Yup, you read that right. Cardinals at the Vatican, who are the people assigned to elect the next pope, are watching the movie Conclave (2024) to learn the details of running a conclave.
The real thing starts today
It’s time for senior members of the Catholic Church to gather for the election of the next pope.
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On Wednesday, May 7, just 16 days after Pope Francis’ death, 113 cardinals (the church’s most senior officials) are gathering in the Vatican and are expected to have already begun the process of electing the next pope today.
Conclaves are an old tradition
The tradition of holding a conclave is one of the oldest methods of electing a head of state and has been going on for nearly 1,000 years.
According to CBS News, the conclave takes place in the Sistine Chapel behind sealed doors, with cardinal electors taking an oath of secrecy until the pope is announced.
So how does the movie relate to this?
As bizarre as it may sound, it seems that some of the 133 high-ranking officials of the Catholic Church have opted to watch the movie titled Conclave for guidance on how exactly to handle the whole thing.
The movie is about the same situation
Directed by Edward Berger, the movie handily titled Conclave came out in November 2024, and stars Ralph Fiennes as Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, the dean of the College of Cardinals.
Being the steward of the conclave, Cardinal Lawrence has to deal with the politics of it all among emerging scandals and controversies as the election process is taking place following the death of the pope. Sounds awfully familiar, doesn’t it?
Real-life cardinals are watching it for guidance
According to Politico, with the conclave for electing the next pope starting today, some cardinals at the Vatican have actually turned to the movie for pointers.
This is because many of the cardinals currently in charge were appointed by Pope Francis and have never been part of a conclave before, so a bit of guidance won’t hurt.
The movie is surprisingly close to reality
If you’re worried about taking guidance from a movie, apparently it’s quite close to reality.
An anonymous cleric told Politico that it’s actually amazingly accurate and so it’s a helpful tool for newer cardinals who have little experience in Vatican politics and protocol.
The movie was a great primer for the whole thing
“Some have watched it in the cinema,” the cleric also told Politico.
Having come out only some months before the need for a real-life conclave, the movie has served as a miraculously well-timed primer for the public and senior members of the church alike to know exactly how the whole thing goes down.
Now we just have to wait
The conclave just started (on Wednesday, May 7) over at the Sistine Chapel and could take several days. Previous popes have been elected in two or three days – similar to how it goes down in the movie, I might add – but there’s really no way of exactly knowing how long it’ll take.
Regardless, it’s cool to think that if you caught Conclave in the cinema, a cardinal may have been sitting next to you taking notes.
