c. 2007 Religion News Service
NEW YORK _ Those accustomed to viewing only the public face of the world’s religious leaders will see a welcome surprise in a new documentary to be broadcast Sunday (Dec. 23) on CBS.
“In God’s Name” includes the sight of Pope Benedict XVI watching television in his private quarters like any other 80-year-old relaxing on his couch. “A normal person watching television,” said filmmaker Jules Naudet.
“If it’s going to work,” Naudet said of the two-hour special, “you forget that it’s the pope, the Dalai Lama and the Archbishop of Canterbury, and see that it’s Benedict, Tenzin Gyatso and Rowan Williams.”
That was a conscious choice, Naudet said in an interview.
“In God’s Name” is a successor to a documentary chronicling the events of Sept. 11, in which Naudet and his brother and fellow filmmaker, Gedeon Naudet, were inside the World Trade Center just before it collapsed.
As a follow-up, the French-born New Yorkers were eager to explore spiritual and religious themes _ questions of meaning _ in light of their own experiences.
The best way to do that, they decided, was to eschew a dry “tutorial” exploring different religious traditions and instead explore questions of faith through the eyes of people _ in this case 12 religious leaders representing Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Shinto and Sikh traditions.
The approach has limitations. For instance, the leaders are overwhelmingly male. But as Naudet said, there is nothing the filmmakers could do to change that. Still, the films allow those interviewed to remove, even briefly, their public masks and speak openly about their lives and their faith.
Pope Benedict, who does not as a rule sit for interviews, was the exception. However, Vatican officials gave the Naudets what they needed: private footage of the pope, including his television-watching habit and his practicing the piano, which provide some of the documentary’s most riveting moments.
Two of the most open leaders are Williams _ whose wife affectionately strokes his beard in a quiet moment _ and Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson, head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the president of the Lutheran World Federation.
Both acknowledge the sacrifices, even toll, their public lives can exact. Williams said that he hasn’t yet fully “found a formula” for balancing private and public life.
Hanson says that, like those in the pews, he is no stranger to religious doubt. “I’m a passionate doubter who never loses his faith,” he said.
“In God’s Name” also focuses on the questions asked with increasing frequency since September 2001, including the relationships religion shares with politics and violence.
The filmmakers resolved not to judge the religious leaders or their faith, however, and thus offer unvarnished glimpses of some of the most powerful spiritual figures in the world.
File photos of religious leaders featured in “In God’s Name” are available via https://religionnews.com.
DSB/JM END HERLINGER