Ralph Fiennes stars as Cardinal Lawrence in director Edward Berger’s CONCLAVE, released by Focus Features.

Courtesy of Focus Features. © 2024 All rights reserved.

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Courtesy of Focus Features. © 2024 All rights reserved.

When fiction reflects reality, the election of a pope can be murderous. At least that’s how it’s depicted in the new film Conclave.

In the opening scene the Pope is dead. His room is sealed. Cardinals from all over the world come to the Vatican to lock themselves away until they choose the next one.

Ralph Fiennes plays Thomas Lawrence, Dean of the College of Cardinals. He is responsible for managing the vote – as well as the cardinals’ strong and differing opinions on the future of the church. They devise, strategize, and discover devastating secrets during their deliberations.

‘Cardinals, priests – they are human beings. They may have ambition,” Fiennes said Morning edition host A Martínez. “Where ambition becomes self-centered and self-centered is one thing; they may have ambitions to do well in the church. I think it’s okay to be ambitious for something.”

Fiennes’ Cardinal Lawrence claims not to want the papacy for himself, but he is an ally of Cardinal Aldo Bellini (played by Stanley Tucci), a reform-minded American. Bellini lobbies for the job mainly to oppose an Italian cardinal, Goffredo Tedesco (played by a scene-stealing Sergio Castellitto), who represents the conservative wing of Catholicism. His ambition is undeniable. Tedesco wants to return the church to the days before Vatican II, full of Latin liturgies and an unchallenged patriarchy.

“It’s not just about stopping Tedesco,” Fiennes explains. “It’s also about advancing the church on issues of sexual orientation, gender, women – important liberal issues.”

Ralph Fiennes grew up with his own experience in the Catholic Church. “My mother was a devout Catholic,” he says. He spent part of his childhood at a Catholic boys’ school in Kilkenny, Ireland, “until I was about 13 when I rebelled. I told my mother, ‘I don’t want to go to Mass anymore. I don’t understand. I don’t feel it. I don’t believe it. ”

Still, the script is for it Conclave spoke to him. “I have always had a real curiosity about faith in my adult life – and a real interest in people who are committed to a life in the church.”

Fiennes investigated his role by talking to Vatican insiders. At first he was sheepish about how the work would be received. “I met some priests who were incredibly helpful,” he recalls. “They think a lot philosophically about these big questions. I haven’t met anyone who I thought was defensively locked in about “Here’s an actor playing a cardinal.” I felt like I met open and friendly people who said, ‘Yes, these are challenges.’ They are aware and sensitive to all kinds of matters related to the role of the church. I found it quite inspiring.”

Conclave opens in US theaters nationwide on Friday, October 25.