I watched the Pope episode 1 last night.
My perspective from what I remember:
THE GOOD:
-Relating the Pope back to Peter
-Expressed Peterās primacy and leadership, as well as historical details like being in Rome and crucified upside down
-Admitting Catholic Church is 2,000 years old
-Talked about how Christianity was inspiring for Roman Christians, since many in Rome were slaves.
-Expressed how there was one universal church until split with Orthodox.
-Surprisingly, bluntly stating that the Orthodox Church ābroke offā from the Catholic Church
-Had a general positive view of the role of the Pope as ārockā and āfatherly figureā in a chaotic and every changing world.
-Had a variety of speakers/contributors: a Cardinal, a baptist minister, Catholic scholars, other scholars, and so on.
-Showed Pope Francis and expressed his role as peacemaker amongst three great religions.
The BAD:
-WORST SIN: One scholar called Constantine āhead of the stateā¦ and the CHURCH.ā Because thatās how it was for āPagan Rome.ā
Isnāt this episode about the Pope?! Isnāt it obvious who leads the Church? Embarrassing. And she wasnāt talking about the Eastern Christian approachā¦ It was still the context of Rome.
-While admitting of Peterās prominence, one scholar said that Rome was head of the church because Rome was head of the Empire, which isnāt exactly correct
-Sometimes focused too much on the Constantine influence of the Roman church, as if it was because of him that the Pope became the leader, which also isnāt exactly true
-Talked about Christians killing each other over doctrine, which was true but not very nuanced
-Weirdly suggested Pope Urban was personally responsible for war and violence, and yet the same documentary also said that Pope was responding to call for aid from the East. So it didnāt seem to be consistent: Are you blaming the Pope, or are you admitting it was a response to violent Muslims?
MISSED Opportunities:
-As the first episode āRise of the Pope,ā the episode should have at least mentioned Leo the Great or Gregory the Great. But NOPE. Besides Peter, popes of the Crusades (Ubran II or III? Canāt remember ā maybe both) were mentioned most.
-Basically: Went from 1st century, to Constantine, to barbarians, to AD 800, to Crusades. Didnāt seem complete, even for an hour. HOW CAN YOU NOT TALK ABOUT POPE GREGORY?
-Didnāt speak much about early Church fathers or Christian reasons for Popeās primacy, OTHER THAN Peter himself. didnāt mention Clement of Rome, or Ireneaus, or Cyprian of Carthageā¦
INTERESTING but odd:
-Had a little segment on the Didache, but it didnāt really relate to anything about the episode, or the Pope.
-Said Rome was only church led by Apostle, which is interesting but not really true.
-Showed Peter and disciples around him making Roman Catholic sign of the cross. Sign of cross is early, but no one really knows
-I think it was odd to focus on the Crusades.
-Took the Catholic approach on Great Schism, which I believe is true, but probably should have been phrased in a more nuanced way instead of āOrthodox broke offā
