{"id":286942,"date":"2025-04-21T16:39:17","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T16:39:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/21\/conclave-offers-a-glimpse-inside-the-secretive-process-of-choosing-a-pope\/"},"modified":"2025-04-21T16:39:17","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T16:39:17","slug":"conclave-offers-a-glimpse-inside-the-secretive-process-of-choosing-a-pope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/21\/conclave-offers-a-glimpse-inside-the-secretive-process-of-choosing-a-pope\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Conclave\u2019 Offers a Glimpse Inside the Secretive Process of Choosing a Pope"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/26\/multimedia\/00pope-francis-conclave-film-pltz\/00pope-francis-conclave-film-pltz-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\u2018Conclave\u2019 Offers a Glimpse Inside the Secretive Process of Choosing a Pope\" title=\"\u2018Conclave\u2019 Offers a Glimpse Inside the Secretive Process of Choosing a Pope\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the coming days cardinals younger than 80 will assemble at the Vatican to elect the successor to Pope Francis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The proceedings, veiled in secrecy, come months after a fictionalized papal election received the Hollywood treatment in Edward Berger\u2019s drama \u201c<a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/10\/25\/movies\/conclave-edward-berger.html\" title=\"\">Conclave<\/a>.\u201d The film\u2019s name comes from the secretive conference where Roman Catholic cardinals choose the next leader of the church.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The film, which hit the $115 million mark at the global box office, offers a glimpse inside a process that in real life takes place under strict security measures to ensure confidentiality. The movie was \u201cquite accurate, save for a few things,\u201d said Dr. Kurt Martens, a professor of canon law at the Catholic University of America.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cConclave\u201d has been widely celebrated, receiving top prizes at both the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/23\/movies\/sag-awards-2025-winners-list.html\" title=\"\">Screen Actors Guild Awards<\/a> and the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/16\/movies\/baftas-winners-conclave-brutalist.html\" title=\"\">EE British Academy Film Awards<\/a>, and winning the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/02\/movies\/oscars-winners-list.html\" title=\"\">Academy Award<\/a> for adapted screenplay.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Here\u2019s what happens in the film (caution: minor spoilers ahead) and what papal experts say is accurate about it.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"css-15h6bi9 e1gnsphs0\" id=\"link-30e9f40f\"><span>What\u2019s the movie \u201cConclave\u201d about?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The film opens with the death of an unnamed fictional pope and follows the process and drama of a papal election.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It stars Ralph Fiennes as Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, the dean of the College of Cardinals, with Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Lucian Msamati and Sergio Castellitto playing top papal contenders.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The film follows the cardinals through numerous voting sessions, meals in a shared cafeteria and the rooms in the papal palace where they are sequestered.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While many experts have lauded the film as one of the more accurate depictions of the conclave, Piotr H. Kosicki, an associate professor of history at the University of Maryland, cautioned that \u201con some level, very few people outside the College of Cardinals can really speak to the reality\u201d of what takes place behind closed doors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<h3 class=\"css-15h6bi9 e1gnsphs0\" id=\"link-26dc630a\"><span>What rituals and voting processes are depicted?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Many of the rituals in the film \u2014 the prayers being said, the burning of the ballots, a needle being woven through the ballots \u2014 are \u201cmore or less correct,\u201d Dr. Kosicki said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">During the voting process, each cardinal writes the name of one person on a rectangular ballot. Votes are announced aloud one by one and each ballot is threaded with a single needle before being burned. If a two-thirds consensus has not been reached, the smoke emitted from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel appears black.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Four rounds of voting are permitted daily. When a pope has been chosen by a two-thirds majority, the smoke from the chimney is white.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">However, some rituals depicted in the film take place in a mix of English and Spanish. In reality, \u201cprayer in the Vatican is in Italian or in Latin, period,\u201d Dr. Kosicki said.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"css-15h6bi9 e1gnsphs0\" id=\"link-182b6ae9\"><span>Is the politicking really that cutthroat?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While it is hard to say exactly what goes on within the confines of the conclave, electing a pope is like electing a head of state, said Massimo Faggioli, a professor of history at Villanova University.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The politicking begins in earnest after the pope has died during what is called sede vacante, the period when the seat is vacant. Some cardinals agree to news media interviews to raise their profiles or those of others. Groups gather for formal and informal conversations, and there are general congregations where all cardinals discuss the state of the church, as well as potential successors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThis time, I think it\u2019s an open conclave, meaning that there\u2019s no natural successor, or not a cardinal who is clearly the favorite,\u201d Dr. Faggioli said.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"css-15h6bi9 e1gnsphs0\" id=\"link-791225c0\"><span>Is it common for the cardinals to go multiple rounds without reaching a decision?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The word conclave is derived from the Latin words com, meaning \u201ctogether\u201d and clavis, meaning \u201ckey,\u201d and the process was created in the early Middle Ages to ensure that a new pope could be chosen quickly. Cardinals swear an oath of secrecy and are not allowed to leave the area of the conclave until a new pope is chosen, except for some rare circumstances.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cConclave,\u201d the film, depicts a pope being chosen over a dramatic three days and seven ballots. In the last couple of centuries, conclaves have not taken longer than four days, Dr. Faggioli said. Pope Benedict XVI was elected in two days in 2005, as was Pope Francis in 2013.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cEveryone likes it when things go fast because it means a show of unity,\u201d Dr. Kosicki said. \u201cAnd it means a strong sort of message being sent to the outside world, to the 1.4 billion Catholics.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/21\/world\/europe\/pope-francis-conclave-film.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the coming days cardinals younger than 80 will assemble at the Vatican to elect the successor to Pope Francis. The proceedings, veiled in secrecy, come months after a fictionalized papal election received the Hollywood treatment in Edward Berger\u2019s drama \u201cConclave.\u201d The film\u2019s name comes from the secretive conference where Roman Catholic cardinals choose the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":286943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/26\/multimedia\/00pope-francis-conclave-film-pltz\/00pope-francis-conclave-film-pltz-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[30460,95673,223113,193658,18714,11657,1069,13327,7111,180024,164769,33881,149405],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286942"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286942"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286942\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":286944,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286942\/revisions\/286944"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}