This Wednesday, April 5th, ‘Amen. Francis responds’, a documentary blessed by Disney+ and the Pope himself. A unique and innovative meeting between Francisco and 10 young people from around the world to talk about questions about the Church and issues that concern them. We chatted with its directors, the Catalans Jordi Évole and Màrius Sánchez.
How have you experienced the news about the Pope’s state of health in recent days?
Jordi Évole: We have experienced it with the normal concern of when a person you appreciate has a medical problem. And at no time have we experienced it in parallel to the premiere. We were lucky enough to speak with him on Sunday via e-mail and he answered us as always and even more extensively than other times. He always sends a handwritten letter that he puts as an attachment to the e-mail. He told us that he got scared last week but that the treatment had gone very well for him, that he was feeling very well.
Màrius Sánchez: It is true that from the first moment the people around him reassured us, we did not experience it with excessive concern because from the first moment they told us that he was improving quickly.
What fascinates you about the character?
J.É: That he is one of the heads of state with the least pomp, and that seems contradictory when speaking of the Vatican. We have always seen him doing things very first person, the contact we have is very first person, when he comes to interviews he is not accompanied by a beastly entourage of advisers… No, no, he comes with another person and the security people. This simplicity is what attracts me the most about the character considering who he is.
MS: The feeling that thanks to him we can take a look at a place that is normally closed tightly. He has opened a little door for us, and for us that is very seductive.
How did this bond and trust with the Pope come about for him to accept this project?
J.É: Precisely because there was no pretense in establishing this link nor had we ever thought about it. It is a link that has been established over time, since we were in contact with him through the interview we did four years ago. It’s a bond that occurs when people like each other. Somehow he may have liked our lack of solemnity with him, we’re not one to genuflect and kiss the ring, which, by the way, he doesn’t like. I think that this mutual naturalness is what has seduced us both.
Did you set conditions?
MS: Not one. We put it to him directly, we explained our proposal. It took him two seconds to say: ‘Okay’. And we dared to make riskier proposals… Abortion, sexual abuse, LGTBI rights… At one point he did make us a joke and told us: ‘please make me at least one Catholic’. He did not ask us for profiles or names or who would be the people who would sit with him.
The Pope did not play anything from the original production, did you think that would be the case? And what was his first reaction?
J.É: The fact that I had objections was even logical given how the documentary is. It doesn’t always go well. And, on the other hand, seeing that he did not come off well with some looks and gestures, above all, at no time did he ask that we eliminate him. I think that’s very brave of him, especially having the chance to suggest we put something out. There wasn’t even a suggestion. He only made the gesture of taking off his hat when he finished the projection with him. He said that it reflected reality, that this is the reality of the world and this diversity of young people is what exists. And he was glad that he was able to get close to them. For him it had been another pastoral encounter.
Have you come to the conclusion that the Pope is more open than the very institution he directs?
J.É.: Institutions never put a person who clashes with them at the forefront. I think a Pope like Pope Francis was convenient for the Catholic Church, and now we have to see what comes next. But that we have a Pope who is close, empathetic, smiling… All this is good for the Church. Afterwards, the Church itself will have to resolve some conflicts that the Pope himself raises, but I am convinced that internally there are things that the Pope defends or that he would have promoted since he has not been able to do them because it is precisely part of this institution with which he is in agreement. agreement. The Church will never reluctantly put in a Pope.
“Coherence is what costs us Christians the most,” says the Pope in the documentary. Are you believers? Do you think a believing person could have done this job?
J.É.: We are not believers, the Pope knows it from day one. And I think that precisely playing in the opposite field benefits any leader, also a politician. Lately, political leaders only go where it seems that they are given some easy questionnaires. I don’t think the Pope plays in the opposite field, but surely he had much more comfortable places to go and he wanted to come with us. That said, a person who believes and who takes the job the way we do, I think he could have done it perfectly well.
MS: Both Jordi and I have people close to whom religion comforts them and gives them things beyond what the Catholic Church is. And we have kept this in mind when presenting the conflicts that can arise between kids and religion.
J.É.: It has been very good for me that my mother is Catholic and attends mass, every seven days she goes to mass, and the Pope has always shown deference to her. And now he has been the other way around and I brought him a handmade scarf with the colors of the Argentine flag. Before winning the World Cup, I think my mother was a talisman.
The casting of young people was crucial for the project.
MS: It was very important because we all knew that the Pope spoke well. What was important was finding 10 kids who could measure up, who didn’t become small, who had interesting conflicts. We saw more than 200 boys and girls, we always talked about it with Disney+ and we did as in a movie: we had their photos on a blackboard and they were falling, we made combinations, they had to work as a team… It was a very cool process.
One of them is Juan Cuatrecasas, a victim of abuse by a member of Opus Dei. Can this meeting with the Pope help other victims?
J.É: It is a gesture that can comfort other people who have suffered abuse. It is true that the privilege that John had of being there in front of the Pope will not be enjoyed by many victims of abuse. We hope that the fact of going to see the Pope is not the tool for the Church to rectify in so many cases of sexual abuse that we have known. Juan was able to do it in first person, we hope this is good and that the Church reacts, but it is not necessary to go see the boss to say ‘look what happened’.
MS: I think the Pope took advantage of the fact that this documentary will be seen all over the world to send a message and for a person in a congregation in any city to know that the Pope knows that this is happening and that he does not want it to continue happening.