Saw it today. It gives a better view of Francis than 30-second sound bites, but it leaves a lot out. There is nothing, for example, about him before he became pope. My favorite line was what he used to ask people in confession in Buenos Aires: “Do you play with your children?” Seemed really big on the family. It showed him answering a question about child abuse on a plane, and he gave a good answer. But his actions…just ask Chile. I’m unaware of any bishop that has been removed because he was complicit in shielding priests who were abusers. Why? He was also asked the standard question about why is there evil. He skirted the issue by talking about free will, etc. But of course that’s not the issue–the issue is natural disasters and sickness. He ignored that. It shows him on many of his trips, and he certainly seemed sincere, but you never saw him call out the powers that be. Very much the politician. Why? He’s not running for election. At times he shows an almost dangerous naivite: Islam, immigrants, etc. “They are people,” “We are all brothers,” etc. All very nice, but ignores certain realities. A lot of stuff about St. Francis, how St. Francis was a revolutionary, etc. but of course no follow up–how exactly is Pope Francis being a revolutionary?
So in sum, it was an interesting movie, but one that raised a lot more questions than it answered. And the movie didn’t seem to be well organized or edited. Maybe it just went over my head; I don’t know.
ope: A man of his word" movie?