With the passing of Pope St. Francis this Easter Monday, the Vatican will begin preparing for a conclave after the period of mourning. With the recent film, “Conclave,” garnering international acclaim and several Oscar nods, this conclave feels incredibly important. Pope Francis, a Jesuit who embraced the LGBTQ+ community and called for a ceasefire in Gaza, became one of the most accepting popes that the church has ever seen. He progressed the ideals of the church, propelling us into the future of what could be accepted within the Catholic church. One quote – deeply telling of who Pope Francis is and what he stood for, “This isn’t my dogma, just a thought: I like to think of Hell as empty. I hope it is.”
It becomes clear in the wake of Pope Francis’ passing: which cardinal will be able to follow the man who expressed that he hopes Hell is empty? Before the conclave has even begun, the race for pope has opened, and several cardinals appear to be stand-out contenders for the papacy. Cardinal Pietro Parolin of Italy, Cardinal Peter Edrӧ of Hungary, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Italy, Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke of the U.S., Cardinal Willem Jacobus Eijk of the Netherlands, Cardinal Peter Kodwo Turkson of Ghana, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith of Sri Lanka, and Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller of Germany are all considered to be “likely” to become the next pope.
“Conclave” gives us a unique insight into how actual conclaves work, how conflict can arise between cardinals and how it’s dealt with. As Stanley Tucci’s character, Cardinal Bellini, insists, “This isn’t a conclave, it’s a war!” Ultimately, at the end of “Conclave,” a liberal pope is selected from amongst the cardinals, Cardinal Benitez. Towards the end of the film, he is revealed to be intersex, possessing both female and male sex organs. This is also how he finds himself in Italy, as the former pope had brought him to Italy to have surgery performed to have his female sex organs removed. Cardinal Benitez ultimately denies the surgery, and tells Cardinal Lawrence, “It seemed to me more of a sin to change His handiwork than to leave my body as it was. I am what God made me. And it is perhaps my difference that would make me more useful.”
It’s assumed largely that the next pope will reflect some of Pope Francis’ progressive ideals and natures, as Pope Francis appointed around 75% of the cardinals who will ultimately elect a new pope. A frontrunner identified by those outside the Vatican is Cardinal Tagle of the Philippines. He is historically accepting of the LGBTQ+ community and aims to empower the impoverished, both things that Pope Francis focused on during his papacy. “How many poor people are being sacrificed to the god of greed?” Cardinal Tagle asked during a sermon he gave in 2008.
Once the conclave begins, sometime in May, cardinals will be sequestered away in the Sistine Chapel for voting. Cardinal electors will participate in four votes daily until they reach 33 total voting sessions, in which the top two vote-getters will participate in a runoff amongst the electors. A ballot requires a two-thirds majority from electors to name a pope. In the event of a runoff, which hasn’t taken place in decades, the final ballot requires a simple majority from the electors, for 50% plus one cardinal. Pope Francis was elected within two days, on the fifth ballot. Cardinal electors will vote twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon until they elect a pope, burning the ballots after each voting session. The ballots burned indicate to those outside the Sistine Chapel the result of the vote. If the smoke is black, a pope has not been elected. If the smoke is white, there is a new pope, who will be presented that evening.
While Cardinal Tagle seems like a stand-out to become pope, with his more liberal stance on gender and sexual identity, only the cardinal electors will know what takes place within the walls of the Sistine Chapel. An underdog could come to fruition, much like in “Conclave,” or it could be one of the most likely candidates. But, the public won’t know until the Sistine Chapel billows with white smoke and the senior cardinal deacon declares, “Habemus papam,” or, “We have a pope.”
