In the wake of ‘ passing on April 21, the has the task of electing its new spiritual leader in early May. Cardinals from around the world will join in closed-door deliberation at the Sistine Chapel to cast their vote for the worldwide head of the Catholic Church.
Dubbed the conclave, the secretive election process aims to divine God’s representative on earth.
But the selection of the pontiff among has been the subject of much speculation, political intrigue and artistic interpretation across the centuries.
With the cardinals sworn to silence, the pontiff alone can speak publicly on the backroom plotting behind the papal pick.
himself described, in his 2024 memoir, the machinations behind the choosing of the successor to Pope John Paul II in 2005. Some cardinals did not want to vote for the eventual candidate, Benedict XVI, and put up Francis as a spoiler nominee to take votes away from the German cardinal. Francis himself broke ranks and voted with Benedict.
A ‘perfect story’
British author Robert Harris was intrigued by the potential power plays driving these papal ballots, and decided to bring the enigmatic process to life in his hit 2016 novel, “Conclave.”
“God is supposed to move the cardinal electors to choose the Pope, [but] there’s also quite a lot of politics as well in between meetings in the Sistine Chapel,” noted the author in an interview with publisher Penguin when “Conclave” was released.
The book focuses on the dean of the College of Cardinals that chooses the pontiff, and his role in the backroom dealings, hidden agendas and leaks preceding a final two-thirds majority vote for a surprise candidate.
“I like the enclosed sense of being locked up and I love the short time frame,” Harris explained of his inspiration for the novel that takes place over 72 hours of the conclave. “I just felt to me almost a perfect story and I’m surprised no one’s ever done it.”
Harris, who rose to fame with the best-selling alternative Nazi thriller, “Fatherland” (1992), was also drawn to the meticulously planned rituals that unfold as votes are taken and retaken before being burned. The sacred ceremony to select the spiritual leader for some 1.3 billion of the world’s people can be equally “profane,” he said, as opposing factions push their case.
A self-described “political junkie,” he has called the conclave the “ultimate election.”
‘Conclave’ on the big screen
In an incredible act of timing, Harris’ papal thriller was adapted for the big screen in 2024, ‘s film winning an Academy Award less than two months before ‘ passing.
Starring Ralph Fiennes as the dean of the College of Cardinals, with Isabella Rossellini playing a venerable sister who must also help decide, the fictional film lifts the veil on the intrigues of the cloistered conclave ritual.
Earning eight nominations at the Oscars, including for best picture, and generally praised by critics, the Vatican drama that evokes a crisis of faith in the church has also helped turn the conclave into a pop culture phenomenon — right on the eve of the first papal vote since 2013.
But the film’s depiction of the conclave has also drawn vehement criticism.
The independent Catholic publication Missio Dei called out the film’s “misrepresentation of the papal election process” since it is “dramatizing internal conflicts and depicting the Church as politically motivated.”
“The film misleads audiences about the true spirit that guides the election of a new Pope by the College of Cardinals, which is the Holy Ghost,” wrote Christina M. Sorrentino, who is also a theology teacher.
In her reading, the film’s apparent focus on “scandals and power struggles” end up “perpetuating negative stereotypes about Church leaders.”
Will the coming conclave reflect the political moment?
Robert Harris, whose originally story remained the template for the film, has expressed his respect for the papal election ritual.
Weeks before his death, Pope Francis’ hospitalization had already prompted speculation on his potential successor, but Robert Harris said he refused all requests to talk about a potential conclave. Speaking to the Associated Press news agency in January, he insisted that it was in “extreme bad taste” to be seen to be trying to “get any publicity” for his book.
When asked how politics could impact the coming conclave that is set to consider a , the author hoped that Christian morality would win out.
“Who knows what the future holds, but the purpose of the church is to stand for certain eternal values, Christian values,” Harris said in an April interview with the Boston Globe newspaper.
“[These] are not necessarily the same as those of Elon Musk and Donald Trump and the AfD in Germany,” he added. “We will see.”
Edited by: Elizabeth Grenier
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