 The scene in which St. Francis renounces his birthright was filmed  in the forecourt of the Church of San Rufino in a portion of Assisi  across town from the Basilica of St. Francis. The church of the  Porciuncula was a set built in a meadow. The interior of the Popes  church was built on a sound stage in the studio, but the massive  depiction of Christ that was behind and above the Popes throne is  an actual mosaic from a church in Sicily which was matted into the  shot.