documentaries, reports and programs not to be missed

Following the death of Pope Francis, this Monday, April 21, 2025, the television channels rebroadcast on their branches of the documentaries which were devoted to him and organized debates on the set. These programs are to be found on the platforms of France Télévisions, Arte and KTO.

“Pope Francis – a man of speech” by Wim Wenders

Wim Wenders plunges the spectator into the heart of the thought and action of the Holy Father. An exhaustive and educational documentary, between archive images, evocations of François d’Assise and interview sequences which offer a striking face-to-face with the Pope.

Pierre-Olivier Boiton

Our opinion : PPP

To be reviewed on France.tv/collection/pape-francois/

“In Viaggio” by Gianfranco Rosi

“The pontificate of Pope Francis seems to be an inverted pilgrimage: it is not his faithful who make the way to him, but the pope himself who goes to meet them, at home, to know how they live and know their sufferings,” explained Gianfranco Rosi at the end of this 2022 documentary presented at the Venice Mostra. On the 500 hours of audiovisual archives, the director chose to retain the visit to migrants in Lampedusa, the meetings with the victims of interreligious violence in the Central African Republic, the visit to the populations proven in the Philippines the same year (2015) or the listening of the Chilean prisoners in 2018. By its production process – the montage of archives -, this film evokes that of Wim Wenders, In 2018 (Pope Francis – A man of speech). But in four years, the world has experienced great upheavals, the pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine. The images shot between 2019 and 2022 are interesting in this regard. “François has always been resolutely against war. After the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, his warnings and his analysis were heard with more strength, ”notes the director. Yes, the pope tirelessly campaigns for peace and it is the real leitmotif of this film resolutely turned towards the future.

Catherine Escrive

Our opinion : PPP

To be reviewed on France.tv/collection/pape-francois/

“The Revolution according to François – Change of era in the Vatican” by Gary Grabli

Can the Catholic Church reform in order to agree with a society which has become indifferent to it? The question thus asked, typical of a Western sensitivity, is addressed through the question of the ordination of women to the priesthood, prohibited, and that of the blessing of homosexual couples, proposed by Pope Francis, but rejected by the African churches. Can the synod on synodality, wanted by the Pope from the South, allow the bishops of the planet to grant their readings of the Gospel? A report in Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo), another in Germany, illustrate apparently irreducible tensions. The speech of experts, too brief, does not allow to deepen the reflection.

Christophe Chaland

Our opinion : Pp

To be reviewed on Arte.tv

France Télévisions, Arte, KTO offer other documentaries as well as debates, than the editorial staff of Pilgrim did not view.

“Papa Francescu in Corsica: U Fervore of a Populu” by Lionel Luciani and Rosanne Cesari

Sunday, December 15, 2024: For the first time in its history, Corsica received a sovereign pontiff. An extraordinary event on several aspects: spiritual, popular, political and logistics. Central territory in the Mediterranean but peripheral in many respects, the island seems to be a logical choice for Pope Francis, who registered his action towards the margins since the start of his pontificate. At the center of this apostolic journey, there is talk of the singularity with which the population inscribes their faith in public space. A so -called popular religiosity that mixes ancestral traditions, pagan inspiration rites and Christian fervor. However, organizing a papal visit was a major challenge. In order to succeed in raising it, many Corsicans have worked publicly or anonymously. From Rome to Bastia, from Ajaccio to the interior villages, many of them mobilize. Over the days, the editorial teams of France 3 Corsica Viastella followed some of them and collected their testimonies. This documentary offers you to relive all the stages of this historic journey, from the excitement of preparations for emotion of the arrival of François in Corsica.

To be reviewed on France.tv/collection/pape-francois/

“The club of my parish” by Roberto Lugons

This documentary in the footsteps of Pope Francis leads us to the streets of the poor districts of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. Father Damian Reynoso is in charge of the parish of San Francisco de Asis located in the eccentric district of Villa Soldati. Between poorly maintained social housing and precariousness, solidarity between inhabitants is very strong. At the center of this network, Father Damian recalls the centrality of faith through the administration of the sacraments but also various social works and patronage. Like Pope Francis, he does not hesitate to go to the most marginalized audiences: drug traffickers, prostitutes, isolated mothers, transsexuals … intended for young people, the priest offers them to participate collectively in works of charity, such as food distribution but also a sporting activity: football. Like his compatriot Pope Francis, Father Damian sees in this sport a vector of unity and fraternity. A moving film that illustrates charity well at work.

