I’m just not interested in watching the two network miniseries on Pope John Paul’s life, airing this week on ABC and CBS. It’s not that I think they shouldn’t have made the movies or that it wouldn’t be worthwhile for some people, but I just don’t see the value for me.
My problem is that there is nothing the movies can add to what I already know of John Paul. I have little confidence that a secular broadcast network production can add anything to the story of the man who was John Paul, a man who I have observed professionally for a decade and personally for more than two, that I don’t already know and in fact it can only let me down by treating its subject poorly. Will they do justice to his theological mastery and his mystical life? How can they when they’re cramming 80 years into just a few hours?
I don’t deny that it can benefit those who don’t know much about John Paul’s story, but I won’t be watching either of the two of them in the coming days. My memories of the great Pope, the awesome biographies that describe his life, and his thousands of pages of writings will be enough for me.
