Priests Who Never Really Were Trivia Quiz

Answer: Father John Mulcahy

H. Richard Hornberger, a former military surgeon, writing as Richard Hooker with professional writer W.C. Heinz, produced "MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors" in 1968. In it, doctors at a U.S. Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War have a good relationship with the Roman Catholic chaplain, Father John Mulcahy. In 1970, Robert Altman adapted the novel to film. The character Father John Patrick Francis "Dago Red" Mulcahy was played by René Auberjonois. CBS, 20th Century Fox Television, and Larry Gelbart adapted the movie into a long-running TV comedy drama with immense success. George Morgan played Father John Mulcahy in the pilot. He was replaced by William Christopher who was a regular throughout the run.

Father Ted Crilly is the protagonist in the British sitcom "Father Ted". Played by comedian Dermot Morgan, Father Ted is a vaguely moral Roman Catholic priest sent to Craggy Island in Ireland for his misdeeds. Father Paul Adrano is a U.S. Navy chaplain assigned to a U.S. Marine Corps company in the War in Vietnam. He is portrayed in Donald Pfarrer's 2004 novel "The Fearless Man". Father Francis Chisholm is a Scottish Roman Catholic priest in A.J. Cronin's novel "The Keys of the Kingdom" (1941). Gregory Peck played Father Chisholm in the 1944 motion picture based on the novel.

Answer: G.K. Chesterton

Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) wrote on many subjects in many genres. He penned fiction, popular Christian apologetics, poetry, philosophy, newspaper and magazine articles. Between 1910 and 1936, Chesterton wrote 54 Father Brown short stories. The good father is an amateur detective in addition to his sacerdotal and pastoral duties. The stories have been adapted for radio, motion pictures, and television. Ralph McInerny, the writer who created the character Francis ("Frank") Dowling, the protagonist of American television's "Father Dowling Mysteries" (1987-1991), was inspired by Father Brown.

Richard Keith Robert Coles (b. 1962) began a murder-mystery series about Canon Daniel Clement with "Murder Before Evensong" (2022). This was followed by "A Death In The Parish" (2023) and "Murder at the Monastery" (2024). English author Susan Howatch (b. 1940) began a series about Church of England clergy with "Glittering Images" (1987). This was the first in a six-book series called the "Starbridge" series. Clive Staples (C.S.) Lewis (1898-1963) was a professor of English at both Magdalene College, Oxford (1925-1954), and Magdalene College, Cambridge (1954-1963). He is a well-known writer of Christian apologetics for lay readers, science fiction (the "Chronicles of Narnia" series), and imaginative works of fiction, e.g. "The Screwtape Letters" (1942).

Answer: Bing Crosby

Actor/singer Bing Crosby was the first person to receive Academy Award nominations for playing the same character in two different motion pictures. He won Best Actor for "Going My Way." His role was as Father Charles "Chuck" O'Malley, a newly-ordained priest assigned to Saint Dominic's as assistant to crusty old Father Fitzgibbon, played by Barry Fitzgerald.

The parish is not doing well in wartime Midtown Manhattan, and Father Fitzgibbon doubts that laid-back modernist Father O'Malley has the means to reverse the decline.

In "Going My Way", the younger priest wins over the elder. In "The Bells of Saint Mary's", O'Malley is assigned to a Catholic school where he clashes with the headmistress Sister Mary Benedict, played by Ingrid Bergman. Crosby was himself a devout Roman Catholic and hesitated to accept the role because he felt unworthy to play a priest.

Answer: Father David Acosta

David Acosta (Mike Colter) is teamed with a female forensic psychologist Dr. Kristen Bouchard (Katja Herbers) and a technical expert, raised in Islam but is now an atheist, Ben Shakir (Aasif Mandvi). They are "assessors" for the bishop tasked with sorting all manner of inexplicable events. Father Donald Frank Callahan appears first in Stephen King's "Salem's Lot" (1975) and again in three of The Dark Tower series of novels. Father Emilio Sandez is a Jesuit priest who is also an expert linguist in Mary Doria Russell's pair of novels, "The Sparrow" (1996) and "Children of God" (1998). Father Paul Hill (Hamish Linklater) is super creepy as a replacement priest on a small island where bad things happen.

