitchcock's focus on emotional connection with audiences and his Catholic upbringing, which, despite Hitchcock's own reservations, significantly influenced films like 'I Confess' as an 'afterimage' in his work.

Dr. Penner details the assignment for his students: to place themselves in Father Logan's shoes and decide what they would do. The assignment prompts students to consider religious vows, professional responsibilities, secular humanism, the importance of promises, and whether a person's behavior should influence the decision to keep a secret. The goal is to encourage deep thought processes rather than simple answers.

Dr. Penner explains his use of the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm (IPP) due to St. Paul's College's Jesuit connections and IPP's emphasis on empathy and experience. He highlights IPP's five elements—context, experience, reflection, action, and evaluation—as crucial for students to navigate the moral ambiguities of the 'I Confess' thought experiment, fostering personal growth and critical thinking.

The first element of the IPP, Context, focuses on Father Logan's situation. Students need to understand Quebec history, its unique Francophone and Catholic culture, and the influence of the Hollywood Production Code on the film's narrative. Hitchcock's portrayal of Quebec City, with its imposing fortifications and pervasive Catholic symbols, creates a claustrophobic space for Logan, emphasizing the immense weight of his vocational and spiritual expectations.

Dr. Penner discusses the 'Experience' element, where students bring their personal beliefs to Logan's situation. Students grapple with the morality of obstructing justice versus breaking a vow, often considering the impact of a belief in eternal life. Some students apply philosophical notions like consequentialism, arguing for societal justice over strict adherence to canonical law, making Logan's dedication to vows seem immoral if it endangers the community.

The 'Reflection' stage requires students to deeply consider the implications of Logan's actions and their own. They debate martyrdom, the loss of vocation versus life, and loyalty versus self-preservation. This process fosters compassion for Logan by forcing students to navigate a difficult, morally ambiguous situation where neither choice is ideal, leading to a deeper understanding of complex ethical challenges.

The 'Action' element, in this context, extends beyond merely making a choice in the assignment. It aims to prepare students for real-life moral, ethical, and social challenges by practicing wading through cognitive ambivalence. The assignment encourages students to consider various perspectives, facilitating greater empathy and discouraging entrenched viewpoints. The film's resolution, though simplified by the Hollywood production code, highlights the importance of re-evaluating judgments based on evidence.

In the 'Evaluation' stage, the focus is on fostering deep thinking rather than adherence to strict rules. Dr. Penner favors responses that engage with the complexities of the problem and consider social reverberations, rather than relying solely on dogmatic rules. The goal is to encourage students to grapple with discomfort and evaluate characters, community, church, religion, and themselves critically, ultimately aiding them in becoming 'persons of conscious competence, compassion and commitment'.