The writer reveals the background to his new film about Pope Benedict’s surprising decision to quit
Sun 22 Dec 2019 08.15 GMT Last modified on Sun 22 Dec 2019 16.34 GMT
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Anthony Hopkins, left, as Pope Benedict and Jonathan Pryce as Cardinal Bergoglio, in a scene from The Two Popes. Photograph: Peter Mountain/AP
On 11 February 2013, a 600-year-old tradition was shattered: Pope Benedict XVI made a startling announcement. He would, owing to his advanced age, resign, but would retain a living title, “pope emeritus”.
Within weeks, the great doors of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican were sealed and the cardinals were drawn into conclave for the second time in less than a decade. When the doors opened again a few days later, the charismatic Jorge Bergoglio, who would take the name Francis, had been elected. The world, for the first time since the year 1415, had two living popes.
So why did Benedict, the most traditional pope of the modern era, do the most untraditional thing imaginable?
The reasons for Benedict’s cataclysm became fodder for speculation. A pope, surely, must die on the job. He had to. Wasn’t this an integral part of the job description? Not just tradition; it was virtually dogma. As the Washington Post, citing a theological expert, explained: “Most modern popes have felt that resignation is unacceptable except in cases of an incurable or debilitating disease – that paternity, in the words of Paul IV, cannot be resigned.” So why did Benedict, the most traditional pope of the modern era, do the most untraditional thing imaginable? (Poor health has usually been an asset to a pope, in that it re-enacts – for all to see – Christ’s suffering on the cross.) And how could this ultra-conservative protector of the faith, guardian of doctrine, even contemplate doing so when, in all likelihood, he would be surrendering the chair of St Peter to the radical Bergoglio, a man so different from him, in character and views?
In film and book, I tell the tale of an odd couple whose destinies converged and who influenced each other profoundly.
Let us consider Francis first, or, as we first encounter him, Cardinal Bergoglio. A fun-loving Argentinian, on the surface a humble man, an extrovert, a simple dresser (he wore the same pair of black shoes for 20 years, wears a Swatch) and an on-off-on-again advocate of liberation theology, a Catholic movement that seeks to aid the poor and oppressed through direct involvement in political and civic affairs. He’s a man with the common touch. A natural man of the people. Once had a girlfriend. Has worked as a bouncer at a tango club. An ardent fan of football.