31/24
When Cardinal Lawrence is tasked with leading one of the world's most secretive and ancient events, selecting a new Pope, he finds himself at the center of a conspiracy that could shake the very foundation of the Catholic Church.. This is Carlos Diehz’s first major film appearance. He was an architect until 2020, when his last child left home and he decided to take online acting classes and go to auditions.. It is stated that Adeyemi would be the first African Pope. The Roman Catholic Church has had three African Popes: Victor The First (189-199 CE), Miltiades (also known as Melchiades, 311-314 CE), and Gelasius The First (492-496 CE). It is however likely that he means an ethnically African pope, as those three popes while born in Africa were all of European ethnic descent.. Lawrence: 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. Let us pray that God will grant us a Pope who doubts. And let him grant us a Pope who sins and asks for forgiveness and who carries on.. Featured in The 7PM Project: Episode dated 10 December 2024 (2024). Allegri: MisererePerformed by Capella Musicale Pontificia Sistina, Massimo PalombellaCourtesy of Deutsche Grammophon GMBHUnder license from Universal Music Operations Ltd. This is a political thriller. With a bit of tweaking this sort of vaguely labyrinthine plotting goes on wherever there is a quest for power and control. The main actors – Fiennes, Tucci, Lithgow, Rossellini and Msamati, deliver powerful performances, and the film is worth seeing for these alone .The script is well written, although cliched in some parts, but does provide tension, momentum and intrigue. The settings equally play their part and, given the scale, add gravitas and authenticity, not just a backdrop. Having said all of that, and without giving away anything away, the ending felt added on, and didn’t properly integrate with the rest of the film. Whilst the message was well intended, to an extent, it undermined the build up in the rest of the film – it felt simplistic and a la mode – unnecessarily. A pity, because if as much attention had been given to this part of the film as the rest, it would have been a better film.
