The Vatican official newspaper has added The Blues Brothers to their list of “Catholic Classic” movies.

I know that statement may have just broken some folks’ brains, but it’s true. The Blues Brothers joins other movies in the Catholic Classics list like Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments, and Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life.

The newspaper, L’Osservatore, notes that the plot of the movie follows Jake Blues (Jim Belushi) and his brother Elwood (Dan Akroyd) as they fight through cops, neo-nazis, and crazy country fans in order to save the Catholic orphanage they grew up in.  The movie claims the brothers are “on a mission from God” and they put on a blues show, featuring greats like Aretha Franklin and Cab Calloway, to raise the money to save the orphanage.

The writer, Gian Maria Vian, said in response to skeptics who may not feel the movie is worthy of such praise, “For them (Aykroyd and Belushi’s characters), this Catholic institution is their only family.

 And they decide to save it at any cost.”

So what was Akroyd’s response?  The actor sent a statement to the New York Post saying, “As a former altar boy from age 6 . . . but a somewhat lapsed Catholic, I was delighted with the endorsement.  My local monsignor will immediately be receiving a check for parish needs.”

So there you have it folks.  It’s not a joke, it somewhat makes sense, and apparently the surviving lead is happy about it.  Sounds like a happy ending to me.