Conclave

Content Warning: This novel and review contain references to gender discrimination, death, and sexual violence.

For his eighth novel, Robert Harris, known for historical fiction like Pompeii and espionage thrillers like An Officer and a Spy, sets his sights on a famously private Roman Catholic Church tradition—the papal conclave, which convenes in the wake of a pope’s death. Each conclave brings the College of Cardinals to Vatican City to elect a new leader through several rounds of ballots, and because of the conclave’s secrecy, very few know what actually happens during and in between the rounds of election. On its surface, Conclave looks like a break from Harris’s authorial interests, but the text makes a strong case for why such a secretive and procedural ritual can sit alongside stories of political assassinations and historical upheavals. Harris leverages the personal weaknesses of his ensemble cast to drive a larger critique of religious institutions and to explore what it means to have faith in the modern world.

The novel’s events unfold through the eyes of Jacopo Cardinal Lomeli, the Dean of the College of Cardinals, who is tasked with overseeing the conclave following an unnamed pope’s death. Lomeli is struggling with a crisis of faith. He initially sought to overcome this crisis by entering monastic life, but the rejection of his transfer by his superior, the late pope, has exacerbated his crisis, causing him to wonder if he is the right person to manage the election at all.

Lomeli struggles to maintain impartiality in a race between church leaders on opposing sides of the political spectrum, represented on one end by the liberal Cardinal Bellini, Lomeli’s close friend and his personal choice for pope, and on the other by the conservative Cardinal Tedesco, a popular traditionalist who threatens to bring the Catholic Church back to its pre-Vatican II norms. Other frontrunners include Vatican treasurer Cardinal Tremblay, an ambitious official with a penchant for luxury, and Cardinal Adeyemi, whose Nigerian nationality appeals to modern calls for diversity within the Catholic Church.

Even before the conclave begins, Lomeli becomes aware that his late superior has set a clandestine plan into motion, marked by the arrival of an enigmatic yet unassuming cardinal named Vincent Benítez. Although Benítez initially has no pull on the electorate, he emerges as a surprise contender for pontiff, espousing values that resonate with the ideals of the Church. Ironically, the wildcard in the election proves to be Lomeli himself, who uses his resources as an authority within the conclave to upset the status quo and shift the electorate’s sentiments regarding each of the frontrunners.

While these elements sound like the standard fare of an electoral drama, Harris uses the elevated status of the College of Cardinals to underscore the humanity of what is traditionally framed as a divine ritual. The novel’s ensemble cast is rife with character flaws—or at least complexities—that mar their respective ambitions, much like Lomeli’s lack of faith. At one point, one of the cardinals reveals himself to be a coward, compromising his values to shirk responsibility. Later, another cardinal is accused of playing dirty tricks to undermine his competitors. While Lomeli is expected to maintain neutrality, his personal integrity pushes him to confront these cardinals in ways that significantly influence the outcome of the vote. To err may be human, but Harris uses both Lomeli and some bitingly ironic commentary to suggest how disingenuous it therefore is to present oneself as the divine choice: “Thus, out of the fog of human ambition, did the will of God begin to emerge” (150).

Harris also uses the drama of the conclave to levy social critiques regarding the Catholic Church’s place in the 21st century. In one case, a frontrunner is exposed as having committed sexual abuse many years earlier. Harris is hardly breaking any new ground with this characterization, but the reveal takes on added dimensions when framed through the lens of the novel’s greater concerns. Organized religion may no longer be useful to the world, especially when it becomes a platform for corruption and transgression, but what is to be said for the significant number of people who cannot live without faith? What kind of leader, if any, would best suit their practice of faith in today’s world?

In this context, Lomeli’s personal crusade against papal corruption comes across as both vindictive and satisfying. One of the novel’s most exciting chapters begins with Lomeli discovering that one of the cardinals is guilty of simony, an excommunicable offense. The same chapter ends with the guilty cardinal being called “Judas!” in front of the entire electorate. Lomeli is anything but an ideal electoral commissioner, but that is what makes him such a compelling choice of protagonist for this kind of novel.

The novel does lose some of its tension once it becomes clear that it is building up to split the election between two candidates. Harris tips the scales to favor his personal beliefs, leaving little room for nuance beyond the dichotomy of liberalism and traditionalism. Tedesco, for instance, emerges merely as an antagonistic figure whose victory Lomeli’s allies are desperate to prevent, the fact of his populism fading against his calls for a time when the Church and its practices were inaccessible to all but the ministers in Rome. A less cut-and-dried final showdown could have amplified the stakes of the election by raising the question of how a pope aligned with Harris’s politics might try to connect with different demographics across the Church. One could argue, however, that some of the liberal-leaning figures in his novel, like Benítez, are meant to evoke real-world leaders with similar politics, such as Pope Francis, and thus to underscore the work’s relevance.

Conclave would likely appeal to readers who like their thrillers to run at a moderate rather than breakneck pace. Harris punctuates each development with weighty reflection, giving the reader space to breathe in what has happened and consider how it impacts Lomeli’s quest to renew his faith. If the reception of Conclave’s recent film adaptation is any indication, the novel might also appeal to readers who like seeing the theatrics of personal drama injected into the cold, impersonal backdrop of age-old institutions. This is Harris’s specialty after all; he took a similar approach to the office of the British prime minister in his 2007 novel, The Ghost.