THE POPE

A tale of two popes.

Novelist, screenwriter, and playwright McCarten (Darkest
Hour: How Churchill Brought England Back from the Brink, 2017, etc.)
provides a sensationalized examination of the Catholic Church’s two most recent
leaders. The groundbreaking decision by Pope Benedict XVI to resign the papacy
in 2013 led to widespread speculation and gossip about his motives, and the
author digs into many of those theories. Describing Benedict at one point as “a
frail and confused old man drowning in shallow waters while those closest to
him watched,” McCarten is largely dismissive of Benedict as anything aside from
an academic. Though he occasionally takes pity on the former pontiff—e.g., noting
that his desires to go into seclusion went unheeded by his predecessor, John
Paul II—the author mainly describes him as lacking any interpersonal skills and
being utterly disconnected from the real world or the church he was called to
lead. Benedict was a strong defender of orthodoxy, so his resignation came as a
surprise; indeed, “the most conventional man in the Catholic Church [did] the
most unconventional thing in its modern history.” McCarten sees in that
decision a mixture of guilt over failures to stem the church’s sex abuse
scandal and overwhelming inability to lead in the light of his own shortcomings
and the Vatican’s continued scandals. Though the author is obviously more
aligned with Pope Francis’ progressiveness, he does not spare the newest pope
from scrutiny. He provides a disconcerting report of Francis’ career in
Argentina, strongly suggesting that he was complicit, even if only through
silence, with the brutality his nation faced in the late 20th century.
Ultimately, though intermittently intriguing, this book is just another average
addition to the well-saturated genre of Vatican intrigue works. Since the
author fails to provide much new information or analysis, serious readers will
want to look elsewhere.

Only slightly better than a tabloid look at papal controversies.