Catholic filmmaker Juan Manuel Cotelo: We need more saints, we need real saints.

“We need more saints. “We need real saints.” It is the cry of the Spanish director, screenwriter and actor Juan Manuel Cotelo, who spoke about “A wounded world” at the Quito 2024 International Eucharistic Congress.

“We need more Saint Paul, more Saint James the Apostle, more Saint Teresa of Ávila, more Saint Ignatius of Loyola, more Saint John Paul II, more Saint Teresa of Calcutta. We need more saints,” he said this Monday in the auditorium of the Quito Metropolitan Convention Center, in the Parque Bicentenario, before thousands of attendees.

“We have become accustomed to people dying.”

At the beginning of his presentation, Cotelo, creator of Catholic films such as “The Last Summit”, “Land of Mary” and “The Greatest Gift”, described the current situation in the world with concern: “How is the world? “It’s terrible.” He emphasized how vulnerable children are to new types of ideologies: “Poor children. “They are going after them, they want to destroy their innocence.”

In addition, he criticized the state of politics and the bad decisions of world leaders, as well as the war in Ukraine, Palestine and many others that, according to him, have stopped being news due to general apathy: “So many wars that we already know It is not even talked about because we have become accustomed to people dying, and it is no longer news.”

“And the young people, and the family, how do you want to attack the country? How do you want to attack motherhood? How do you want to attack fertility? “She continued.

The filmmaker’s conclusion is that “the world is hurt, we are hurt, we are destroyed, we are a little discouraged.” “In addition, it is difficult for us to recognize it (…) Anyone can spit on the Church, as they spit on Jesus.”

A solution to chaos in the world: “We need real saints”

Cotello, seeking to find a solution in the face of an increasingly secularized, selfish, materialistic and distant world from God, imagined a conversation with Jesus and asked him: “What do I do? If you were me, how would you solve this?”

Then, he told the audience the plan he would propose to Jesus: “First, we need honest rulers who strive for society, peace and fraternity.” He also proposed the need for philosophers and scientists to defend the truth.

Imagining Jesus’ response, he asked him: “What else do you have?” To which he responded: “Entrepreneurs who generate wealth for everyone and distribute it well” and “communicators, journalists, filmmakers…”.

At the end of this fictional conversation with Jesus, Cotello, now almost out of new ideas, told Jesus that what the world needs most today are new saints, “true saints.”

The film director highlighted that Jesus, with his simplicity and depth, has transmitted to all generations an essential message to achieve holiness: “My grace is enough for you.” “All He expects is a tiny act of faith, small as a mustard seed,” Cotelo added.

However, the Spanish screenwriter recalled an important detail about the saints of all times: “Only the Lord is holy” and those who are recognized as saints by the Church, “are nothing without Christ who lives in them.”

In that sense, he explained that if holiness was removed from man, that is, the presence of God in their souls, “no matter how well-intentioned they are, they will do absolutely nothing.”

He then cited Jesus’ words in John 15:5 to corroborate this: “Without me you can do nothing.”

“They can’t do anything, and I add this, except be successful. If you want to be successful, you don’t need Jesus. For success in this world, be guided by the prince of this world and you will do very well. Do acts, earn money and do not prophesy. See? Look for the causes of the world and you will find them. Seek social status and you will get it. Look for a comfortable life and you will have it,” explained the filmmaker.

Cotello reminded that followers of Jesus had and must, even today, be prepared for rejection. Jesus said to them, “I am sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves.” The scriptwriter encouraged not to be afraid, remembering that the peace and presence of Jesus are with us “every day, until the end of the world.”

Likewise, he highlighted the importance of Catholics having an act of faith in the midst of difficulties: “That small act of faith, of trusting in Jesus in the midst of the storm, is what is asked of us. Even if we get nervous and think that everything is going wrong, we must remember that the lack of peace reveals our lack of faith. Jesus asks us: ‘Why have you doubted?’”

Jesus invites us to true love, which does not judge

Cotelo also emphasized that God loves us just as we are, even in the midst of our mistakes and sins.

“God doesn’t love you because you do things right. He loves you now, in the midst of your mistakes and sins (…) If we learn to love our condition as sinners, we will get closer to the love of God,” he commented.

In this context, the filmmaker addressed the question of how appearances and success often obscure our true vision of others and of Christ.

“We focus on success, beauty, money, greatness. With our senses and intelligence, we value what we consider good and great. But we also see the failure, the ugliness, the sin of others. Sometimes we judge others more harshly than ourselves. Jesus tells us: ‘Do not judge,’ he recalled.

The Eucharist helps us find Jesus in our brother

The filmmaker also referred to the Eucharist, stating that “if we are able to see Christ in the Eucharist with the eyes of faith, perhaps we will be able to see Christ in the appearance of the sinful person,” he maintained.

“If a person felt observed with that pure gaze, and felt loved, that would allow his or her own resurrection (…) We are each of us a living, present Christ. But he is Christ acting in the world with greater effectiveness than before,” he added.

Cothello recalled the words of Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, in John 3: “He must increase and I must decrease.” “If I believe that I am putting too much effort into my strength, into my ability, into my effort, perhaps I am not letting Christ act sufficiently,” he added.

Finally, he remembered a phrase that Pope Benedict XVI shared with him years ago: “The smallest is the most powerful.” “Be small, that is the Eucharist and that is what each of us can be, if we want to be effective. Be small to say: ‘It is no longer I who lives, but it is Christ who lives in me,’” he concluded.