I found this so intriguing. I'm a person of faith. I consider myself more non-denominational Christian now but I grew up Catholic. I had an excellent Catholic upbringing full of love and hope so I find this pope to be in alignment with my experience and worldview of Catholicism. Though I acknowledge that with a billion different Catholics there are a billion different experiences of the Church. I found Pope Francis to be very wise and very kind. I didn't feel like he had any judgement for these kids even though some of them are living life much differently than would be considered ideal for a follower of Christ. Secondly this is just all-around a well-made piece of film. The way it was shot was so awesome and I love the cutaways that depict each of the peoples lives. I'm also gay so I really appreciated the fact that there were questions about that and the Popes response made me feel more welcome in the church. I have always had a solid relationship with Christ and even though I never directly felt any sort of judgment growing up, as a whole the church is sort of notorious for that - I'm talking in circles here people so I apologize but yes this was awesome. Would have loved for it to be longer! Great job to the filmmakers !
5 Reviews
Doesn't shy away from difficult topics
Ar_Pharazon_the_golden7 April 2023
This feels quite honest, as the young people talking to the pope not only pose difficult topics (you might expect issues like sexual abuse in the church, but online pornographical content creator for example took me by surprise), but also do not necessarily accept his answers. And are quite diverse - a muslim, an agnostic, a former nun who lost her faith, a girl who seems like a somewhat fanatic catholic, you get it.
To the important bit - are the Pope's answers satisfactory? Obviously that depends on your point of view. As an atheist, I thought they were as good as you can expect them to be from the head of the Catholic Church. There are issues that we can agree to disagree, issues where the answers feel a bit disingenuous (in the abortion discussion 'science tells us'...but then we neglect to also say what science tells us about the time window it should be permitted), and issues where you wish more religious people had Francis' tolerance.
Overall lesson: Francis frankly seems as good as a pope can be (a low bar to pass to be fair) - and a nice old man. Just don't expect 85 year-old priests - even popes - to have all the answers.
To the important bit - are the Pope's answers satisfactory? Obviously that depends on your point of view. As an atheist, I thought they were as good as you can expect them to be from the head of the Catholic Church. There are issues that we can agree to disagree, issues where the answers feel a bit disingenuous (in the abortion discussion 'science tells us'...but then we neglect to also say what science tells us about the time window it should be permitted), and issues where you wish more religious people had Francis' tolerance.
Overall lesson: Francis frankly seems as good as a pope can be (a low bar to pass to be fair) - and a nice old man. Just don't expect 85 year-old priests - even popes - to have all the answers.
A bit bland
christopher-hylton15 April 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I actually laughed at the title of this after I watched because, well, he didn't answer anything. He did a great job of skirting around the direct questions that were asked. It seemed he didn't want to really answer anything. Although he lightly addressed the issue of abuse in the church, defended the position of only having male priests, and spoke out against abortion, I felt this was a lost opportunity to actually dialogue with a generation that genuinely has questions.
The interaction between the Pope and Maria, the girl from Madrid, is probably what impacted me the most. Her faith and how she talked about it was inspiring. Keep praying and cultivating that relationship with God.
The interaction between the Pope and Maria, the girl from Madrid, is probably what impacted me the most. Her faith and how she talked about it was inspiring. Keep praying and cultivating that relationship with God.
Talking in gloves
rjuricic-2291017 April 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Claim that 10 young people from whole world talked with Pope Francis is not fully correct from several perspectives. When you watch you can see that there was targeted selection of psychological, ethnic and geography profiles which will address those questions to the Pope and provide some degree of emotional filled background often shifting focus from actual question. Questions itself were in place, but discussion about them from Cristianity perspective to people of various beliefs and degree of understanding the full aspect of subject is same as discussing how to treat pancreatic cancer with local Chef instead of doctor. It is pity that this documentary has tendency to show Christianity as free for all and do what you want without circumstances. Also there is a certain degree of generalization of moral issues and presence of abuse in Church as it is only present in Church and almost nobody was ever abused outside of it. I think that Pope Francis should focus more on being representative of Christianity and talk from that perspective. But on the other side, due to nature of topics and how those are seen in secular and modern west world, i understand his approach and degree of patience it had with them. Also, talking that "The catechism regarding sex is still in a very early stage" is something i strongly disagree. We have Theology of Body from St. John Paul II, there is St. Thomas Aquinas and it's Summa, Church is more mature in that context than any other institution in the world.
No holds barred!. The one good thing.
phildeesnow18 November 2023
I don't know if I should do this in Spanish or English, but I do want to give my humble point of view. Not even an opinion...
I was expecting something moving, spiritual, inspiring and I didn't get any of that. Being catholic, I imagine that Pope Francis would take the answers to a more Godly field, that didn't happen either. There was no mention of God or the devil, or even the idea of evil in the world.
I wasn't expecting a debate, but something touching, and that didn't happen at all.
Could have been a documentary, but in the pursue of being edgy they took the "reality show" approach of editing, and tho might be more relatable to young people, left off the solemnity of the Catholic church.
The whole thing was purposely staying away from being religious, and it became a one sided political chat, on favor of the youngster's point of view.
Too, " on the nose" about the producers line of thinking, and the agendas they wanted to push.
By the way, he is the representative of God on earth, hey producers, a little more respect with details. It's your movie after all.
It has some cute moments, but that's about it.
I love Pope Francis, I wish he would agree to do something better next time.
I wasn't expecting a debate, but something touching, and that didn't happen at all.
Could have been a documentary, but in the pursue of being edgy they took the "reality show" approach of editing, and tho might be more relatable to young people, left off the solemnity of the Catholic church.
The whole thing was purposely staying away from being religious, and it became a one sided political chat, on favor of the youngster's point of view.
Too, " on the nose" about the producers line of thinking, and the agendas they wanted to push.
By the way, he is the representative of God on earth, hey producers, a little more respect with details. It's your movie after all.
It has some cute moments, but that's about it.
I love Pope Francis, I wish he would agree to do something better next time.
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