Canadian Catholic filmmaker Kevin Dunn’s new documentary Permission: Fr. Bob Bedard’s Vision for the Church is a superb portrait of a man who exemplified total surrender to the Lord’s will.

In one funny clip, the man known as “Fr. Bob” transposes Frank Sinatra’s anthem of individualism "My Way" into “I did it God’s way, and it really works I can surely say.”

By no means is this 15-second snippet among the weightiest or most inspirational moments of this 75-minute film. Still, it perfectly encapsulates the spirit that propelled the man who founded the Companions of the Cross in 1985.

Advertisement

Over two-and-a-half years ago, in early November 2022, Dunn first told The Catholic Register of his desire to celebrate “this incredible champion not only of the Canadian Church but of the Universal Church as a whole,” and a figure who preached the New Evangelization well before it became popularized.

This project was still in its infant stages. Dunn had only recorded a few of the more than 20 interviews he ultimately filmed with seminarians, priests, bishops, parishioners, broadcasters and former students of Bedard. He had also just launched a crowd-funding campaign in the hopes of staging cinematic reenactments of key moments from Bedard’s six decades of ministry.

Fast forward to today. Permission: Fr. Bob Bedard’s Vision for the Church screened for the first time at Annunciation of Our Lord Parish in Hamilton, Ont., on May 28. It will also premiere at the Canadian Museum of History on June 4 in Gatineau, Que., before its official release, appropriately on June 8, Pentecost Sunday.

It is a documentary worth seeing because its love for its subject joyfully radiates in every single frame. If you had never heard of Bedard before watching the film, you’ll come away with an appreciation for the man and perhaps a desire to study his remarkable life. Alternatively, if you happen to already admire this charismatic leader, I dare say you’ll be even more in awe of him after viewing this love letter to his legacy.

I particularly responded to Bedard’s deep trust in the Lord. There were multiple junctures in his life where he felt initially uneasy about where God was leading him. For one, he was not keen — “I don’t want to touch it with a 10-foot pole” — on being assigned to a teaching role at Ottawa's St. Pius X High School following several years of being a parish priest. Not only did he accept every vocational call, he went above and beyond every single time. He became a teacher who knew every kid’s name in a school with 700-800 students.

Former pupil Julie Wallace praised Bedard’s classes as “the words jumping out of the Bible. It was like this is our story. This is not a history lesson about something that happened in the past. This is our past, present and future and God is alive and well.”

Bedard was a trusted counsellor, cherished basketball coach and a father figure for many students over the years.

The darkest chapter in the school’s history was also discussed. On Oct. 27, 1975, a troubled student entered the building with a shotgun, kicked open the door to the classroom where Bedard was teaching and opened fire. The shooter killed one student and injured several others.

Advertisement

In the aftermath of this senseless tragedy with his students, colleagues and perhaps himself looking for answers, he told his students “from this experience we could either be better or bitter. What are you going to do with it?”

The film made a compelling case that Bedard always sought to better himself and that never closing doorways to opportunities was a core aspect of his ethos.

He was initially unsure of Charismatic prayer, an expressive form of worship with hand gestures, spontaneous expressions of faith — sometimes speaking in tongues — and calls for God to bestow the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

His approach to prayer for the first two decades of being a priest was strikingly understated, recounted Bishop Scott McCaig, a friend of Bedard and a member of the Companions of the Cross.

“He was a dutiful priest, but his own personal encounter of Jesus in prayer was lacking so he asked God for the gift of prayer,” said McCaig, who shepherds the Military Ordinariate of Canada.

Bedard opened himself up to asking God for the gift of prayer. It was a Pentecostal moment. He realized at that moment that he needn’t “water down the Gospel” to get people to come to Church. Instead, he must articulate the faith with full passion.

He transformed as a minister. Soon, he began offering the most thrillingly alive, joyous and devout Catholic Masses imaginable at St. Mary's Parish in Ottawa. He also recognized that the key to evangelistic renewal was empowering the laity — a conviction he seemed to understand years before anyone else.

His zeal to embrace the new evangelization was transmitted to his fellow Companions of the Cross.

Wisely, Dunn chose to include a storyline in the documentary about Isaac Longworth’s journey towards becoming a transitional deacon for the Companions of the Cross. Now, Longworth is a 30-year-old priest of this apostolic community.

Advertisement

This aspect of the documentary articulates that the society founded by Bedard is alive and well as there are successors ready to carry forward Bedard’s messages of evangelism and permitting God to fully transform your life.

Visit permissionthefilm.com/ for more information.