Enduring Faith: The Story of Native American Catholics

Enduring Faith: The Story of Native American Catholics is a documentary film, not an app. You buy it through the iTunes Store and watch it the way you would any movie you own.

The film tells the history of the Catholic faith among Native American peoples. It covers how the faith first came to Indigenous communities, the hard parts of that history including the harm done by government policies, and the way Native Catholics have held onto the faith and made it their own. There is real storytelling here, with interviews and footage, not just narration laid over old photographs.

What struck me watching it is that it does not flinch. It names the injustices plainly, but it does not stop there. It shows people who kept praying, kept the sacraments, and wove their own culture into Catholic worship in ways that are both beautiful and faithful. That balance is hard to pull off, and the film manages it.

This is a good pick for an RCIA group, a parish adult-faith evening, or a family that wants to learn a piece of Church history they were probably never taught. Older teens studying American history would get a lot from it too.

What it is not: interactive in any way. There is nothing to tap or explore. It is a film, and you sit and watch it. At $9.99 it costs more than most apps on this site, because you are buying a movie rather than a free download.

It runs $9.99, from filmmakers David Naglieri and Tim Moriarty. Available on the App Store: Enduring Faith. Worth the money if the subject matters to you.