The sad news of the Death of the Pope Francisco I has been communicated to the world by the cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, Camarlengo de la Santa. A figure that, regardless of your creed or the versed thing you are in the Pontifical Administrative Bodies, surely you have recognized the first if you have seen Conclave, The movie of Edward Berger which was one of the key titles of the last season of the Oscars.
Conclave, that the best script adapted toPeter Straughan, portrays the implementation of the protocol to choose a new Pope after the death of the previous one. Ralph Fiennes, In the role of Cardinal Dean, he stars what becomes an absorbent thriller through the vatican’s halls.
There the personal ambitions of the candidates for the position of Sumo Pontiff come together, including Camarlengo played by John Lithgow, but also other cardinals embodied by Stanley Tucci, Sergio Castellitto o Lucian Msamati. Now that in reality we will attend the development of a conclave such as the film to find a successor to Francisco I, let’s see how faithfully represents Conclave The election process of the new Pope.
The origins of the conclave
According to tradition, the first bishop of Rome and, therefore, the first person who assumed the papal mandate was San Pedro, whose authority was granted by Jesus Christ himself. All later potatoes would be direct successors of the apostle, and it is possible that the people who held the position during the first centuries of the Church chose to those who would take their place after their death.
It is known that towards the eleventh century the new Pope was chosen based on popular opinion, both of the clergy and the faithful. As it was difficult to achieve a consensus, Pope Nicolás II He decreed in 1059 that only the cardinals could choose the new bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church. In 1150 it was definitively established The Cardenalicio College and in 1179 the need for Obtain two thirds of votes To choose a new Pontiff.
Despite the changes, the process sometimes continued to take a long time. Between 1268 and 1271 there was the longest papal choice in history, that lasted three years. To prevent this from being repeated, the new Pope Gregorio X decreed that the cardinals They had to remain locked until you choose a new Pope. Thus the conclave was established as we currently know it, varying only the number of members participating in each election and also limiting itself to those cardinals who are not more than 80 years old, standard that was set in 1970.
Is ‘conclave’ faithful to reality?
The film is based on the homonymous novel of Robert Harris, written in 2016. The British writer had the Help of the late Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor To do your work. Like the book, Conclave also Try to be as realistic as possible, already general features he achieves it.
When a Pope dies, the camarlengo or administrator of the Holy See certifies his death, the room is sealed and The fisherman’s ring is destroyed With the image of San Pedro, symbol of the pontiff as the successor of the apostle. The vacancy is also declared. All this appears on Edward Berger’s tape.
After giving the news to the world they organize The novelty, The funerals of the Pope, although the film does not emphasize this. Meanwhile, preparations for the conclave begin, in charge of the camarlengo and the dean, whose position holds el cardenal Lawrence, played by Ralph Fiennes. After performing the relevant efforts, all cardinals under 80 years within 15 or 20 days are summoned in the Vatican, so that they can move to Rome from anywhere in the world.
All participants stay In the house of Santa Marta, where they eat and rest, and have buses that will transfer them To the Sistine Chapel For each vote. But the first thing before all is to celebrate a mass, For choosing a pontiff, chaired by the Dean, where wisdom is asked to choose the new Pope.
Again, All these elements are represented in Conclave. It is also true that cardinals and assistant staff They remain isolated from abroad at all times and without access to mobile devices or the media, in order to avoid any external element that can influence its decisions.
When the Cardenalicio College meets in the Sistine Chapel, it swears to maintain the integrity of the conclave and vote Once the first day. If anyone is not chosen, it will vote four times every day And if there is no consensus to the third, a day of prayer and reflection is allowed before continuing with the process. The vote is always secret And it is written in a paper that is introduced into an urn. Any open campaign in favor of a candidate is poorly seen and sometimes you can expel a cardinal or excommunication If you perform practices such as violation of secret or simony.
After each vote, in which only the cardinals participate, The count is done out loud and then checked. The ballots are burned in a fireplace and different chemical elements are added to determine the color of the smoke. It will come out black if there is no consensus among the cardinals and white if the new Pope has been chosen. This smoke is what is known as smoked blank And it is the first announcement to the world of conclave resolution.
‘Conclave’ does not save discrepancies
If you have seen Conclaveyou will have proven that the movie Relatize the entire process to detail explained above. It is even true that Cardinal elected is asked if he accepts the papacy. However, there are voices that have risen against Edward Berger’s tape. An example is the case of Robert Barron, Bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester (Minnesota, United States), which urged all Catholics to avoid the work when considering it woke and anti -Catholic. He also assured that he portrays the church as “A hotbed of ambition and corruption.”
There are probably many people who think like him, although it is difficult to think that the conspiracy scenes in the vatican halls we see in Conclave They do not happen in reality, being the Catholic Church one of the institutions most important and influential in the world and one of the longest sources of power in history.
In addition, one of the main points of the film is The fight between progressive and conservative factions of the Cardenalicio College. It is very likely that this happens again when a new pontiff is chosen. Father Bergoglio himself, better known as the papa Francisco, is known for having established An opening period within the Church During his mandate. After the death of the Supreme Pontiff, there will have to see what current controls control in the Vatican and What effects have in a world already quite agitated.
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