MOVIES - Dec. 20, 1990

Catholic Reservations: “The Godfather Part III,” which depicts some of the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in unfavorable terms, has been given an “adults only--with reservations” rating by the U.S. Catholic Conference’s Office for Film & Broadcasting. The group’s director, Henry Herx, said that the “reservations” are due to “the religious element, which some may take as being anti-religious.” But Herx said filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola uses the news of the Vatican Bank’s fiscal wrongdoing to “create a Hollywood story. This is not anti-religious. . . . The filmmaker has attempted to balance the picture with the character of Cardinal Lamberto, who is later elected Pope, and who is characterized (in the movie) as ‘a good man . . . a good priest.’ ”