Teilhard Project to film in Teilhard’s birthplace

Church in which Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was baptized.

Thanks to a generous response to our recent  appeal for funds we’re delighted to say we will soon be filming in France.  At the end of July we will be taking a film crew to shoot in the Auvergne region of France.  Our shooting will cover the first 10 years of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s life — the house he was born in and was home schooled in by his mother (Sarcenat), the hills and fields he walked with his trained-naturalist father, the church he was baptized in, the rocky river bank he explored for stones, the mountains he climbed, the city streets of Clermont-Ferrand that he walked.

Further shooting will cover the time period in his 60s when he would retreat in the summer to the estate, called Moulins, owned by his brother Joseph and managed by Joseph’s daughter and son-in-law, Henri du Passage. This is where Teilhard convalesced from a heart attack, where he would come for a month of spiritual and physical refreshment, where he would say Mass in the home chapel, where he would write letter after letter to his many correspondents and would work on his manuscripts.

All of this shooting is possible due to the warm hospitality of the Teilhard family members who own these houses today.  Chief among them is Henri du Passage, who we interviewed in Paris last September, and who arranged for us to film in the family houses.   Very sadly, Henri passed away this past June and will not be there to welcome us.  We are so grateful that we were able to film his personal recollections of Teilhard before his unexpected death.  We will report on the September interview in subsequent posts and will also let you know how the shooting goes.  Thank you all for your ongoing support!