The passing of Pope Francis the day after Catholics celebrate the resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday, which happened shortly after “Conclave,” a movie about the politicking that goes on behind the scenes in the selection of a new pope had its run in movie theaters, might invite countless conspiracy theories, but it all seems more coincidental than conspiratorial.
After talking about the passing of Pope Francis on my talk show, I felt compelled to watch the recent movie, “Conclave,” which is about the process of selecting a new pope and the lobbying that goes on among Catholic cardinals. “Conclave” doesn’t exactly break into new territory in the area of the politics that go into the selection of a new pope, but the timing of this movie showing in theaters nationwide just before Pope Francis died is a coincidence that invites conspiracy theories. Did the producers of “Conclave” have inside information about the actual health of Pope Francis and knew this would be the perfect time to release their movie? Afterall, Pope Francis has been in failing health for a period of time.
As tempting as it might be to believe there is some kind of conspiracy about the recent run of “Conclave” in theaters and the death of Pope Francis, I think this is a coincidence.
Production of the movie “Conclave” began in early 2023. That’s over 2 years ago, long before Pope Francis showed signs of declining health in early 2025.
There does not appear to be any connection between the release of “Conclave” and the passing of Pope Francis. After talking about the passing of the pope and hearing reaction from our audience, I was eager to watch the movie, which I did last night.
Watching the movie on the day news of the death of Pope Francis broke made the movie seem more like a news documentary covering the passing of a pope and the process of selecting a new pope begins. I knew the characters in the movie were different from the characters in the movie, but watching how quickly the cardinals began to lobby for the one they wanted to become the new pope seemed very realistic.
“Conclave” dealt with something I talked about on the show - the question of whether the Catholic Church will seek to find a pope who will continue the more liberal philosophy of Francis or will the cardinals select someone who will revert back to a more strict interpretation of Catholic doctrine and the Bible?
Pope Francis was more liberal than past popes when it came to accepting the LGBTQ community, contraception, and the issue of divorced and newly married Catholics being invited to take Communion. Pope Francis’ views were controversial and caused many devout Catholics to reject his philosophy. Pope Francis was also quick to condemn President Donald Trump when Trump said or did something the pope considered to defy the spirit of what it means to be a Christain. And Trump was never at a loss to retort the pope’s criticism of Trump. This relationship caused many right-wing radicals to bash Pope Francis since he dared challenge President Trump on being a true Christian.
Republican Rep. Majoria Taylor Greene said after the news broke about the death of Pope Francis said that the ‘hand of God” defeated evil. Many conservative Christians opposed Pope Francis for his more accepting views of homosexuality, contraception, and of course, the pope’s attacks on Trump. As much as we talk about a separation of church and state, politics and religion naturally blend under certain circumstances.
The movie, “Conclave” was slow getting started. Remember how you felt the first time you saw “The Godfather” and you heard all the names of different characters casually mentioned as if we knew who they were in the beginning of the movie? Well, “Conclave” presents the same problem. A lot of names to keep track of, but don’t let that discourage you from finishing the movie. Keep track of the key names and as time goes on they will become more defined.
“Conclave” stars Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, and John Lithgow and the acting is excellent. “Conclave” won 8 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.
The movie is very cerebral and I would describe it as a thriller, but all of the action takes place in your brain. It is slow movie in the beginning but the pace picks up and you are introduced to some of the concerns involving the leading candidates for pope.
Stick with the movie because the surprise ending is unexpected. I didn’t see that coming. Without revealing what it is - the ending of “Conclave” suggests that the selection of a new pope will be done in the interest of advancing the more liberal trail Pope Francis was blazing, but in reality, there will be those cardinals who will fight to return the Church to a more traditional leader. Only time will tell which direction the Catholic Church goes in, but in my opinion the Church needs to continue to advance in a direction of modernization in relation to a culture and society that is not reflected in the teachings in the early years of the Church.
And this is not a sign of a weak church - it rather a sign of a Church that is willing to accept if Christ were alive today many of his positions would relate to the times in the way that His teachings related to the times when the Bible was first written and Catholic doctrine was being formed.
