Despite receiving awards from several film festivals and from Planned Parenthood, absent from the 2021 Academy Awards was the film “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” a fictional picture which follows a 17-year-old girl as she travels from Pennsylvania to New York to obtain an abortion.
In March of this year, a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences— the nationwide body that votes for the Oscars— declined to watch it, drawing public ire from the pro-choice filmmaker who created it.
The film was inspired by news stories of women traveling from areas with more restrictive abortion laws to areas with more permissive laws, the director has said.
The film has drawn praise from abortion advocates, with director Eliza Hittman awarded the 2020 “Media Excellence Award” from Planned Parenthood.
However, when asked via email by Hittman’s publicist if he had seen the film yet, filmmaker and Academy member Kieth Merrill replied that he was not interested in watching it, citing his Christian and pro-life beliefs.
“For me, there is nothing entertaining or inspiring about killing unborn babies. I chose not to watch [Hittman]’s film because it legitimizes abortion,” Merrill said when asked by Variety about his decision.
“Her film is an expression of who she is. My absence of interest in watching her film is an expression of who I am.”
At the time, Hittman, the film’s director, took to Instagram to denounce Merrill for declining to watch her film and consider it for an Oscar.
“This email came in last night and was a harsh reminder that the Academy is still so painfully monopolized by an old white puritanical male guard. I wonder how many other voters out there won’t watch the film,” Hittman wrote in a now-deleted post.
“Never Rarely Sometimes Always” did not ultimately receive any Oscar nominations.
The Academy has nearly 10,000 members, all of whom are eligible to vote for Best Picture.
Members are not required to watch every film that qualifies for the Oscars, but are encouraged to watch as many as possible, Variety reported. Voting ended March 10, and some 360 films were in the running for Best Picture this year.
Merrill has been a member of the Academy for nearly 50 years, having won an Oscar in 1973 for the documentary “The Great American Cowboy.”
He is a father of eight and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and has produced films in the past for the Mormon church, a nontrinitarian religion founded in the 19th century in New York.
Hittman has said that in researching her film, she visited Planned Parenthood clinics throughout the country, and pretended to be a pregnant woman in need of aid in order to gain access to pro-life pregnancy centers.
“Abortion tourism,” the topic of the film, is common in the United States as some states move to restrict abortion, while others seek to liberalize it.
TV ratings for this year’s Oscars ceremony on April 25 were the lowest in the event’s history, with viewership dipping below 10 million for the first time, Deadline reported.
The New York Times called the ceremony, held in Los Angeles’ Union Station, “one of the odder Oscar nights in memory.” The telecast did not feature a host, showed fewer clips from nominated films than in previous years, and received criticism for rushing the In Memoriam segment.
Bishop Richard Stika of Knoxville tweeted, “I turned on the Oscars for about 4 minutes. Horrible. I used to enjoy Bob Hope and Johnny Carson. Now it seems, there are a bunch of dysfunctional people who have lost all sense of morality thinking they have right to tell others how to live. No wonder our nation is dysfunctional. Who cares what they think? Movies are filled with violence, immorality, confusion and the list goes on. By the way, I decided to read instead and listen to some jazz.”
Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland, starring Francis McDormand, took home the statuette for Best Picture, and Zhao the award for best director. Deacon Stephen Greydanus of the National Catholic Register has called Nomadland “one of the best films of 2020.”
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Legatus President Stephen Henley is pictured here speaking at the organization’s 2025 annual conference last month in Naples, Florida. / Credit: Courtesy of Legatus
Miami, Fla., Mar 13, 2025 / 07:20 am (CNA).
In today’s culture, often hostile to expressions of faith, many Catholics struggle with how to hold true to their values within the workplace. That’s why, in 1987, Domino’s Pizza founder Tom Monaghan started the Catholic organization Legatus.
From the Latin word for “ambassador,” Legatus aims to empower Catholic presidents, CEOs, and managing partners to become what St. Paul coined “ambassadors for Christ,” explained Stephen Henley, president of Legatus.
