Living Catholic with Father Don Wolf
Father Don Wolf, a priest of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, offers a Catholic perspective on the issues confronting each person today.
Living Catholic with Father Don Wolf
November 17, 2024 | Movie Review: "Conclave"
Join me as I give my take on the controversial new movie: "Conclave." Is it as disparaging as some in the commentariat have claimed? Let's discuss.
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Father Don Wolf is a priest of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. Living Catholic also broadcasts on Oklahoma Catholic Radio several times per week, with new episodes airing every Sunday.
This is Living Catholic with Father Don Wolfe. Living Catholic is a fresh look at issues confronting each of us today. This show deals with living Catholic, what that means for Catholics, as well as the impact on the rest of society. You certainly don't have to be Catholic to enjoy this show. And now your host, Father Don Wolfe.
Speaker 1:Welcome Oklahoma to Living Catholic. I'm Father Don Wolfe, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish and rector of the Shrine of Blessed Stanley Rother. Just recently I came back from the movie Conclave. I thought I'd share a few thoughts. I know there have been all manner of comments about the film, many of which have consigned it to well to purdah as far as Catholic viewing goes. But I found it to be an interesting story as well as an interesting attempt at trying to talk about the church. It's far from a perfect film, but how many of those have you seen? So here goes.
Speaker 1:The movie begins with the death of the Pope, which necessitates an election of a new one at a conclave of the cardinals, and so begins the drama of the story. As the men dressed in red gather to decide who among them will be elected to the chair of Peter, the drama builds from the opening scene. Now, movies of this type include several standard tropes. First, there's always a great fascination with the accoutrements of the church and churchmen. The movie makers obviously spent a lot of time trying to slake our thirst about some of those details the colors and costumes of those who gather to do the business of the church. They capture the eye from the first moment. Bright colors splashed against the stained buildings, sweeping lines of men in cassocks and surpluses, the swirl of red and purple and white all make for a visual banquet, and this just in the opening minutes. Whether they intended it or not, the movie makers reinforced all of the preoccupation the world has with the Catholic Church Because, love it or hate it, the Church captures the eye of the onlooker, and this film fulfills this first expectation just in its opening shots.
Speaker 1:Making such a movie challenges the production company to find a way to include the majesty and sweep of Rome in the Vatican without being able to film on site. The Vatican wouldn't allow the movie to be made there, and yet it has to include the sites we expect if we're going to follow the story. And cleverly, almost the entire movie takes place on the inside, among the cardinals who are gathered and then sequestered for their voting. Virtually all of the scenes are shot with small backgrounds a wall or window, a doorway or a stairwell. That requires no special skyline or building To help us focus on the story. The backgrounds hint at being rich and full without actually showing us all that much. This also allows the faces and the dialogue of the main characters to be the principal focus, that's good movie making. Main characters to be the principal focus, that's good movie making. The producers knew how to tell a story on film, not just film a story being told. That's a plus one for the movie.
Speaker 1:What the casual observer might not notice at first is the plainness of the environment. Now, of course, the cardinals sit and vote in the Sistine Chapel, and it's incomparable. Of course, the history and lushness of the life of the church is fully on display there. But where the cardinals stay, where they have their meals, where they do their business, is all quite plain and simple. The scene in the pope's bedroom where the movie opens is simple to the point of starkness. He may be the vicar of Christ, but he sleeps on a small bed surrounded by a lamp that wouldn't look out of place at Motel 6, and it standing on an end table that appears to be from an Italian hotel from the 1950s.
Speaker 1:The movie doesn't include the tired back-and-forth accusations about the wealth of the church and the luxury of the cardinals. In fact, that question doesn't come up at all. This happens, at least in part, by having our eyes directed elsewhere than the sumptuousness of Renaissance Rome. The cardinals come to Rome to do the business of the church and direct the future of the faithful, but they're staying at the equivalent of the Marriott, with the features of a suburban home in Chickasha. What happens when they get there to Rome and begin their business? That's what we're invited to focus on.
Speaker 1:The other trope involved in the movie of this type is sex and secrecy. Catholic clerics invite commentary on the foibles of the human condition because of their promises of celibacy and the rigorous hierarchy they give themselves to. It seems that no one is indifferent to the possibilities of lives twisted by the energies of sex and power, and so stories about clerics are fertile ground for exploring what happens when men are tempted by them. Both of these themes are alive in the film, although one has to wonder if there would be in fact any fewer secrets or sins among, say, the personnel of an insurance agency than with the College of Cardinals. But then again, we'd be hard-pressed to find anyone whose imaginations were titillated by a story of the dramatic lives of actuaries and underwriters. The movie doesn't disappoint. The standard tropes are there.
