*This review reflects the individual views of the author, and not the views of the entire organization.
In March of 2024, some folks from The Church Lab gathered together to watch The Pope: Answers and discuss their reactions afterward. The response to the documentary was overwhelmingly positive and inspired rich dialogue by TCL. This is unsurprising. The documentary shows ten young adults from all over the world, presenting Pope Francis with the very real issues of their lives, and they held nothing back. The young adults included a sex worker, a young man who was abused by a priest as a child, an atheist, a non-binary person, a feminist, an evangelist who protests outside Planned Parenthood, and more. The diversity of their experiences and their opinions ensured heated debate - but what we saw was a demonstration of advanced dialogue.
The Pope set the tone for healthy dialogue, as he did more listening than talking. He seemed non-judgmental over the - sometimes provocative - experiences of these young people, only expressing the occasional grimace (as with the mention of women aborting their fetuses with a clothes hanger). One may have wished to hear more input from the pope at times, as most of the documentary was back-and-forth dialogue between the participants. However, the fact that he embraced the opportunity to hear from the people and observe rather than insert himself says a lot about his intentions. Rather than seclude himself in his bubble and force his own theology on the outside, he allowed the real world to puncture his bubble.
When Pope Francis did take his turn to speak, he was clear on his opinions. Once everyone expressed their diverse points of view, he would point out that the best points of each side are the ones that come from a place of sensitivity for the human person. He’d remind everyone that these are not mathematical problems, but human problems. In other words, when we are dealing with issues of the heart, we can’t look to a spreadsheet or statistical data for our answers. We must look into one another’s eyes and hear them speak from the heart.
That being said, Francis appeals to the dogmatic rules of the Church in times of difficult confrontation. For instance, when a young woman - who identifies as a feminist - challenged him as to whether a women could ever be in his role, he maintained that the ministry is a role for men, while women carry equally - if not more important - roles elsewhere. This answer seemed to disappoint the woman who asked the question, and that reaction was likely shared by a large portion of the audience. Yet, it serves as a blunt reminder that dialogue doesn’t always mean we change our mind, or say what the other people want to hear. Perhaps agreement is not the goal, but engagement and relationship despite disagreement.
A final take away from Pope Francis is his profound point that we tend to over identify with adjectives, confusing these adjectives for nouns. We say things like, “I'm a feminist/nonbinary/conservative/Christian/atheist/insert your own.” But God, he says, is more concerned with nouns that adjectives. “Adjectives are not baptized, nouns are.”
Each person - from the Gen Z participants to Pope Francis himself - remains authentically themselves throughout, never bending under pressure or fear of criticism. I found this film to be exciting to watch for that reason especially. It felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity to hear Pope Francis comment - unprepared - on the true realities of our generation. Whether or not final conclusions were drawn on difficult issues, the true take-away was that the only way to evolve as a culture is by practicing the way we speak to one another despite our differences, and to view each other not as mathematical problems but as our fellow human beings.
By Jillian Mason Shannon.
Shannon is the pastoral assistant at TCL and a spiritual entrepreneur. She is the owner of Neotopia, a non-profit bookstore in San Antonio, TX that holds classes and events surrounding subjects of theology, philosophy and culture.