The secretive process to elect a new Roman Catholic pope begins on May 7, two weeks after Pope Francis’s death at age 88.Fans of the Oscar-nominated movie, “Conclave”, which is about a papal election, might think they have a head start on what’s to come. But how faithful is the movie to the real thing?
Conclave tells the story of Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, dean of the College of Cardinals, played by actor Ralph Fiennes. Lawrence is tasked with leading a papal election or conclave after the pope dies. As the conclave continues, secrets and scandals emerge involving cardinals in the running to be pope.
PolitiFact’s occasional MovieFact feature reports on the accuracy of nonfiction films, typically comparing their details with historical events. “Conclave” is fictional, but we decided to examine what the movie gets right and wrong about the real process for choosing the next pope.
“Conclave” sticks close to the logistics of a real papal election, but takes more liberties with how its characters participate in one. As dean, Cardinal Lawrence makes decisions that would not be permissible in a real-life conclave. Advertisement
The movie “does a fair job” of depicting conclave procedures, said B. Kevin Brown, Gonzaga University religious studies lecturer. But Brown had some notes. Referring to the sets and costumes, Brown said some cardinals wore Roman collars that “are not entirely correct”, and the Mass held before the conclave appeared to have no altar, a raised structure used for cer …