Speaker 1:Having called the conclave, the Cardinals arrive and begin. The story is told by way of the character of the dean of the College of Cardinals. It's his responsibility to make sure the gathering is organized and all the proper protocols are followed. We get to see the story and experience the drama through his eyes. He's a decent and good man who wants a pope selected in the best way possible for the good of the church. The first thing to notice is that the cardinals know one another. This is a feature of the real college of cardinals. Pope Saint John Paul endeavored to have the cardinals come together often so that they could get to know one another. They're not necessarily good friends, but they're aware of one another's reputation and positions. Of course, as they gather, they've read the news like everyone else. They're aware of the drama and intricacies of the church and there are few surprises with one another. This small fact is very well illustrated in the film. They're at ease around one another. They come to Rome to do the job they've been selected for, they settle in and they get busy with their work.
Speaker 1:The cardinalate is a product of the growth of the church in the 12th century, under attack by overwhelming Muslim victories all over Central Europe. Besieged by the frozen structures of bad government and unresponsive churchmen, challenged by the poverty and ignorance of the people. The Pope had to find ways to buttress his authority and respond to the needs of everyone. So a board of advisors was established to provide advice to the Pope and to help him administer the governance of everyone. So a board of advisors was established to provide advice to the Pope and to help him administer the governance of the Church. They were first called informally cardinale, from the Italian word that means a hinge. Eventually the word struck, the word stuck. A hinge, after all, is what a door is mounted on so that it can function to swing back and forth. Cardinals help the church to function. As their work as advisors and delegates developed, they were also chosen. They were also woven into the function of the papacy. Eventually, the cardinals took over as the principal electors of the pope.
Speaker 1:Selecting the pope had been formalized in previous centuries, but as the administrative reach of the pope extended wider and wider, it became necessary to include a larger pool of those involved in it. So it began as a custom to consult the cardinals and it eventually became law. The cardinals gather upon the death of the pope to make their selection for the next pontiff. Interestingly, a cardinal doesn't have to be a bishop or even a cleric. All of them are today, but it's not required in the law of the church. The pope could name anyone to be a cardinal. They most often are bishops who represent the major dioceses of the world, and over the last generation the popes have ensured there is a wide representation of the church in the College of Cardinals. Rather than a giant swath of Italians and other Europeans, the cardinals are now men from all over the world.
Speaker 1:In the movie we get to see the wide variety of the men who gather. Rather than being angelic or otherworldly, they look very much like regular men who carry the responsibilities of their work with them. The movie makers are trying to bring us into a story in which the selection of the Pope is a workaday project to be completed by the men brought together to get it done, not an ethereal dreamscape occupied by angels and spirits. When they gather, the hard work begins. They're not of one mind about who the new pope should be. The various factions get to work to identify their candidates and to gin up support for them. They air out the problems they see in the church and the men they think who will do the best in addressing those problems and, just like any process of selection, the guys get together and settle on a course of action and then follow it. There's no subtleness about it. It's political and noisy and everybody takes part. There are no apologies about the harsh things said about the candidates or the sometimes scathing criticisms of their positions or their personalities. They know one another and in their knowing there are some men who are liked and some who are not. East and West, and especially North and South, don't agree about what the church needs and about who will best lead it.
Speaker 1:As part of the process, the major candidates are identified early. As they are. The weaknesses and difficulties of their lives are slowly revealed. Several of the favorites are compromised by what they've done in the past. They have skeletons in their closets and when they are revealed it becomes obvious they shouldn't be elected.
Speaker 1:I think the movie actually does a pretty good job of not making too much of the negative, that is to say, the drama is that they must select someone for this difficult job and no one is pristine, because everyone has weaknesses and has made mistakes. Waiting for the perfect person won't produce them. Of course, the job becomes more difficult when there seems to be more weakness and malfeasance among them than obvious virtue, but that's part of the drama as well. Much of this is fanciful but not unknown. I've heard it said that during one conclave several decades ago, newspaper articles anonymously appeared under the doors of the cardinal's rooms so that they'd know what was being reported about one of the candidates. I also heard a bishop report that, at another conclave, what otherwise were secret files were passed around in order to alert the electors to some embarrassing facts about one of the men being considered. Shenanigans such as these in real life have ruined the chances of a number of cardinals who were being considered for pope.
