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From PBS and Frontline: Pope Benedict made history when he announced his resignation, becoming the first Pope to step down voluntarily in six hundred years. In his wake he left a bitterly divided Vatican mired in scandals. But is Benedict's successor, Pope Francis, taming the forces that helped destroy Benedict's papacy? Is he succeeding in lifting the Church out of crisis? Nearly a year in the making, this special FRONTLINE goes inside the Vatican - one of the world's most revered and mysterious institutions - to unravel the remarkable series of events that led to the resignation that shook the world. Through interviews with those at the very heart of what happened - cardinals, priests, convicted criminals, police, prosecutors and whistle-blowers - FRONTLINE gives a first-hand account of the final days of Benedict's papacy and the current battle to set the Church on a new path under Francis.
Director
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Original Language
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After the unexpected death of the Pope, Cardinal Lawrence is tasked with managing the covert and ancient ritual of electing a new one. Sequestered in the Vatican with the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders until the process is complete, Lawrence finds himself at the center of a conspiracy that could lead to its downfall.

Frustrated with the direction of the church, Cardinal Bergoglio requests permission to retire in 2012 from Pope Benedict. Instead, facing scandal and self-doubt, the introspective Pope Benedict summons his harshest critic and future successor to Rome to reveal a secret that would shake the foundations of the Catholic Church.