When we think of church history, we often think of things that happened centuries ago. We sometimes forget that major historical events have happened in the last decade or so.
One of those events was the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, which eventually led to the papacy of Pope Francis. We are now in the remarkable time of having two living popes.
The relationship between the two men was recently portrayed in the movie The Two Popes. This is a fascinating story, not because they are the two most recent popes because of how radically different their personalities (and theology) are.
The strength of this movie, beyond the interesting events, is the acting of Anthony Hopkins as Benedict and Jonathan Pryce as Francis. They bot look like their respective popes, but are two of the most talented actors of our time. They really captured each personality.
A frequent question is about how historically accurate this movie is. Many of the events recounted did indeed happen. However, some of the interactions between Benedict and Francis didn’t actually happen.
The Two Popes is historically accurate in a different way. It does reveal the tensions between two factions of the Roman Catholic Church. Benedict was the champion of conservatives and Francis is the champion of progressives.
What may have not taken place as literal conversations between two men is a conversation happening between different groups within the Roman Catholic Church.
I found The Two Popes to be an interesting movie that was educational to this non-Catholic. I recommend that you see this movie.
