In poor and dangerous areas, working with the ailing, the homeless, prisoners, prostitutes and those losing hope, the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal carry the Gospel to all God’s people — and now you’ll get to see them in action.
A new article in The Catholic Spirit, the official publication of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, profiles Clifford Azize, a parishioner of All Saints in Lakeville, Minnesota, and the director of the new documentary “Outcasts,” from Grassroots Films.
Filmed in England, Ireland, Honduras, Nicaragua and the U.S., the film — aimed at audiences 14 and over — shows the friars at work in marginalized communities. Father Benedict Groeschel, who passed away in 2014, founded the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal in 1987 and was well-known as the host of ETWN’s “Sunday Night Live.”
Azize, 37, born in New York, knew of the friars’ work firsthand, after having met them through a Youth 2000 retreat as a 15-year-old in Queens; he later lived at their St. Francis House in Brooklyn.
Out of St. Francis House eventually came Grassroots Films in 2006, and the company has now produced several documentaries.
From The Catholic Spirit:
In “Outcasts,” Azize said he “wanted to show the Church how I see her,” which includes the friars’ courage in reaching the marginalized.
“We captured life on the go,” Azize said. “There is nothing set up. Everything that they’re [the audience] going to watch is real, even though the situations that they’re seeing aren’t cases that happen every day, but they do happen.”
Beyond the friars helping society’s outcasts, Azize hopes the film conveys the “message of family.” He said the struggles of all the people in the film are rooted in a lack of religious guidance and healthy parenting, something Azize and his former housemates recognized in their own lives. He calls that the “silent story” in the film.
All Saints is hosting a pre-release screening of “Outcasts” at 7 p.m. CDT on June 13, to raise awareness of addiction and human trafficking. Azize and a friar will answer questions afterward.
Click here for the movie’s official Website, which lists other prescreenings and offers information on booking one.
Here’s the trailer:
Image: Courtesy Grassroots Films
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