The upcoming conclave to select the new Pope has won a brand new group of interested observers, after the success of the film nominated at the Oscars Conclave With Ralph Fiennes.
On the basis of Robert Harris’s successful novel 2016, he details the process where the cardinals (masculine, under the age of 80) from around the world meet in the Vatican Sistine Chapel for a process for choosing the next pontiff, while the public is waiting outside a decision. The news is then announced with a puff of white smoke emerging from a chimney on the roof of the chapel. The conclave to elect the successor to Pope Francis will start on Wednesday May 7.
However, with all private discussions that occur in corridors outside the chapel and competition reports, Harris says that the process is more like another screen – TV show Treatments.
Treatments Was a huge success for the BBC since its beginnings in the United Kingdom in 2022, with international versions which now project around the world. He sees “faithful” candidates responsible for trying to determine the “traitors” among them, before being “murdered” and eliminated from the game and a chance to share the price in cash.
Harris told the BBC:
“(It is) the closest analogy to which I can come. Suddenly everyone swings to a person – you cannot see why, in particular, but that happens, “
“And in a fun way, a similar dynamic works in a conclave, which is why it often produces a surprise.”
Harris suggested that political parties elect a new leader could learn from the process:
“To lock the door and say that you are not going to go out until you have obtained a result concentrates the mind – and if you look back, the popes were pretty good.
“I did not come from the search for the novel thinking that it is a terrible idea (and that), I have to write a novel to expose how horrible it is. In a way, the novel shows a conclave that works.”
