Rome Reports is worth watching – it’s a 30 minute weekly program on, well, global Catholic news. It’s shown on EWTN a couple of times a week (Fridays from 11-11:30 pm Eastern, I’m thinking, since I just watched it), but it’s a European-based operation. Tonight, the program was all over the map – a couple of stories from China, one about Iraq, the completed repair of the Assisi basilica, the Russian Orthodox in Rome…and Don Matteo.

Who’s Don Matteo? Well no one except Church n’ Pop Culture junkies will be interested – it’s apparently a very popular show on Italian television about a crime-solving priest  in Gubbio – garners very high ratings. That interested me, but what also caught my eye was that the actor playing Don Matteo is Terrence Hill, well-known for his starring roles in many Spaghetti Westerns including the "Trinity" movies. Here’s the season 5 episode list, with links to clips. I have no idea how church matters or priesthood are treated in the series, but I was intrigued. The anti-Father Ted? Or just his crime-fighting Italian cousin?