Warning: Some spoilers ahead!
Upon its release in 2024, Conclave, directed by Edward Berger, garnered significant attention and acclaim. The film received multiple award nominations, including the prestigious Academy Award for Best Picture in 2025.
Praised for its masterfully crafted screenplay and a stellar ensemble cast led by Ralph Fiennes—a three-time Oscar nominee—Conclave earned widespread recognition from both critics and audiences alike.
But although critics were aware of Conclave’s history, many of its audiences don’t know that it was adapted from the 2016 novel by Robert Harris, a British novelist and former journalist who became known in the genre of historical fiction.
Harris, renowned for his meticulously researched and intricately plotted novels, crafted Conclave as a political thriller set within one of the world’s most secretive and powerful institutions: the Vatican.
The novel unfolds in the wake of a pope’s sudden death. As per the tradition, 118 cardinals around the world gathered in the Sistine Chapel to elect his successor. Cardinal Jacopo Lomeli, the Dean of the College of Cardinals, leads the election while navigating deep political intrigue.
As ballots are cast and alliances shift, he uncovers secrets and ambitions that could reshape the Church’s future.
Because Conclave deals with a matter that is sensitive especially to the Catholic followers, it has not escaped the grips of controversies. Critics and religious scholars alike weighed in on the matter of the Vatican depiction.
On Tradition and Gender
The Catholic Church has maintained strict gender roles, particularly when it comes to leadership. The priesthood is a profession exclusive to males, and the Pope— the highest authority in the Church— is required to be a male.
This is rooted in the belief that Jesus Christ chose only male apostles and that priests act in persona Christi (in the person of Christ), which has been interpreted as necessitating a male representative.
But what happens when the Pope is discovered to be an intersex? That is, people who are born with physical sex characteristics— such as chromosomes, hormones, or reproductive anatomy—that do not fit typical definitions of male or females?
This is a twist waiting to happen in Harris’ story.
By introducing an intersex pope, Harris forces readers to confront a question the Church has never officially addressed:
What if a cardinal, who was presumed male, turned out to be biologically ambiguous?
Would the Church accept an intersex individual as its highest leader, or would it challenge centuries of doctrine that reinforce a strictly male-led hierarchy?
The novel doesn’t explicitly answer these questions. What it does instead is critique the rigidity of the church’s gender policies.
Real World Parallels and Controversies
In real life, this discussion about gender and leadership has been growing, especially under Pope Francis’ whose visionary leadership earned him praise and criticisms.
Pope Francis made progressive remarks about the LGBTQIA+ community although the Church’s stance on the issue still remains vague. He had also put women in leadership positions that were traditionally held by males.
Critics and religious scholars have debated whether Harris’s portrayal is a provocative but thoughtful exploration of institutional change or an unrealistic, sensationalized twist meant to shock readers.
Some have praised Conclave for encouraging dialogue on inclusivity in religious leadership, while others argue that it misrepresents the Church’s internal processes and doctrine.
Similarities and Differences with Dan Brown’s Works
While Conclave sparked discussions for its portrayal of Vatican politics and leadership, it also drew comparisons to the works of Dan Brown, particularly Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Codehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Da_Vinci_Code_(film).
Angels & Demons was controversial primarily due to its portrayal of the Catholic Church, its secretive societies, and its speculative take on science versus religion. Meanwhile, The Da Vinci Code became controversial due to its reinterpretation of Christian history, and its claims of Jesus Christ’s relationship with Mary Magdalene.
Both these works merited controversies upon their publication. Both explored the themes of secrecy, power struggles, and the inner workings of the Catholic Church.
Yet Harris’ and Brown’s approached these topics in distinctly different ways.
Whereas Brown’s novels are fast-paced thrillers filled with cryptic symbols and historical conspiracies, Harris takes a more restrained, realistic approach, crafting a political drama grounded in meticulous research.
Final Thoughts
Conclave is an ambitious work of fiction which aims to humanize the saintly images of cardinals, the Pope, and the Catholic Church itself. It reveals their struggle, ambition, loyalty, and faults— things that are often hidden from the public eye.
More than a political thriller, it is an examination of the Catholic Church’s future in a rapidly modernized world.
These features stories might also interest you:
Explainer: What is a Papal conclave and how does it work?
Pope Francis’s Health: A Timeline
Next in Line? The Front-Runners to Succeed Pope Francis as Pope