To be reviewed on the KTO Youtube channel

“At the source of Pope Francis” by Laurence Monroe

Six years of Pope Francis pontificate. Lots of gestures, meetings and a lot of incomprehension too. To reread the pontificate, Laurence Monroe chose to go back to the sources: to go and seek in Argentina, in the culture of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, in the places that have counted, and in the major events crossed, some reading keys to better understand this spiritual leader who has become a kind of universal pastor. To better understand her spirituality, she chose to question three main sources: popular piety, very characteristic of all of Latin America but which, in Argentina, has been the subject of a particular attention. The spirituality of Saint Ignatius, that of all the Jesuits, and also that of the companions of the Christian life community, which guide it in its wanderings. There is therefore a question of the role of spiritual exercises in his career which places Christ at the center, and of priority attention to the poor, of the importance of the mission.

Finally, third source, all the experience of Father Bergoglio itself. He who constantly rereads his life, and is gradually transformed by events and prayer. The man of authority, strategist and austere, sometimes a little authoritarian, gradually becomes a confident pastor who listens and delegates. Little by little take shape the intuition that it is the work of grace in his person who can today be a sign for the Church. Does not Pope Francis ask the Church to be a people of God, that is to say, as in the Bible, to be constantly led and convert? So that, in the change of era we are living, it is faithful to its mission. Being a sign of life, a sign of salvation.

To be reviewed on the KTO Youtube channel

“Only together” by Gualtiero Peirce

The documentary opens with these incredible images of March 27, 2020, in full Lent, where we see Pope Francis sending the blessing Urbi and Orbi to an invisible crowd from a deserted Saint-Pierre place. What solitude for this pope who never ceased to advocate “the exit church”! Indeed, as soon as it entered the Vatican, the Holy Father, in a very confidential way, began to make impromptu visits in certain places, every Friday of mercy. He arrives in a trivialized white Ford and, at the amazement of passers -by, throws himself into the crowd.

Prisons, hospitals, slums, poor families, schools and establishments for the elderly are among those places where the sovereign pontiff likes to periodically blur the distinction between the high spheres of the Church and the people of the faithful. An unprecedented pastoral experience, made of proximity and warm exchanges which was brought to the attention of the media in full pandemic of COVID-19 and generalized confinement. Despite the distance imposed by health measures, the Pope seems to say, by his attitude, that the only way to get out of it is to be “together”.

To be reviewed on the KTO Youtube channel

Vatican: an ideological battle?

François will be buried on Saturday, April 26 in the presence of many heads of state and government, but already raises the question of his succession … The conclave, which will be held in a moment of an identity offensive embodied by the American vice-president JD Vance, promises to be the most political of recent history? Will the cardinals choose continuity with the Argentinian pope or install in Rome a man who will seek to unravel his inheritance? A debate was held in C tonightTuesday April 22, 2025.

To be reviewed on France.tv/collection/pape-francois/

What future for the Vatican diplomacy?

Pope Francis died on Monday, April 21. Spiritual referent for 1.3 billion Catholics around the world since 2013, the first non -European pope since the 8th century has exercised a very committed pontificate. With a vision of the decentralized world of the West, committed to migrants, interreligious dialogue and ecology, Pope Francis gave a political impetus to his functions. Tireless diplomat, he preached for peace in the world, especially in Ukraine, in the Democratic Republic of Congo or even in Gaza, sometimes in vain. A complex heritage, suspended in the election of the next pope.

133 cardinals-electors will meet in the coming weeks in the Sistine Chapel to designate the successor of Pope Francis. The latter had appointed several cardinals sensitive to his line, but conservative profiles, such as the Hungarian farting Erdö or the Burma Charles Maung Bo, could federate enough votes to be elected. Faced with a world in full redefinition, what line can the Vatican adopt? Does the end of multilateralism sign the end of pontifical diplomacy?

To be reviewed on Arte.TV (issue of April 22, 2025)

Special edition April 22, 2025: the pope, war and peace

From the start of his pontificate, Pope Francis evokes “a third world war in pieces, by chapters”. He forcefully denounces the trafficking of arms but also the inflation of military budgets, and tries mediation to bring belligerents to resume the path of dialogue. Special edition this Tuesday, April 22, presented by Honorine Grasset, with Philippine de Saint Pierre (Permanent accredited journalist at the Vatican) and Valérie Régnier, vice-president of Sant’Egidio.

To be reviewed on kTo.tv

Pope Francis in Marseille

To be reviewed on https://www.france.tv/france-3/provence-alpes-cote-d-azur/le-pape-francois-a-sseille/

Translation of the coffin of Pope Francis at the Saint-Pierre basilica

To be reviewed on kTo.tv

“Le Chemin du Pope”

Saturday April 26 at 1:15 p.m.

1:15 p.m. Saturday upsets his programs and offers a tribute to Pope Francis and his 12 years of pontificate. In March 2013, a wind of renewal was blowing on the Vatican with an Argentinian pope close to the people, with a taste displayed for simple things. There was indeed reluctance to the most conservative cardinals, but it had also generated a great momentum of enthusiasm. Our teams went to Rome, the time is for sorrow and meditation, but also to the questions: who will succeed Pope Francis?