How accurate is movie Conclave and what was Catholic Church's review of it

As the world comes terms with the death of , the subject of the selection of his successor will naturally arise. Following the news he had died the age of 88 after a period of declining health, it now means the Catholic Church is without a leader. The wait will begin for the white smoke curling above the Sistine Chapel, announcing a new leader for the ’s 1.3 billion Catholics.

The ritual is steeped in secrecy, tradition, and global significance. Robert Harris’ 2024 movie Conclave a fctional peek behind the Vatican’s famously closed doors, but how accurate is it?

The plot follows Cardinal Lomeli, a thoughtful cleric plunged into a world of political scheming, long-held secrets, and moral dilemmas as he helps elect the next leader. There are shadowy pasts, shocking twists, and even a final revelation that challenges the very foundations of the Church. But how close is it to the truth?

In reality, when a Pope dies or resigns, as Benedict XVI did in 2013, the Vatican enters what’s known as sede vacante, which literally means “the seat is vacant”. report that The Camerlengo, who acts as an interim caretaker, confirms the pope’s death, seals off his rooms, and oversees the mourning period. Following the death of Pope Francis, this job fell to Irish cardinal Kevin Farrell.

After the funeral and nine days of official prayers, all eyes turn to the College of Cardinals. Only cardinals under the age of 80 are allowed to vote. They travel to Rome, swear oaths of secrecy, and are sequestered in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, a guesthouse within Vatican City. No mobile phones. No newspapers. No calls home. Just daily Mass, communal meals, and voting sessions in the Sistine Chapel.

Each cardinal writes a name on a paper ballot, folds it, and places it into a chalice under Michelangelo’s masterpiece of a ceiling. The votes are counted and burned, and the colour of the smoke tells the world the outcome, with black indicating “no pope yet” and white signalling the election of a new pontiff.

The conclave as we know it today wasn’t always so structured. In fact, for much of Church history, papal elections were far messier and often politically charged. The term conclave comes from the Latin cum clave, meaning “with a key”. It refers to locking the cardinals in a room until they come to a decision.

This strict enclosure was first enforced during the 13th century, after a particularly chaotic episode. In 1268, after Pope Clement IV died, the cardinals took nearly three years to choose a successor. Frustrated by the delay, the people of Viterbo, where the election was being held, locked the cardinals in and put them on a diet of bread and water until a new Pope was chosen.

This led Pope Gregory X to formalise the conclave system at the Second Council of Lyon in 1274, introducing the rules of isolation, majority voting, and strict procedures that form the backbone of the modern process. Over time, further reforms were added to guard against corruption, political interference, and delay. Today’s version, complete with digital signal-blocking, and daily ballots, is the result of centuries of refinement. But the essential goal remains unchanged, and that is to discern, prayerfully and privately, the next leader of the Church.

While the film Conclave nails the pageantry and setting with the hushed grandeur of the Sistine Chapel, the formality of the votes, and the claustrophobic intensity of the proceedings, it veers sharply into thriller territory when it comes to the plot.

In Harris’ tale, the late pope leaves a secret letter revealing a hidden truth about one of the papal contenders. Scandals simmer beneath the surface with cover-ups, abuse, espionage and Cardinal Lomeli is left playing detective, trying to guide the Church through a spiritual and political minefield.

The idea that cardinals would investigate one another mid-conclave or expose hidden scandals in a kind of theological whodunnit is entirely fictional. The process is designed to avoid exactly that kind of influence. Voting is private and solemn, not fuelled by secrets and whispers.

That said, real conclaves have had their moments. During the 2005 election that brought in Pope Benedict XVI, there were reports of ideological divides between liberals and conservatives and Europe and the Global South. When Benedict resigned in 2013, the conclave that followed elected , an Argentine Jesuit whose selection stunned many and hinted at a shift in tone and geography. But even then, there were no public intrigues, no last-minute revelations, and certainly no hidden letters or dramatic

Where Conclave shines is in showing just how rare and mysterious the papal election truly is. The Sistine Chapel becomes not just a sacred space, but a stage. The rituals are ancient, the stakes enormous, and for a few tense days, 100 or so men hold the spiritual future of the Catholic world in their hands.

But if you’re watching the film or reading the book and thinking, “Did that really happen?”, the answer is almost always “no.”

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