Fleabag meets The Two Popes: Celibacy in the 21st-century church

The real two popes seem at odds over priestly celibacy. I blame Fleabag.

Actors Andrew Scott and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who played the Priest and Fleabag, respectively, in the show Fleabag, are interviewed ahead of a 2019 awards show. If season two of Fleabag hadn’t normalized hot, celibacy-challenged priests, the real two popes wouldn’t be not-arguing about this, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Screenshot courtesy of YouTube/BAFTA

Opinion

BY LISA VAN DUSEN

January 15, 2020

In The Two Popes, the Netflix feature about the relationship between Pope Francis and his predecessor, Pope Benedict, the uncanny Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins as Francis and Benedict act out their Odd Couple tension in the same place at the same time, against the gilt and pa...

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