Secrets of the Vatican
TV series or program / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Secrets of the Vatican is an American television documentary film. It was first aired on the PBS Channel on 25 February 2014 as an episode of PBS' Frontline TV series.
Secrets of the Vatican | |
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Genre | |
Directed by | Antony Thomas |
Starring |
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Narrated by | Will Lyman |
Composer | Sam Watts |
Country of origin |
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Original language | English |
Production | |
Executive producer | Eamonn Matthews |
Producer | Antony Thomas |
Production locations | United States; Rome, Italy |
Editors |
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Camera setup | Jonathan Partridge, Jonathan Young, Mark Brewer |
Running time | 85 minutes |
Original release | |
Release | 25 February 2014 (2014-02-25) |
The film covers the period after the death of John Paul II until the first year of Pope Francis, and it posits a theory of what made Pope Benedict XVI resign from the papacy in 2013. It presents a return of trust in the Vatican and its new Pope, Francis, by millions of Roman Catholics after a long period of controversy regarding sexual abuse by Church authorities. It delves into reports of the existence of a "gay mafia" inside the Church and highlights the scandal involving the Legionnaires of Christ founder Marcial Maciel, who allegedly had the backing of John Paul II.
The film also tackles the papacy's struggles with cleaning up the Vatican Bank of its corrupt financial policies as an international institution by starting with Benedict XVI's hindered investigations and ending in Francis' supposedly radical initial reforms.
The film approaches the controversial topics of the documentary not from perspectives outside of the Church but with testimonies by devoted Catholics: sexual abuse victims, corruption witnesses and priest investigators.
Written, directed, and produced by Antony Thomas for the US Public Broadcasting System TV series Frontline, Secrets of the Vatican was co-produced by Jason Berry in the United States and Helen Fitzwilliam in Rome.[1][2][3]