Speaker 1:So, whether true or not, the drama of the film is to capture the human aspect of the choices the cardinals make. The church is governed by men, not by angels. If the choice were only between what is good and evil, it'd be easy. In fact, the difficulty of the choice in leadership is usually between good and good. That is, everyone brings his talents and abilities to the table. All of them are good enough at what they do, but not all of them are the man of the moment or the leader for the circumstances of the church at this time.
Speaker 1:Selecting the one to be chosen from among all those who are gathered is the drama of the film. Most of the time we prefer to imagine, the Spirit simply sweeps in and makes the choice obvious. It might settle our souls to know God has chosen the perfect Pope by way of a great sign or a miraculous intervention. This may happen, but it's not to be counted on. After all, the work of God can be evident even in the most mundane decision-making. For example, making a choice about what we put in the collection basket is a spiritual act, but it's not usually accompanied by the brush of angel wings. While it's a hugely powerful expression of the life of the Spirit among us, we do it without much drama. For the cardinals selecting the pope is much the same. Of course, this is a movie set in our world, at our time, the story being told amid the perspectives of contemporary churchmen who come from the countries and dioceses that we're familiar with. So I think this is one of the weaker elements of the film.
Speaker 1:The comments from some of the senior cardinals are not very insightful and not very helpful. For example, as the dean opens the conclave, he gives a sermon in which he criticizes certainty. In his mind, the certainty of the cardinals is the problem that has to be overcome in the church. Now I suppose such words could be prophetic. The dean was asking the men of the conclave to remain open to the movement of the spirit. But in the face of the challenges of our world, in which our society confesses it doesn't know the difference between a man and a woman, or that a child in the womb is a human being, or that boundaries can protect and not just exclude, his words criticizing certainty sound pretty hollow. It does sound odd in my ears to wish the church and the men of the church were less certain about themselves. There is one scene in which this lack of humility is on display, quite unintentionally I think. In the scene before the first vote is taken, a group meets and goes over their plans about whom to support.
Speaker 1:One of the American cardinals is a favorite and he's asked about his position concerning some of the hot topics of the day. The first thing he says is we're not going back to a time in which families had eight kids because dad and mom didn't know what else to do. It's a perfectly American thing to say. I've heard it said by clerics a hundred times. But in Western society, which are resolute in not reproducing themselves, in which we've not had enough children in the last 50 years to sustain our own countries, in which there are a million abortions a year in the US and another million in the European Union. His words sound thunderously assured, to the point of foolishness. I wonder how they would sound to the millions who have availed themselves of IVF over the last generation, or how they would sound to Africans or to Latinos. Would they sound clueless, cruel? I know they sound certain.
Speaker 1:There's one thing about the modern craze for criticizing certainty we almost never mean criticizing the certainties we have about ourselves. When it's an English-speaking cleric making the criticism, even when it's just in a movie, we can be sure it never occurs to him to dig into his own certainties or our own. This is especially true when it comes to sex and babies, unfortunately for this movie. In this area, absolute certainty is the watchword, without a hint of irony or embarrassment. But sex is the bugaboo in the conversations about who the Pope should be. While it's not the only topic, it's one of the direct concerns the men have as they stake out their positions and talk to one another about their future leader. No doubt this is a topic of conversation in the actual conclave, although I'm not sure how much weight is really placed on it. The movie makers know it captures our attention, so it's liberally sprinkled throughout the conversations, both about who should be considered as a papal candidate and who should be eliminated from such consideration.
Speaker 1:One of the deciding moments is when one of the cardinals begin to talk about the impact of a growing Muslim presence in Italy. He's upset. There isn't more pushback against them, and upset against their aggressiveness there. In fact, in a moment of passion, he calls for a war against their continued growth. This is shocking to many who are gathered. Selecting a pope turns on the topics of sex and violence. A pope turns on the topics of sex and violence.
Speaker 1:As the movie unfolds, there's almost no talk about the spiritual aspects of the life of the church. This is part of the challenge of making a movie such as this. Too much talk of theology and the audience will grow tired, if not angry. The storytellers are allergic to any mention of these topics, since they have to appeal to the largest number of people, so they opt not to talk about them at all. I have no idea what actually happens at a conclave and whether there is much direct talk about such things. My guess is they talk a good deal more about them, about spiritual topics, than in the movies.
