Conclave author says papal election process is akin to The Traitors

Robert Harris, the author of the novel that inspired the 2024 film Conclave, has said that the process to elect a new pope is the closest thing to a real-life version of the deception game show The Traitors.

The death of Pope Francis at the age of 88 has drawn renewed attention to the Oscar-nominated film Conclave, which was set within the cloistered world of the Vatican. It follows the days after the death of the Pope, with cardinals (under the age of 80) gathering in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel for a process to choose the next Pontiff, while the public wait outside for a decision.

In Edward Berger’s adaptation of Harris’s 2016 novel, the election of a new Pope is depicted as a gossipy affair, full of infighting and political manoeuvring by cardinals jostling for power and leverage over their rivals.

Ahead of the conclave process to elect Pope Francis’s successor on 7 May, Harris has said that the process of deal-making, secrecy and private discussions has a striking resemblance to the hit BBC game show The Traitors.

The programme sees contestants picked as Traitors, who must mislead the rest of the contestants in order to survive and kill, and Faithfuls, who must catch and banish. The result sees participants splinter into different factions and grow suspicious of everyone around them.

“[It’s] the nearest analogy I can come to. Suddenly everyone swings to one person – you can’t see why, particularly, but it happens,” Harris told the BBC of the similarities.

“And in a funny way, a similar dynamic does operate in a conclave, which is why often it produces a surprise.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Harris suggested that political parties electing a new leader could learn from the conclave process.

“To lock the door and say you’re not going to come out until you’ve come up with a result concentrates the mind – and if you look back, the popes have been pretty good.

“I didn’t come away from researching the novel thinking this is a terrible idea [and that] I must write a novel to expose how awful it is. In a way, the novel shows a conclave working.”

In the pre-conclave process, cardinals – played by the likes of Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, and John Lithgow in the film – gather to elect Pope Francis’s successor, and engage in a discreet dance of dinner parties, coffee meet-ups, and private conversations, all aimed at discerning who possesses the qualities to lead the Catholic Church.

During the voting process, which takes place in the Sistine chapel, cardinals will write down the name of their vote for the next Pope, and then place those votes in a sealed container. Once the votes have been totalled, an official will read them aloud.

If a two-thirds majority is not reached, they will be burned with an additive that produces black smoke that will leave the conclave chimney. It is only when a decision has been reached that the additive will not be used, and the smoke will burn white to announce that a new Pope has been selected.