Films by Ali N. Askin

Germany 2019, 89 min
by Christoph Röhl

DEFENDER OF THE FAITH tells the story of a man who has dedicated his life to preserving the Church but instead led it into its greatest crisis: Joseph Ratzinger, the German Pope Benedict XVI. During his 30 years working within the Vatican he was the key figure in restoring fundamental Catholic doctrine after a brief period of modernization in the 1960s. The interview partners, who have all worked within the clerical system, describe how Ratzinger's policies contributed to the dramatic loss of mo