We’re continuing our Papal Ponderings Watchalong series with a trio of Catholic classics. We begin with 2008’s stage-to-screen adaptation of Doubt, then move to the exposé of all exposés in Spotlight (2015), and wrap it up with a Papal buddy road trip movie in The Two Popes (2019).

In this series, we’re looking at Catholicism in the media over the past two decades from its scandals and front page stories to its steamy fictions and wily figures. We began this series around the release of The Conclave, a 2024 film released in late October, which should be leaving theaters for PVOD and streaming soon.

We hope that you enjoy today’s episode, and you will find the below you’ll find our list of all the movies we discussed today, and what we’re discussing on the next episode.

Be sure to comment and answer our questions in the poll on Spotify, and DM us with what you think of our episodes, and we’d love to include answers and responses from listeners on the next episode.

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Watchalong List:

- Part 1: INTRO

- Part 2: CERTAINTY IS AN EMOTION

- Doubt (2008): Watch on Paramount+ or rent on VOD.

- Spotlight (2016): Watch on Starz, or rent on VOD.

- Two Popes (2018): Watch on Netflix, or rent on AppleTV+.

- Part 3:

- The Young Pope (2016): Watch on Max.

- The New Pope (2020):  Watch on Max.

- Part 4:

- Conclave (2024): See in theaters today!

Further Readings:

— Goodreads: 'Meeting the Shadow' by Connie Zweig and Jeremiah Abrams, (1991)

— End of Spotlight (2015) Title Cards

— National Catholic Register: "What is 'Doubt' About?" (January 2009) 

— America - The Jesuit Review: "Why the Director of 'Spotlight' Has Hope for the Catholic Church: An Interview with Tom McCarthy" (February 2016)

— The New York Times: "‘It Is Not a Closet. It Is a Cage.’ Gay Catholic Priests Speak Out" (Feb. 2019) 

— National Catholic Reporter: "'A step back in time': America's Catholic Church sees an immense shift toward the old ways" (May 2024) 

— National Catholic Reporter: "Celibacy advances the priesthood's culture of compromised truths" (July 2019) 

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Intro Song: “BIBLICAL SENSE”

Composer: Mark Richard Ford, Stephen Metcalfe

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Outro Song: “Benedicte Domino”

Composers: Ralph Allwood

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