The film "Stigmata" may be the current box office champ, but next week it will get a thumbs-down from the Catholic Church.

In Sunday's edition of the Catholic New World, the movie will be branded morally offensive--with the church's toughest rating, an "O."

Deemed an anti-Catholic and warped portrayal of church beliefs, "Stigmata" stars Patricia Arquette as a hairdresser who exhibits the bleeding signs of Christ's wounds.

The movie ratings are supplied by the Office for Film and Broadcasting, an arm of the U.S. Catholic Conference.

The Siskel and Ebert of the Catholic rating system are Henry Herx and Gerri Pare. Both live in New York and attend hundreds of screenings each year, after which they write reviews and decide on the ratings.

They see themselves as independent observers.

"Other reviewers see themselves as opinionmakers in Hollywood. They speak to the culture of film and its particular audience," Herx said. "What we are trying to do is give a thoughtful appraisal in an objective way. We're not part of the system."

Their office, which also is sure to frown on the upcoming satric film "Dogma," is the modern-day version of the Legion of Decency, a controversial censorship board established in 1934 by a committee of U.S. bishops.

Its rulings were closely followed by generations of Catholics who pledged their support during Sunday services.

But as movie subject matter became more complicated, the legion changed its name and modernized its rating system. The old four-tier system--which included the notorious "C," or condemned, rating--was changed to a five-tier system.

The ratings also moved, if slowly, as the culture shifted.

In 1953, "The Moon is Blue," a movie about a young woman contemplating her virginity, received a "C" rating for mentioning the words "pregnant" and "virgin," said Ron Falzone, who teaches film history at Columbia College.

"Today it would take a lot more than that," Falzone said. "You have to give the Catholic system some credit for at least entering the '70s. This code of morality has always been about 10 to 20 years behind society."

Some films, such as director Martin Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ," have raised church ire for creative interpretations of religious beliefs.

That kind of thing obviously will receive an unfavorable rating, Herx said. But he feels the system does more than censor: It's also another source for "consumer information" about the movies.

After they have seen a movie, Herx and Pare sit down to figure out a rating. Occasionally they disagree.

"One film we disagreed on was `The Bridges of Madison County,' " Herx said. "Gerri thought it worked well in terms of showing the pain and emotional results of an extramarital relationship. I didn't think it worked that well and should get an A-4 rating. We wound up giving it an A-3 [adult] rating."

For decades, parents with young children have relied on the ratings when choosing movies, Herx said.

"The ratings are for the busy parent who doesn't have time to read a review," he said. "Yet I think adults also note the ratings and factor it in with everything else they've read about a movie."

The average moviegoer would expect Disney's "Tarzan" to receive the A-1 (general patronage) rating, which indicates that there would be nothing here to upset young children. Not so, Herx said. Because of some intense action scenes and menacing moments it received an A-2 (adults and adolescents) rating.

Kevin Smith's controversial "Dogma" is sure to receive an "O." Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are fallen angels, and Linda Fiorentino is a descendant of Mary and Joseph who works in an abortion clinic.

After reading the script on the Internet, William Donohue's Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights condemned the movie before its release.

But Herx said he will reserve his opinion until he sees the movie. "I don't like to read a lot about a film before I see it. And especially not the script. I've found that over the years a script can be much different when it is filmed."

Movie ratings also can be found at the Web site (www.nccbuscc.org) or by calling (800) 311-4222.

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