DOCUMENTARY OF THE WEEK – Frontline’s Secrets of the Vatican: Pope Francis I is visiting Cairo on 28 April. His liberal views — including his humane approach to issues from refugees to backing off same gender relations — have made him a hero to many. He is an especially staunch critic of capitalism (he named himself after St. Francis D’Assisi, who gave his fortune to the poor). To understand his zeal and the need for his reforms is to look into the quagmire of Vatican politics that plagued his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI and pushed him to resign. No other documentary we have seen better explores this world, which has been largely shielded from the outside world. Disclaimer: this is not the Da Vinci Code, or any of the hogwash conspiracy theories, so if that’s your thing, then this isn’t for you.

Three issues threatening to upend the credibility of the Catholic Church come into play here: same gender relations (our annoying spam filters push us to find these substitute terms) and its prevalence in the church; the abuse of minors scandals; and the allegations of corruption by the Vatican bank. Interviews with former priests, journalists, child abuse survivors, and former senior officials of the church dive deep into these three issues and the resources expended by the powerful Vatican Curia — the internal state bureaucracy — to keep them from getting out. The film also looks into how Pope Benedict XVI attempted to reform the Curia and clean up house. Largely due to the intransigence of the bureaucracy (an issue we here we know too well) and scandals on all three issues reaching a fever pitch, these reforms had failed and a disillusioned pope resigned.

Beyond the scandals the film tries to two underlying contradictions. The first is how an organization meant to deal with spiritual matters handles the very earthly responsibilities of running the organization. The second is how institutions’ propensity to protect themselves from change end up harming the overall mission. You can watch the full documentary here (runtime: 1:25:38).