de Lubac
A Documentary Film
Help Bring
the Story of
Henri de Lubac
to the World
Henri de Lubac’s life shaped the Church and stood against tyranny. Let’s bring his story to the screen!
Henri de Lubac stood at the crossroads of war, faith, and intellectual transformation. His courage resisted Nazism, his ideas shaped the Second Vatican Council, and his work continues to guide Catholic thought today.
The film is in the final stage of post-production—but we can’t bring this powerful story to the world without your help!
Your support for the project directly funds the archival licensing, scoring, and outreach necessary to presenting the story of Henri de Lubac to a wide audience. Every contribution gets us closer to bringing this film to audiences hungry for truth, clarity, and spiritual depth.
“Man only knows himself—can only desire and love himself—in God or before God… For man without God is dehumanized.”
—Henri de Lubac, The Discovery of God
With stunning on location photography, in-depth interviews, archival footage, and engaging reenactments, this film explores the dramatic life and legacy of French Jesuit Henri de Lubac (1896-1991), whose cause for canonization is now being investigated by the Church.
By moving through his personally harrowing experiences of some of the 20th century’s most dramatic social conflicts and spiritual upheavals, this film portrays de Lubac’s continual witness to the dignity of the human person as made in God’s image and the role his thought can play in addressing the social, political, and philosophical problems of today which distort human dignity.
Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière
Synopsis
A young Jesuit who survived two world wars and censorship, Henri de Lubac answered catastrophe with fierce clarity—and changed the Church in the process.
Through letters smuggled under occupation, debates that shook Rome, and the shockwaves of Vatican II, his defense of the human person—made in the image and likeness of God—stood against atheism, crushing ideologies, and the hollow promises of a postmodern age.
The film moves from trenches of war to council halls to today’s fractured public square, tracing how one restless mind became a compass for those searching for meaning and dignity.
Why This Story
Had to Be Told
Henri de Lubac didn’t just write about faith—he lived it. Soldier, scholar, resister of Nazism, and voice at the Second Vatican Council, his life was a witness to truth and courage.
This film is a tribute to a man who saw the dignity of each person with clarity and conviction. As de Lubac once wrote in the darkest days of war: “O man, realize what you are! Consider your royal dignity!”
Sonier, De Lubac Family Estate
Featured Interviews (In Order of Appearance)
Guillemette de la Borie
Great niece of Henri de Lubac and historical novelist
Frédéric Mounier
Journalist, correspondent for the daily La Croix in Rome (2009-2013), former head of its religion department, and author of numerous books on the Catholic Church
Sarah Shortall, PhD
Assistant Professor of History, University of Notre Dame. Author of Soldiers of God in a Secular World: Catholic Theology and Twentieth-Century French Politics
Father Joseph Fessio, S.J.
Founder of Ignatius Press
Éric de Moulins-Beaufort
Archbishop of Reims and President of the Bishops Conference of France
Marie-Gabrielle Lemaire
Sara Hulse Kirby, Ph. D.
Assistant Professor of Theology, DeSales University
Joseph Flipper, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Theology, University of Dayton. Author of Between Apocalypse and Eschaton: History and Eternity in Henri de Lubac
Jean Duchesne
Co-Founder of Communio, International Catholic Review
Father Andreas Lind, S.J.
Instructor, the Catholic University of Portugal
Jacques de Larosiere
President of the International Cardinal de Lubac Association and Former Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund
Bringing the Project to Completion
Production is complete—what remains is transforming raw footage into a finished work. Your support at this stage is the difference between a hard drive full of scenes and a film that moves hearts and minds.