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Netflix’s ‘The Two Popes’ receives backlash for fabrication

Religion really creates a backlash between facts and the audience. It’s a vast subject to tackle and at some point scary, but that friction creates a hostile community between every one. Exhibit A: The Two Popes.

The Netflix original film, The Two Popes is receiving a bunch of reviews lately––one that we’d like to highlight are those of which that said something along the lines of alleged “lies” about the Catholic Church, most specifically their leaders. Don’t get me wrong, though, reviews have been quite superb––superb enough, even, to be nominated for three Oscars this year.

Like what I said, with a topic as vast and wide as religion, experts will come and criticize that work. Religious scholars, in this case, have seen inconsistencies throughout the Netflix original’s story, making the movie somehow fabricated.

Here’s a brief background about the show according to Netflix on IMDb:

An intimate story of one of the most dramatic transitions of power in the last 2,000 years. Frustrated with the direction of the church, Cardinal Bergoglio (Jonathan Pryce) requests permission to retire in 2012 from Pope Benedict (Anthony Hopkins). Instead, facing scandal and self-doubt, the introspective Pope Benedict summons his harshest critic and future successor to Rome to reveal a secret that would shake the foundations of the Catholic Church. Behind Vatican walls, a struggle commences between both tradition and progress, guilt and forgiveness, as these two very different men confront their pasts in order to find common ground and forge a future for a billion followers around the world. Inspired by true events.

For the scholars, where the movie crossed the line is because it said “based on a true story” to which they argued that it isn’t.

According to an article from The National Review titled “The Lies of The Two Popes,” which personally came off pretty direct, they called the movie a “fantasy built on lies.” Catholic News Service added that it’s a “glossy but highly speculative account of supposedly real events.” These comments can be seen in a variety of ways, but there is one thing that these critiques want to say: the movie isn’t factual.

John Waters for First Things wrote this about the movie in the religious journal:

Bergoglio did not in 2012 fly to Italy to meet with Pope Benedict at Castel Gandolfo to ask for permission to retire. The two men did not spend days together getting to know each other.

Pope Benedict did not give Cardinal Bergoglio advance knowledge of his intention to resign. He did not tell him that he regarded himself as no longer fit to be pope. He did not reveal that he had decided Bergoglio would be the perfect choice to replace him.

We’ll see where it goes from here, but it sure isn’t looking good for Fernando Meirelles’ film––mostly his religious audience.

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