Peddlers of God

In October 1956, 10 students journeyed from the seminary in the Dutch town Zenderen to Brazil, to train as missionaries in the Carmelite order. Now, many years later, only a few of them are still working as priests. In , based on a book by Marcel Haenen, filmmaker Hans Heijnen visits some of them and records their stories. Only one of them, Piet Jansen, is still fulfilling his priestly functions with heart and soul; Jan Dousi has been working for many years as a voluntary psychologist in a prison, and Anton Cornelissen bitterly describes the darker side of Roman Catholic life. Archive footage and diary excerpts underpin the openhearted conversations, painting a picture of the personal dilemmas the young men faced in this immense and unfamiliar land. This is set against the historical background of a time when the Catholic Church was undergoing drastic changes. The men recall the strict regime at the seminary, the homesickness and the isolation of the first few years, as well as their shock at the harrowing poverty in Brazil. But they also discuss how they ultimately found their respective path, whether it was in service of the Church or not.