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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Cinema as locus theologicus: Popes in film (from Leo XIII till Benedict XVI)

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Bishops of Rome have been, since the dawn of the cinema, a subject interesting for filmmakers and important for the Church, as a source of information on the papacy. Numerous feature and documentary films presented biographies, activities or teaching of the Popes. But in the context of theology, we should not forget that a film – be it biographical, historical or telling merely a fictional story – can be regarded as a locus theologicus. However, fictionalised biographies of the Popes are not strictly historical films, neither are these films hagiographies, because the view of the Pope is taken from an external perspective, distant from the faith. Rather, it is a particular genre, which challenges both historians and theologians because of the use of religious content and the illusion of realism. These cinematic impure loci theologici give the viewers a false impression of transmitting the teaching of the Popes and their history.