Read Kate’s latest for The Tablet– New Pope. New hope
It was very sad to hear that the late Pope had died (on Easter Monday morning), but on the other hand, what a great day to go, with heaven having its biggest celebration of the year, and how characteristic of the last Pope to make his last appearance blessing all of us, urbi et orbi, on Easter Sunday. It was a perfect way to be remembered, and we pray for the repose of his soul with serene confidence and hope.
But now what? The people responsible for the recent film Conclave, based on Robert Harris’ book, must scarcely believe their own timing. The effect is that far more people than usual will have an informed understanding of the process of choosing a new Pope. Of course it is fiction, but Robert Harris has done his homework on the procedures, just as Morris West did in The Shoes of the Fisherman, because otherwise the novels would not be remotely convincing (Dan Brown, or The Godfather III, anybody?). This is just as well, as we Catholics have not done a very good job of getting our message across, and the general ignorance of Christian (let alone Catholic) basic beliefs regularly surprises me. You would think that people would absorb more by straightforward osmosis and observation in a country with as old a Christian history as the United Kingdom, but it’s entirely possible to have grown up here over the last fifty years, say, and yet to regard Christianity as on a par with morris dancing or well dressing, and know even less about it. So we’re not managing to transmit a living faith to those around us, but at least if they go and see a film like Conclave they will be exposed to some of the ideas involved.
