Pope Francis: A Man of His Word
Director: Wim Wenders
Year Released: 2018
Rating: 3.0
Wenders follows around Pope Francis of Argentina (born Jorge Bergoglio) as he tours the world preaching peace and tolerance and voicing his concerns over the destruction of the environment and wealth inequality (while drawing comparisons to his namesake, St. Francis of Assisi). Many of the pope's proclamations ring true - they're impossible goals but they make sense - and Wenders allows him plenty of screen time to preach, but when it comes to pressing concerns like sexual abuse of minors and people fleeing the church in droves he lets him slide - I understand the reluctance to 'interrogate' the Pontiff, but the 'moving around' of pedophile priests to different parishes with full knowledge of their actions deserves more than just a sound clip about 'showing forgiveness.' That being said, he seems like a warm fellow, and his praise of humor is refreshing to hear: if you can't sometimes laugh at the inanity of it all, you aren't going to make it very far.
