Underplayed Gems

Secrets of the Vatican (2014)

Secrets of the Vatican poster
Original title
Secrets Of The Vatican
Directed by
Antony Thomas
Genre
documentary film
Country
United States
Runtime
1h 30m
Rating
8.0 of 10 from 1 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

This documentary looks at events in the Vatican after Pope John Paul II died and during the early years of Pope Francis. It suggests reasons for Pope Benedict's resignation and examines scandals involving clergy, financial corruption, and internal Church politics. The film uses interviews with devoted Catholics to explore these controversies.

investigativesombermeasuredurgentscandal-focusedrevelatoryearnestinformative

What happens

Secrets of the Vatican is an American television documentary film. It first aired on the PBS Channel on February 25, 2014 as an episode of PBS' Frontline TV series. The film covers the period after the death of John Paul II until the first year of Pope Francis, and it posits a theory of what made Pope Benedict XVI resign from the papacy in 2013. It presents a return of trust in the Vatican and its new Pope, Francis, by millions of Roman Catholics after a long period of controversy regarding sexual abuse by Church authorities. It delves into reports of the existence of a "gay mafia" inside the Church and highlights the scandal involving the Legionnaires of Christ founder Marcial Maciel, who allegedly had the backing of John Paul II. The film also tackles the papacy's struggles with cleaning up the Vatican Bank of its corrupt financial policies as an international institution by starting with Benedict XVI's hindered investigations and ending in Francis' supposedly radical initial reforms. The film approaches the controversial topics of the documentary not from perspectives outside of the Church but with testimonies by devoted Catholics: sexual abuse victims, corruption witnesses and priest investigators. Written, directed, and produced by Antony Thomas for the US Public Broadcasting System TV series Frontline, Secrets of the Vatican was co-produced by Jason Berry in the United States and Helen Fitzwilliam in Rome. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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