These occur over seven episodes of "Midnight Mass," a Netflix television series.,

Answer: Father Damien Karras

Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller) is a young Jesuit priest and psychiatrist who has doubts about his faith. Father Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow) is an older experienced exorcist. These two priests work together to drive the demon Pazuzu out of 12-year-old Regan MacNeil.

They are supported by Father Joseph Dyer (Father William O'Malley), who did not participate in the actual exorcism. O'Malley was an actual Roman Catholic priest who served as professor of theology at Seattle University (a Jesuit institution). Father Philip Lamont (Richard Burton) is an exorcist/priest in "Exorcist II: The Heretic" (1977), which is the first sequel.

Answer: Friar Laurence

A wise and virtuous Franciscan priest named Friar Laurence tries to quell the long-standing feud between the Montague Family and the Capulet Family. That failing, he officiates a clandestine wedding for Romeo and Juliet. The other priest in the play is Friar John. Friar Laurence was portrayed by Milo O'Shea in "Romeo and Juliet" (1968). Pete Postlethwaite played the part in "Romeo + Juliet" (1996). Paul Giamatti performed Friar Laurence in "Romeo & Juliet" (2013). Friar Francis is the long-winded priest in "Much Ado About Nothing".

In "Twelfth Night", Sir Thopas is not so much a real character as a fictitious persona put on by Feste the Clown to prank Malvolio. The name Sir Thopas is borrowed from an absurd story in Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales". Sir Nathaniel is a hedge priest in "Love's Labour's Lost".

Answer: Grantchester

"Grantchester" (2014-2025) is a British television series based on James Runcie's series of short stories. Set in the Cambridgeshire village of Grantchester in the 1950s, a series of incumbent vicars assist Detective Inspector Geordie Keating in solving mysteries. The first is Sidney Chambers, played by James Norton. The second is William Davenport, played by Tom Brittney. The last is Alphy Kottaram, played by Rishi Nair.

The BBC produced "Ballykissangel" (1996-2001) in-house. Set in Ireland, it tells the story of a young English Roman Catholic priest assigned to a rural community. The British television production company Hat Trick Productions made "Father Ted" (1995-1998). Written by Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews, it follows three Roman Catholic priests -- Father Ted Crilly, Father Dougal McGuire, and Father Jack Hackett -- who have been exiled to Craggy Island, off the west coast of Ireland. "Nothing Sacred" (1997-1998) is an American television series set in an inner-city. It depicts the life of Roman Catholic Jesuit parish priest Father Ray navigating all of the most challenging religio-social issues of the late 1990s.

Answer: Claude Frollo

In Victor Hugo's 1931 novel, Dom Claude Frollo is a complex character. He is educated, intelligent, intellectual, pious, and competent. The flaws that lead to his downfall are his pomposity (he is of upper-class birth), his fascination with alchemy, and his sexual obsession with Esmeralda. He is an archdeacon. In Walt Disney's 1996 animated motion picture, Claude Frollo is not a priest but rather the Minister of Justice for Paris.

The historical Abbé Faria (1756-1819), born José Custódio de Faria, was a leader in the scientific study of hypnotism. In "The Count of Monte Cristo" (1844), Alexandre Dumas borrowed his name for a priestly character locked in solitary confinement in the Château d'If. Jacques Roux (1752-1794) was a "Red" Roman Catholic priest who became prominent in the French Revolution. He was one of the leaders of the far left. In Émile Zola's novel "The Sinful Priest" (1875), Serge Mouret (the Abbé Mouret) is torn between his priestly vow of celibacy and his carnal desires. The Church does not come out looking good in Zola's work.

Answer: No

The wily Tartuffe feigns religious piety to insinuate himself into a wealthy family where he freeloads and ultimately takes title to their house. He is, in truth, a total hypocrite with no religious faith at all. In the 5th Act, he is found to be a wanted charlatan and con artist.

He is not a priest nor any other species of clergyman. Molière uses him to lampoon the Church, the pretences of religion, and the gullibility of those whose critical faculties are muffled by faith.

Answer: the Australian Outback

Colleen McCullough's novel raised more than a few eyebrows for its depiction of a physical romantic relationship between Father Ralph de Bricassart (Richard Chamberlain) and Meggie (Rachel Ward). The setting is the Cleary Family's sheep station called Drogheda located in the Australian Outback. Much of the scenic photography was actually shot in California and Hawai'i.