It is difficult on television to see something unprecedented, something that a camera has never been able to record before and that, perhaps, will never be able to record again. This Wednesday, Disney premieres one of those rarities, Amen. Francisco responds, an 80-minute special co-directed by Jordi Évole and Mà rius Sánchez in which the Pope has a meeting with ten young people to talk about topics as varied (and sensitive for the Church) as abortion, sexual abuse, feminism, the role of women in the Church, the loss of faith, pornography or racism.
The result of this exceptional meeting is a close and honest conversation, with many doses of empathy, curiosity, respect and mutual learning. “It was a unique opportunity to bring together two worlds that normally do not touch, to make one of the most influential people in the world have a dialogue with a group of young people whose lives sometimes clash head-on with the postulates of the Churchâ€, comment its directors.
How did the idea for this unusual project come about? “Part of a relationship of trust with the Pope that starts from the interview we did with him for Salvados,” replies Évole. After that program, broadcast in April 2019, she maintained quite regular contact with the Pope with whom they also chatted online during the pandemic. “And one day we went to the Vatican to explain to him that we had this idea and the truth is that it didn’t take him long to accept it,” reveals Évole. “His phrase of his was“ meeting people is part of my job, â€explains Sánchez.
Both directors corroborate the impression when one watches the documentary that there were no red lines or censorship. “One of the most surprising things is that the level of conversation that is had with the Pope is very unusual. He talks about issues that, although perhaps he may have addressed them on occasion, what he has never done is discuss them”. It is an unprecedented meeting “by a world leader with young people who say what they think and who have achieved something It seemed very difficult to us: breaking the taboo of who was in front of them, not entering the realm of fear and not daring to say anythingâ€.
In order to choose the participants, in addition to being Spanish-speaking to facilitate communication, a list of more than 200 young people between the ages of 20 and 25 was drawn up. Later they worked with different combinatorics in which there was geographical variety and with different lives and experiences that could conflict with the Church. That is why there are believers, atheists and a Muslim; a victim of sexual abuse, a girl who is dedicated to internet porn, an activist in favor of abortion, an anti-abortion Catholic…
The meeting took place on June 28 outside the Vatican, in a collaborative work space in the alternative neighborhood of Pigneto, in Rome. The day began in the morning in the Vatican. “I think that this recording was also very exclusive and that places appear that had never appeared before the cameras, such as the Pope’s room, his office, the space where he drinks his coffee with milk, the elevator… And in the end we even went up with He went to the official car that took him to the recording location, we put a camera inside, I was in the passenger seat and we were talking â€, recalls Évole. “The Holy Father could see that he was very much for the work.”
And the young people, how were they? “Very nervous, especially the day before,†replies Évole, who especially remembers Juan, whose case is surely one of the most impressive in the film. “When he was between 10 and 11 years old, a numerary sexually abused him while he was studying at an Opus Dei school in Bilbao,” Sánchez advances. After a while, he denounced it. Justice convicted that teacher but his sentence was reduced to two years and he did not go to prison. And the investigation of the Church was closed without any consequences for the professor, who continued to practice.
“It is surely the most important moment of the special because we have never seen the Pope giving this type of comfort to a victim of sexual abuse,” says Sánchez, who sees in the Pope’s speech the will to send a clear and direct message of acknowledging that these abuses happen in the Church but it is not going to be allowed to continue.
In the special, the Pope announces that he will reopen Juan’s case. “For us it is very exciting, especially at the moment when we see Juan who decides to jump with a parachute and explain his story,” recalls Sánchez. “There is silence there, nobody speaks, you only see a hand that brushes his back It’s a very powerful moment,” adds Évole, who highlights how the Pope wanted to reassure the young man and asked him to take his time. “The Pope really was extraordinary in this sense.”
Perhaps this was when a more understanding Pope was seen. Where were you most adamant? In the abortion debate? “Yes, we can’t expect a Pope to suddenly take a pro-abortion stance either because then it would be very scandalous,” replies Évole. He also seemed uncomfortable on the issue of the role of women in the Church. “One of the young women, who was from Argentina, asks if she is Catholic because she is a feminist and the Pope answers no, but also asks him not to give so much importance to feminism and then he gets confused when he affirms that the Church It is not sexist because it is “the” Church, feminine. It’s a bit of a lukewarm plot that leaves the audience quite surprised.”
Was there a moment when you had the feeling that Pope Francis was discovering an unknown world? “A non-binary person tells him that he met his girlfriend on Tinder and explains to the Pope that it is an application to meet and have sex. I think this is a time when he has the feeling of stepping into a completely unknown world but he doesn’t care. In fact, he says “I really like young people who have the Christopher Columbus complex, who like to go and conquer things and encourage them to experimentâ€, responds Sánchez.
And how do you think the young people were after the experience? Did the Pope convince you? “I think that whoever was convinced continued to be convinced and whoever had doubts or was skeptical also came out pretty much the same. Perhaps there were cases of fascination with the figure of the Pope, of really seeing him as a moral leader, both on the part of believers and non-believersâ€, concludes Évole.
