In February 2013, the whole world was caught by surprise when Pope Benedict XVI announced that he was going to resign from his position as the Holy Father. In the days that followed, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio from Argentina was voted by a conclave of fellow cardinals to become the current Supreme Pontiff, Pope Francis.
Benedict XVI’s, born Joseph Ratzinger in Germany, resignation was unexpected, causing a lot of conversations as to why he would choose to become pope emeritus rather than continue in the Catholic Church’s highest position—furthermore the man who succeeded him seemed his complete opposite, a simply priest who spent most of his time with the poor, holding public mass, and rode the bus daily.
Such turn of events became the inspiration for Anthony McCarten’s (The Theory of Everything, Bohemian Rhapsody) play The Pope, now also the feature film The Two Popes directed by Fernando Meirelles (City of God) with McCarten himself writing the screenplay. With veteran actors Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce as Benedict XVI and then-Cardinal Bergoglio, The Two Popes dives into a series of conversations between the two holy men as they bat out their stances and ideologies about faith, what it takes to be a truly good person, and ultimately about a decision that changed the Church forever.
Continue reading “Papal Conversations”
What a lovely day. 