By Catholic News Service

NORTH HAVEN, Conn. (CNS) -- Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion of the Christ" topped a list of "pro-Catholic" films submitted by readers of Faith & Family magazine and the National Catholic Register newspaper.

Readers of the two publications, both published by Circle Media in North Haven, sponsored an online poll, which garnered responses from more than 1,000 people, according to Father Owen Kearns, a priest of the Legionaries of Christ who is publisher of the two periodicals.

An eight-member panel of critics was also asked to nominate what it felt were the most "anti-Catholic" movies.

The panel's top choice was last year's "The Order," a thriller about intrigue at the Vatican over an arcane medieval ritual known as "sin eating," a heretical rite by which a person takes on the sins of another.

For readers to nominate a film for the pro-Catholic list, the poll guidelines stipulated that the film had to "explicitly show Catholic customs and beliefs and had to be unambiguously positive," according to a National Catholic Register editorial in the Aug. 8 issue. The editorial also pointed out that the poll was "unscientific."

"The Passion of the Christ" received more votes from readers than the next three films on the list combined: 1965's "The Sound of Music," 1966's "A Man for All Seasons" and 1943's "The Song of Bernadette."

Rounding out the 10 most pro-Catholic movies were 1946's "It's a Wonderful Life," 1956's "The Ten Commandments," the 1983 made-for-TV movie "The Scarlet and the Black," the 1977 TV miniseries "Jesus of Nazareth," 1993's "Schindler's List," and 1945's "The Bells of St. Mary's."

On the anti-Catholic list, with one exception, the worst films were the most recent.

Following 2003's "The Order" were 2002's "The Magdalene Sisters" (released last year in the United States); the 2001 cable television production "Sister Mary Explains It All"; 2000's "Chocolat"; 1999's "Stigmata" and "Dogma"; 1998's "Elizabeth"; 1988's "The Last Temptation of Christ"; 1994's "Priest"; and 1985's "Agnes of God."

"Look at the list of pro-Catholic movies, and you'll see some of the top-grossing movies of all times," the National Catholic Register editorial said. "Look at the list of anti-Catholic movies, and you'll see films moviegoers largely rejected."

Among the panelists choosing the anti-Catholic films were David DiCerto, a staff critic in the U.S. bishops' Office for Film & Broadcasting in New York, and Gerri Pare, who retired as the office's director this year after 14 years in the office.

Other panelists included Michael Medved, author of "Hollywood vs. America"; Father Mark Massa, author of "Anti-Catholicism in America"; Philip Jenkins, author of "The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice"; and Steven Greydanus, movie reviewer for the National Catholic Register and decentfilms.com.

Also on the panel were William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, and Robert Lockwood, general manager of the Pittsburgh Catholic diocesan newspaper and author of "Anti-Catholicism in American Culture."

Of the anti-Catholic films on the panelists' list, six were classified O for morally objectionable by the U.S. bishops' Office for Film & Broadcasting. The office had given "Agnes of God," "Priest" and "Elizabeth" A-IV classifications, for adults, with reservations -- indicating films that, while not morally offensive in themselves, are not for casual viewing because they require some analysis and explanation to avoid false impressions and interpretations.

Because "Sister Mary Explains It All" was made for cable TV, it was not classified for its moral suitability.

Five of the pro-Catholic films were given A-I classifications, for general patronage, by the film office: "The Sound of Music," "A Man for All Seasons," "The Song of Bernadette," "The Ten Commandments" and "The Bells of St. Mary's."

"It's a Wonderful Life" was classified A-II, for adults and adolescents. "The Passion of the Christ" and "Schindler's List" were classified A-III, for adults. The TV productions "Jesus of Nazareth" and "The Scarlet and the Black" were not classified.

"A Man for All Seasons," "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Schindler's List" also made the Pontifical Council for Social Communications' list of the top 45 films of the century deemed to have special artistic and religious merit. The list was issued in 1995 to mark the 100th anniversary of cinema.