Offering peer support groups, networking, speakers, pilgrimages, and an annual international summit, Legatus’s goal is to “inspire members to live out their faith in all aspects of their life.” There are currently about 90 Legatus chapters in North America.
Chapter meetings are held once a month, providing the opportunity for members and their spouses to participate in confession and Mass, the recitation of the rosary, a cocktail reception dinner, and a speaker’s presentation.
“All of this is to help fortify the members’ marriage, the peer support group, the networking of this group, and then embolden them to go out and live their faith,” said Henley. “Tom felt that if we can bring together these Catholic CEOs, how much more can we change society with these people that have high impact and high influence?”
In interviews with Catholic News Agency, Hawkins, Dean Abela, and Henley covered three tips for bringing the Catholic worldview into the workplace.
Commit to your priorities
Dean Andrew Abela’s Catholic faith wasn’t always as important to him as it is now. As a teenager, he even stopped practicing.
“I came back in my mid-20s, funnily enough, while I was in business school,” he recalled. As a student in 1991, he encountered Pope John Paul II’s new encyclical letter Centesimus Annus, and the pope’s reflection on economics changed the trajectory of his life.
“Just a few months after, I returned to the Church,” he said. “When I reverted to the faith, I wanted to know what my newly rediscovered Catholic faith meant for a life in business.”
Andrew Abela is dean of the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America. Credit: Legatus
After working for companies including Procter & Gamble, McKinsey & Company, and the Corporate Executive Board, in 2002 Dean Abela eventually began teaching at the Catholic University of America. He is also a consultant to Fortune 100 corporations.
“The reason I left business and switched to academia was that I wanted to dedicate myself full-time to studying questions about what it means to be a faithful Catholic in the workplace,” he explained.
A member of Legatus since 2000, Dean Abela mentioned that members can follow what the organization terms a “spiritual plan” to attend daily Mass, recite the rosary daily, and do monthly confession.
Known as Tres Magna, or the “Big Three,” this plan was inspired by Miami Dolphins head coach Don Shula, who “attributed the perfect season to him going to daily Mass,” explained Stephen Henley. “Tom [Monaghan] thought, well, if he can go, there’s no reason why I can’t go.”
“Daily Mass, daily rosary, and monthly confession will align your life and priorities,” added Henley.
Find a supportive community
When Kristan Hawkins first encountered Legatus, she was not a Catholic. Hawkins was raised an Evangelical. After Students for Life’s 2006 launch, she began speaking at Legatus events.
In 2014, Hawkins decided to visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, “a pilgrimage Legatus had sponsored.” “I was the only Protestant there,” she recalled. “I decided there that I was going to enter RCIA.”
She became a full-fledged member of Legatus soon after becoming Catholic.
“As a pro-life activist who starts a pro-life organization, I want to save babies, I want to end abortion, I want to help as many families and women. You don’t start a non-profit because you’re necessarily a great business leader or have all these skills. You started this non-profit, this mission, because you want to see this mission accomplished,” Hawkins said. “For me, that’s one of the powerful benefits of being in Legatus, is having friends and mentors who were successful in the for-profit world who I can call on and ask questions.”
Students for Life of America President Kristan Hawkins. Credit: Legatus
“It’s very powerful and important to have those relationships. For me, in the work I’m doing, it’s a constant spiritual attack,” she added. “One of the best things about Legatus is I can call any of my Legatus friends at any moment, and they’ll be there for you. They know the power of the work we do and the resistance we face.”
Dean Abela also finds a sense of community in Legatus and also strives to build a supportive Catholic community at the Catholic University of America.
“We share with students the principles of Catholic social doctrine, things like human dignity and solidarity, and try to embed these principles into all of our classes,” he explained. “We’re also increasingly trying to give them opportunities to practice different virtues as part of their studies and schoolwork.”
For instance, Dean Abela explained, “To teach graduate students about decision-making, we go through a couple of survivor simulations, where you crash land in the north of Canada and you have to decide what you’re going to do. We have them go through decision-making exercises explicitly practicing the virtue of prudence or practical wisdom, the habit of making wise decisions. We break apart the components of practical wisdom, which include things like alertness, preparedness, and reasoning, and we have them try to exercise those as part of the decision-making process.”
