Pope Francis: A Man of His Word, written and directed by Wim Wenders - 8 out of 10

Pope Francis: A Man of His Word, written and directed by Wim Wenders
8 out of 10



This documentary comes at an awkward time.
Pope Francis has been under attack recently and it is sometimes hard to decide:

Is his Holiness more like a saint or a flawed human being?

As the title of this documentary makes clear, this feature is proposing the view that this pope is a wonderful human being, godly and honest.
I am tempted to take this view too.

As an atheist, for I am neither Catholic nor anything else.
Pope Francis does have an exceptional modesty, a humility that is so fabulous, especially when contrasted with the lavish, luxurious life style of cardinals and other popes.

In this film, we have some moments wherein children ask with candor questions and the pontiff responds.
Pope Francis is humble, friendly, rather humorous, genuine and explains with simplicity his positions...

Why did you give up the big car - la grande machina- when you could use it and all the richness - la richezza...?
There is so much poverty in the world, so many children are hungry, it seems absurd to be spoiled with that...

These are not the exact words of the question or answer, but the frugality of this pontiff is already legendary.
For decades, he had used an old Renault 4, a vehicle that must be fifty years old now and as a cardinal, it was well known that he was a real man of the people.

He is filmed when he pays an unexpected visit among the poor, migrant people living in Italy.
His stand on climate change, respect and support for the immigrants is well known.

He has appeared less drastic on homosexuality, which has obviously attracted the ire of prelates.
Indeed, there is a rare call for him to resign, something unheard of, even if after centuries, his predecessor, Benedict, has taken the radical step of going into retirement.

The pontiff has been severely criticized for his mistakes on the problem of sex abuse.
Many catholic priests have proved to be monsters that have molested multitudes of children.

Many cardinals and other high officials, instead of taking severe action, have protected these brutes.
On a recent visit to Chile, the pope himself has spoken about slander, in a case of a high prelate, only to apologize later.

There is a spreading belief that the pontiff has been slow in condemning, taking action against those responsible for such atrocious acts.
Pope Francis may yet prove to be one of the most important leaders of the Catholic Church and perhaps he will bring about needed change.