2 weeks Ago By Alissa Wilkinson
In fictional tales and documentaries, directors approached him as a screen character who was both admired and controversial. Watching Edward Berger’s hit Vatican thriller Conclave last year, I found it hard not to think of Pope Francis . The film is fictional, based on Robert Harris’ 2016 novel, published three years into Francis’ papacy.
But one key character in the film is a Mexican archbishop working in Kabul, Afghanistan, a reformer calling on the church to focus on those marginalised and historically excluded by the institution. Plenty separated the Conclave character from the sitting pope, who died Monday, the day after Easter. But such a simple yet eloquent on-screen activist could recall only Francis, the first Latin American cleric to assume the papacy.
He drew both admiration and controversy, based largely on his concern for the poor, immigrants and refugees; his calls for environmental stewardship; and his efforts on behalf of gay and lesbian Catholics. That work inflamed more conservative wings of the church while endearing him to many, Catholic or not, who saw a new way forward in his life and teachings..
