'Vicar' not 'Father'

I'm sure I heard one of the villagers refer to him as a Pastor as well!

Sorry torchest, but it is quite possible, then as now, that the village church could have belonged to the Anglo-Catholic wing of the Church of England. Although Norfolk did have some of the most extreme puritans and iconoclasts during the Reformation, it has always subsequently had a strong 'High Church' tradition. I could take you several right now (well, not 'right now', it's a bit late at night), within a few miles of here in West Norfolk, where the vicar/rector is 'father', the congregation genuflect and cross themselves, call communion 'mass', and where there are statues of saints as in the film (there even appears to be a monstrance in the sacristry through which they escape).

Incidentally, the church used is actually in Mapledurham, which is a long way from Norfolk, near Reading. Some of the flint walls in the film are reminiscent of this part of the world, but the countryside looks entirely different (apart fro the beaches). I notice that the present day 'vicar' of the group of parishes, of which Mapledurham is one, is designated a 'priest-in-charge'! I also notice that the church, although originally mediaeval, was given a drastic make-over in the mid-nienteenth century; hence its perhaps plain 'protestant' appearance, despite the statues.

I can only assume torchest that you're not from an Anglican background, and hence you're not aware of the variety of practice in the Church of England; both here and in its related churches world-wide.

He was referred to as "Father" because he was a catholic. I've just checked and he clearly asks Devlin if he is catholic - not unusual for someone from Eire! He also refers to the fact that they have a small but loyal congregation - not likely for a CoE church in the 1940s.

That would also explain why they genuflected on entering the church - they were catholics!

Having no religious beliefs of any kind, I'm unaware of the difference between various ecclesiastical collars.

to torchet: "Catholic churches are modern and it is highly unlikely that there would have been a Catholic church in a small village in the 1940s."

Not necessarily. The Anglicans took over most of the medieval Catholic churches, e.g. Canterbury Cathedral. Indeed some were destroyed or converted to secular use, particularly those of the monasteries of the major Catholic religious Orders. But there were enough that were simply taken over by the Church of England. Obviously, the church in the film ministered to "High Anglicans" - those who kept most of the rituals and customs of the ancient faith and that would have included genuflecting towards the altar and tabernacle and also calling their prelates "father." In its early years, Henry VII and his Anglicans did not consider themselves Protestants, whom the king roundly despised, but rather as the "real"
Catholics. The Church of England became identified with the wider Protestant movement only during and after the reign of Elizabeth I under whose reign the 39 Articles of Religion were legislated. Today it is in communion with several mainline Protestant churches. English monarchs who were the heads of the Church of England and their governments discriminated against evangelical Protestant sects like the Anabaptists, Puritans and Quakers effectively hounding them out of England with large numbers of them emigrating to the New World. Today there are still High Anglicans ("smells and bells" Christians) who keep enough of the ancient Catholic terminologies and rituals so much so that the modern vernacular Catholic mass look more like Protestant services or fellowships while the High Anglican mass closely resemble the medieval Catholic mass.
The masses and rituals that the Royal Family attends are High Anglican in ritual.

A parish depending on its size or origins may be headed by a vicar, rector or a parish priest. "Vicar" is more of the title of a position rather than an honorific title like "Father." One may call a Vicar "Father," especially during confession or when seeking counsel.

I know the interesting question you raised has already been answered (it is a Catholic church in the film/book) however, I would just like to add that despite our own village church down here in west Cornwall being Anglican and not Catholic, the vicar is referred to as 'Father' and then by his Christian name, eg 'Father Harry', 'Father Bryn' etc. However, we now have a female vicar and she is referred to either as Reverend and then her name or simply just by her Christian name. Calling her 'Mother' would just sound very odd.
Secondly, whilst many Catholic churches are indeed modern, strictly speaking I suppose, all churches built before the Reformation would have been Catholic as there was no Protestantism until then, and there are many further Catholic churches and cathedrals built since then and before the 20thC. Many small villages in the UK have a Catholic church as well as an Anglican, I've lived in two villages that had both, and one village I lived also had a Baptist, Methodist and United Reform church too as well as the Anglican and Catholic (thankfully, it also had five pubs) Funnily enough, it was the Anglican church which was a modern building, the Catholic church being 13th century.

It's mentioned quite often that it's a Catholic church in the film.