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Post by cato on Sept 6, 2019 11:57:19 GMT
Netflix are planning a new drama on recent events in the catholic church focusing in on the relationship of Pope Emeritus Benedict and Pope Francis. Benedict is being played by Anthony Hopkins who famously played the cultured cannibal Dr Hannibal Lector in a series of movies.
It will be interesting to see how they portray what is a highly unusual position for the papacy ie the presence of two living popes. There is an official church narrative that all is sweetness and light between the two men but some papal apologists have called for Benedict to be totally silenced because of his occasional off script letters and statements.
I believe the living presence of Benedict in the Vatican state is a break on the madder policies of Francis. While Benedict lives Francis is relatively restricted in his liberalisation programme.
Recent accounts have indicated the conclave after John Paul's death was a contest between Cardinals Ratzinger and Bergoglio. Those who lament the drift of the current papacy might contemplate how dire things might be be if Francis had been elected back then.
The St Gallen group of liberal minded cardinals which helped elect Francis does appear to have set a clear agenda. The more orthodox cardinals seem disorganised and less inclined to strategise. The recent decision by Francis to appoint more cardinals in his mould would seem to indicate we will get a Pope Francis II.
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Post by servantofthechief on Sept 6, 2019 19:20:45 GMT
I will urge caution regarding talking about this, but I will state that at any other time when there were 'two popes' in history, one was either a declared antipope, or, one of them formally relinquished the title in favour of the other in order to remain in communion with Rome.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI still uses the title, he still give his apostolic blessing, (perhaps one could argue he could do so as he remains a bishop regardless), and he was duly elected in accordance with canon law and the rules of the Conclave. This netflix drama will be nothing short of painting the entire church with a bad brush (because its Netflix and if you know anything about the company you know whats coming) with perhaps Pope Francis shown in a sympathetic light in terms of reforming the Church to be more in accord with the 'Times'.
It. Is all. So tiresome.
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Post by cato on Sept 6, 2019 20:05:54 GMT
I will urge caution regarding talking about this, but I will state that at any other time when there were 'two popes' in history, one was either a declared antipope, or, one of them formally relinquished the title in favour of the other in order to remain in communion with Rome. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI still uses the title, he still give his apostolic blessing, (perhaps one could argue he could do so as he remains a bishop regardless), and he was duly elected in accordance with canon law and the rules of the Conclave. This netflix drama will be nothing short of painting the entire church with a bad brush (because its Netflix and if you know anything about the company you know whats coming) with perhaps Pope Francis shown in a sympathetic light in terms of reforming the Church to be more in accord with the 'Times'. It. Is all. So tiresome. There is no reason other than chronological snobbery why we should not live through the the reign of an antipope. An antipope is not the antichrist however. Should we be spared for another few centuries it would be a future pope who determines which pope taught the fullness of the faith and who didn't. It may or may not be significant that Pope Francis has not used the more solemn form of using Encyclicals in advancing his more novel teachings. As far as I know off the cuff papal chats while flying on foreign trips have no teaching authority whatsover. We will probably know for certain in a century or two. |
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Post by cato on Sept 6, 2019 20:11:10 GMT
As a postscript there are reckoned to be around 37 figures now recognised as historical antipopes , which is relatively quite a high figure.
There are also almost a score of individuals with some kind of following who currently claim to be pope!
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Post by cato on Sept 7, 2019 18:16:27 GMT
This netflix drama will be nothing short of painting the entire church with a bad brush (because its Netflix and if you know anything about the company you know whats coming) with perhaps Pope Francis shown in a sympathetic light in terms of reforming the Church to be more in accord with the 'Times'.
It. Is all. So tiresome.[/quote]
I don't really expect Netflix to give a sympathetic view of the Papal office when the current ultramontanes and their ideological soul mates have also spent 50 odd years in promoting dissent from traditional catholic teaching.
Netflix do entertainment for the masses not catechesis. (That used to be the churches job before it began to campaign against plastic in the seas.) It is interesting that EWTN that does promote orthodox Catholicism is out of favour with large swathes of the US hierarchy.
Series like the Borgias, the Young Pope etc are light entertainment albeit sensationalist . It is perhaps a back handed compliment no one makes TV about the power play within Methodism or dark deeds in the Anglican communion.
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Post by cato on Jan 3, 2020 16:51:20 GMT
I watched the Two Popes recently on Netflix and enjoyed it immensely despite the clear bias towards the hip Francis as opposed to the out of touch piano playing Benedict.
It was enjoyable fiction. It is interesting at a time of dispiriting papal scandals a secular company makes a pretty sympathetic movie about an institution that many hate and oppose. I suppose there is a fascination with the papacy among some that produces occasional gems like the Shoes of the Fisherman in the 1960s or the gloriously cracked The Young Pope produced by HBO.
There is a a certain catholic who will never be pleased with any depiction of the papacy other than pious hagiography but the Two Popes makes (probably unintentionally) an important point about forgiveness , redemption and the sacrament of confession. At the heart of the movie are two confessions were each man confesses to the other . I won't spoil the story but it is very rare to encounter this much neglected sacrament in popular culture.
It is really an odd couple movie , beautifully filmed with some light humour sprinkled in. Recommended.
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Post by Stephen on Jan 3, 2020 23:16:04 GMT
This movie is 100% fiction and heterodox propaganda.
Netflix is pure degeneracy.
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Post by cato on Jan 4, 2020 15:36:21 GMT
This movie is 100% fiction and heterodox propaganda. Netflix is pure degeneracy. Just wondering have you watched It? You wouldn't be exaggerating slightly by saying it's 100% fiction? After all there are currently two popes in the Vatican! |
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Post by Séamus on Jan 5, 2020 9:36:55 GMT
This movie is 100% fiction and heterodox propaganda. Netflix is pure degeneracy. Just wondering have you watched It? You wouldn't be exaggerating slightly by saying it's 100% fiction? After all there are currently two popes in the Vatican! I suppose it's a matter of whether you're a half-full or half-empty viewer! I was tempted a couple of times last month to buy the the book of the same title,not sure how connected it is with the production. But I'm content enough with my more Vatican-retro reading at the moment,God's Invisible Hand(2000)interviews with Cardinal Arinze,who'd now be quite old,but seems to be still very much alive in his retirement,even through I've not heard of him since the shocked face that many noticed at Benedict's abdication announcement. There's much praise of the Irish involvement in the foundation of the church in Nigeria in the interviews,but there's also much evidence of the "reverse cycle" evangelization- for one, much mention of Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi,his personal friend, who died in a monastery in Britain. Although he joined Mt.St.Bernard with an object of bringing the Trappists back to West Africa,not to bring his own vocation to Europe so much,the symbolism of an African dying in the early 60s,the era where the pendulum was about to swing in the West,is striking. But it's also very beautiful that Ireland's Bl Columba Marmion was Cyprian's chief inspiration towards monastic life. At time of publication,a Benedictine congregation introduced by Cardinal Francis to his diocese had risen from four nuns at the time of the Biafran war to 140;by 2000 African-born nuns from there were stationed in four Italian and one Maltese monastery. |
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