An excellent book. An excellent movie.

I’m not a Catholic so have never known much about how Popes are elected. It’s fascinating.

Conclave is a 2016 book by the esteemed Robert Harris.

I was interested to read about the process, complicated by ancient history.

One strength of the Catholic Church is tradition.

The big weakness is tradition. It’s very difficult to reform / improve Catholicism, though I respect Pope Francis for trying.

The Pope is dead.

Behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel, one hundred and eighteen cardinals from all over the globe will cast their votes in the world’s most secretive election.

They are holy men. But they have ambition. And they have rivals.

Over the next seventy-two hours one of them will become the most powerful spiritual figure on earth.

In Conclave, the hero is Cardinal Lomeli, dean of the College of Cardinals and the man responsible for presiding over the conclave. Among the papabile there is Tedesco the traditionalist, Tremblay the ambitious North American and Adeyemi the African with strong views on the role of women and gay marriage. …

 Into this gathering there arrives a cardinal no one has heard of – Vincent Benítez, a cardinal in pectore, created by the pope in secret in order to protect his identity. The stage is thus set for a showdown. …

Guardian Review – Conclave by Robert Harris review – a triumphant Vatican showdown

The 2024 film Conclave is great, perhaps even better than the book.

On Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of 296 critics’ reviews are positive.

It’s got a lot of star power, on only a $20 million production budget.

I’ve been a huge fan of Ralph Fiennes since The English Patient (1996) 

I love the ending of this film. Carlos Diehz as Cardinal Vincent Benitez is excellent.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Note ➙ The Catholic Church does not approve of either book nor film.