Speaker 1:After all, the major candidates are considered and eliminated one by one in the movie, mostly due to their weaknesses and to the reports of their mistakes. So the conclave has to be refocused. Courts of their mistakes. So the conclave has to be refocused. With the larger-than-life personalities removed, it becomes unclear who might be the best candidate. The interest and the energy seems to turn toward the personality of the dean of the cardinals. As this happens, one of the surprising candidate surfaces. This is a cardinal not well known to the others, who has arrived late and in the midst of the deliberations. He calls for peace and shares some of his experience of war and the price of conflict. It's a moment that galvanizes the whole body and he is elected.
Speaker 1:As the movie is about to end, we find out the new candidate. The one who's to be pope bears a secret. Now, this is a spoiler alert. The newly elected pope is not exactly whom he appears to be. The truth is revealed he has both male and female reproductive organs. Now it's been reported in many venues that the scandal of the movie was that the pope is transgender, but that's not true. That person, this new pope elected in the movie is intersex, with presenting male genitalia along with internal organs that are part of the female reproductive suite.
Speaker 1:Of course, in the movie we're left to wonder if he is a he and if he's not, then what about the careful distinctions we confidently draw between a man and a woman? What will the church do as it faces the confusing facts of this part of the modern world? But it's not quite the conundrum or the clinch that many have made it out to be. The cardinal is a man with male genitalia and presenting male characteristics, with male genitalia and presenting male characteristics, who's suffered a DNA accident causing additional organs to grow in his body. He's not a woman in a man's body or vice versa. A medical checkup again in the movie. A medical checkup was necessary to find these additional features in his body before he became aware that he was not like other men. If there hadn't been a piece of paper indicating what the doctor had discovered, no one would have known about his abnormality. He wouldn't have known about it himself. He's not a particularly strong argument about the distinctions between man and woman becoming fluid. It certainly is not in this movie, which is why I think the movie ultimately succeeds.
Speaker 1:The drama centers on the decision to find a leader from among those who are gathered. For better or for worse, the leader of the church is one who's chosen within all of the limitations of life and living, including this notable one. He can't escape his circumstances or replay the truths of his life. The film is worth seeing because it explores the choices of the church, which are always made within this dynamic. We're led by Christ, whose presence is promised in the midst of the church, among those who follow him. All choices in the church are made just this way.
Speaker 1:The controversies in the movie are somewhat overblown, but only just so. I think they present a chance to further the drama without being too distracting. Even the final scenes concerning the big reveal are not overdone. As long as we remember we're seeing a drama construed to draw our attention to the themes of sin and grace, the movie is worth watching. Imagining we're actually getting a front row seat to the actual elections of a pope is like imagining Romeo and Juliet is what Italian dating looks like.
Speaker 1:Yes, foolish things are said by foolish people. Yes, the writers have a view of the church that's juvenile and insubstantial. Yes, the identity of the church is subsumed in the squabbles of individual men and, yes, the themes of sexuality crowd out a balanced view of the issues of the church. But it's still worth going to see. Just know that those who gather in the real conclave are not monstrous, nor are they anxious about the crises of faith. They do wonder where the church is to go and who might take it into the next generation. But I have every confidence they seek the will of God and the face of Christ in their choices. As they do, they confront the limitations of their humanity and the truth of grace at work among them. This is what makes for real drama in the actual process of leadership in the church, including in the papal office. The most engaging story of all, one just barely touched by this movie, is that Christ moves among them to bring a leader forward for the church. As he does, the church remains alive and renewed. Whoever will be the next pope is already at work in his diocese, making Christ present there. When he is chosen, it will be because the work of the Spirit is not absent or faded, but because the work of the Spirit is present and alive. Back in just a moment. Welcome back to our final segment, faith.
Speaker 1:In Verse. We have a poem today called Tents and Tarps. Tents and tarps sprawl under our bridges while the green spaces sprout in sleeping bags and cardboard. A world of ragged crops maturing in the sunshine, scattered onto the pathways and thin soils of our time. We wait for the fruit these seeds will bear as the seasons pass, as fall darkens into early evening and the winter hardens in slanted days. Like the trees growing unattended, there is no harvest time. These cuttings spread and ripen and color with the season to thin and dry and then green again across the open, unoccupied spaces. Their roots may be shallow but they draw easily, even with no depth or fixed place.
Speaker 1:Some have laughed and said mere postmodern decoration, others the fast ivy or crabgrass of our time. I wonder if they might be more the apex for us here to stay, taking root finely as the playgrounds become empty and our schools wither. The healthy prairie and the practiced garden do not nurture such wildness, but here and now they grow so easily among us. That's Tents and Tarps. The work of Living Catholic is the opportunity that we might in fact live in this great drama that is the church among us. I hope that you can continue to join us in the weeks to come.
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