These skills built in the classroom can be applied not only in business, but also in students’ personal lives.
Model the behavior you expect from others and celebrate your co-workers’ integrity
For Henley, giving authentic witness to the Catholic faith in the workplace can start with a simple “hello.”
“First, live the golden rule,” he said. “When you’re walking down the hall, say hello to the janitor, to the executive, and to everyone in between. It matters a lot.”
He added: “Another practical thing: take the opportunity to pray before meals. If you’re going on business lunches, you’ll be surprised at how many people say, ‘Yeah of course, let’s pray.’ It’s more common than not for people to pray before meals. The fact that you’re doing it shows that you’re a bold leader and that you’re spiritual.”
Dean Abela agrees that these types of habits make all the difference, and were the subject of the presentation he made of his book Superhabits: The Universal System for a Successful Life last month during the 2025 Legatus Summit.
“The main focus of the book is understanding that things like diligence, honesty, and resilience are not genetic characteristics. They are habits that anyone can acquire through practice,” Dean Abela explained. “Companies can focus on one of the most important virtues and give employees opportunities to practice those virtues.”
For instance, Dean Abela explained the GrowVirtue App, an AI-driven app “based on the work of the book,” which organizations can use to evaluate which virtues their company has already made a habit of, which virtues they might target, and tips for how to make progress.
“The important thing is that the company would choose a virtue that they think would be directly beneficial to the company right now,” said Dean Abela. “Although personal results are private, the whole company can see what employees as a whole are weakest in. So, if you’re trying to grow in customer service, you might encourage the virtue of friendship or friendliness.”
Dean Abela discussed the value of recognizing virtue both inside and outside the company.
“See examples in action or read about examples,” he suggested. “You can have employees watch videos or you can share articles that demonstrate examples of a particular virtue in action. And you can make sure senior folks are role models for junior employees.”
“Most importantly, give the employees the opportunity to practice the virtues, and give feedback,” he added. “When companies give awards, they tend to do this more with core values. They should shift to core virtues and give it to people who are exemplars of that virtue.”
Ultimately, the goal for Catholics is to live authentic lives that draw others to Christ.
“Stay true to who you are, don’t give in,” said Hawkins. “They’ll know you by your fruits. I think that’s very important. You don’t have to work in the pro-life movement or specifically in an apostolate to be a good Catholic, a faithful Christian in the workplace. You can do that in any job, in any position you have – in McDonald’s or in a Fortune 500 company.”
New York City, N.Y., Apr 10, 2019 / 12:00 am (CNA).- The site of a former church in New York City has been transformed into affordable housing units, and the Archdiocese of New York plans to develop 2,000 affordable units from its building stock over t… […]
The Annunciation by Fra Angelico. / Credit: Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
National Catholic Register, Apr 8, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA).
Today we celebrate the solemnity of the Annunciation. Usually it’s celebrated on March 25, but this year M… […]
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“For me there is nothing inspiring about killing unborn babies. I chose not to watch [Hittman’s] film because it legitimizes abortion,” Merrill said when asked by Variety about his decision.
“Her film is an expression about who she is. My absence of interest in watching her film is an expression of who I am.”
Could it be ANY clearer?
Hittman comes up with this whopper (with cheese no onions or pickles!)- “The academy is still so painfully monopolized by an old white puritanical male guard.”
Many years ago someone coined the perfect description of the Academy Awards – “Hollywood’s annual salute to itself.”
“For me there is nothing inspiring about killing unborn babies. I chose not to watch [Hittman’s] film because it legitimizes abortion,” Merrill said when asked by Variety about his decision.
“Her film is an expression about who she is. My absence of interest in watching her film is an expression of who I am.”
Could it be ANY clearer?
Hittman comes up with this whopper (with cheese no onions or pickles!)- “The academy is still so painfully monopolized by an old white puritanical male guard.”
Many years ago someone coined the perfect description of the Academy Awards – “Hollywood’s annual salute to itself.”