Well I watched the film today, and I have mixed feelings about, as I do with almost every Rossellini film. It was hard for me to tell at first whether this story was taking itself seriously or not. You must always take Fellini with a grain of salt, and wondered if religious subject matter would be something to poke fun at, a little like it was in The Miracle. I'm not a very religious man so films that do take religion seriously are usually under scrutiny from me. This film was uneven at parts, a little short, and failed to really convey any powerful message one way or the other. Some of it was comical, most notably seeing people use a monk to jump rope, that moment had to have been Fellini. The rest seemed rather pointless. The film does have it's own context, but is still not among Rossellini's best.

btw I had the same complaint about Scorsese's two documentaries on film, both showed too many pivitol scenes, and not enough commentary.