The Pope is dead, and the cardinals must gather to elect his successor, under the leadership of the dean, Cardinal Thomas Lawrence. What follows is a game of power, ambition and deception. Some desperately want to become pope, while others would rather avoid the position. Some would like to return to a more traditional form of Catholicism, while others favour a more progressive Church. And no one seems reluctant to play dirty to undermine their rivals and win votes. The film takes us behind the scenes of the highly ritualised process of electing a new pope, while also exposing some of the less savoury aspects of the Catholic Church. Ralph Fiennes is fantastic as Cardinal Lawrence, portraying all the different facets of his character with great subtlety.
And over the course of many years in the service of our Mother the Church, let me tell you, there is one sin which I have come to fear above all others. Certainty. Certainty is the great enemy of unity. Certainty is the deadly enemy of tolerance. Even Christ was not certain at the end. “Dio mio, Dio mio, perché mi hai abbandonato?” he cried out, in his agony, at the ninth hour on the cross. Our faith is a living thing precisely because it walks hand in hand with doubt. If there was only certainty, and no doubt, there would be no mystery. And therefore, no need for faith.”