Recruting Good

A Neo approach to the priesthood
Poster uses pop culture to boost positive image of Catholic faith.


By Robert King
robert.king@indystar.com
August 27, 2005


When more than 1 million young Catholics came together in Germany for World Youth Day festivities this month, a poster featuring a young priest in a pose that evoked the hero of "The Matrix" movie series unexpectedly became a hot commodity.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops had brought along thousands of the posters to Germany for free distribution at a display promoting careers in the ministry to the throngs of teens and young adults gathered for the five-day celebration.

It soon found it didn't have enough to satisfy demand.

Pilgrims from Africa, Eastern Europe and South America -- as well as seminarians and college ministry leaders -- submitted requests for thousands of copies to take home to their corners of the world.

The poster, in short, created a huge buzz.

Only a delegation of Catholic youth and youth workers from Indianapolis -- who were stunned to see the image in so many places -- had any insight about the priest behind the sunglasses.

That's because the heroic figure clutching a silver rosary in his right hand and an ornate cross in his left is none other than Rev. Jonathan Meyer, a 28-year-old priest in Greenwood.

Meyer developed the idea for the poster nearly a year ago with Broad Ripple graphic artist Melissa Scarlett. Their hope was that by casting the priest in the image of Neo, the protagonist in "The Matrix" trilogy, it would spur young men to give some thought to joining the priesthood.

Its popularity has surprised everyone involved. "I had no intention of this thing becoming the monster it has become," Meyer said.

"The Matrix" movies are a classic fight between good and evil. Neo, played by actor Keanu Reeves, is the "chosen one" prophesied to rescue humanity from machines. He also sports dark sunglasses and a long, flaring black trench coat.

The notion for a priestly takeoff on "The Matrix" started as a joke at a meeting of youth ministry leaders from around the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. Amid the banter, someone said Meyer -- who is fond of wearing a long black cassock -- should pose for a Neo-like picture.

That idea lodged in Meyer's head. He called Scarlett and asked her to give some thought to it. As an avid fan of "The Matrix," Scarlett was already a step ahead of her priest.

While attending young-adult gatherings that Meyer leads for the archdiocese, she had been struck by the inherent theater of Meyer's cassock. She had already considered asking him to pose for a photo shoot. Now, she had a reason.

The result was an image packed with drama.

Meyer's head in the poster is facing down. He is in a dark setting. Against the black cassock is the cross and a silvery rosary that seems to glow.

"It's playing off the idea of fighting evil," Scarlett said. "Ultimately, good always overcomes evil. And the priest has the power of God on his side."

In the background, streaming in vertical lines where computer code appears in "The Matrix" movie posters are the words to the traditional Latin hymn, "Salve Regina."

Against all that seriousness the priest is wearing sunglasses. And then there is the text at the bottom that Meyer wrote himself: "Trinity Pictures presents The Catholic Church, a production of The Father and The Son and The Holy Spirit in cooperation with The Blessed Virgin Mary." The production carries an "R" rating: "Restricted for those radically in love with Jesus Christ."

It was so convincing that Rev. Edward Burns, who assists the nation's bishops on matters regarding priest training and recruiting from his office in Washington, D.C., said a woman from South America stopped him in Germany to ask where she could get the video.

"It is edgy, yet it is so respectful," said Burns, who took more than 4,000 of the posters to Germany. "While it may not increase the number of seminarians, it is, indeed, going to increase the amount of conversation that occurs surrounding a healthy, wholesome image of priesthood."

The poster comes at a time when the Catholic Church is trying to move past a sex-abuse scandal that cast a pall over the priesthood. And it comes when a growing church is struggling to find enough new priests to staff its parishes.

Meyer, who was ordained a little more than two years ago, is tall and lean with broad shoulders. He ran track and cross country in high school and college. He stays in shape these days by playing sports with the youth of his church.

Burns said the church has attempted to borrow from cultural references before, such as with the "Men In Black" movies. Borrowing from "The Matrix," however, may resonate with a wider group.

"It's kind of a parallel because Neo has to fight evil," said Nick Welch, a 17-year-old member of the Greenwood parish where Meyer is associate pastor. "That is similar to the role of the priest -- to fight evil and save souls."

Welch, who has given some thought to the priesthood, said "The Matrix" connection in the poster is obvious to kids who have seen the movies. It sends a message that the priesthood isn't boring, he said.

It does it so well that Carrie Syberg, a 16-year-old Roncalli High School student and member of the Greenwood parish, said the posters have appeared in the lockers of kids at school. She has one on her bedroom door. It's cool, she said.

That Meyer would pose Neo-like comes as no surprise, she said, because the priest "is all about being outrageous and crazy."

Meyer explains it this way:

"I believe we can take things of the culture and use them for the good of Christ," he said.

Susan Borcherts, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, said church leaders are aware of the poster project and are happy to let Meyer run with it. "It's his baby," Borcherts said.

Meyer and the staff at Our Lady of the Greenwood parish, where he is the associate pastor, are getting poster requests from across the United States and beyond.

About 13,000 copies have already been printed through donations and money from Meyer's own pocket. Burns said the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is considering whether to print more. Meyer says that, so far, he hasn't received any criticism related to the poster. But he acknowledges the project was not without some risk. In particular, he didn't want it to reduce the priesthood to something secular or gimmicky.

That is one of the reasons Meyer wore the cassock in the poster. Some priest recruiting posters in recent years have shown priests wearing something other than their cleric's clothing, or in non-church settings. The cassock, the cross and the rosary say priest loud and clear.

It is an image that Dustin Boehm, a 22-year-old Greenwood parishioner studying for the priesthood, appreciates. Boehm keeps one of the posters in his room at St. John Vianney seminary in Minnesota. "He's a young man. He's athletic-looking. He's not afraid to be a priest and to stand up for the church," said Boehm.

"Just as Neo was the savior of the truth, so is the priest."