Anyone who has experienced the trauma of rape, whether in an institution or at home, is in deep need of our prayers and support. As Catholics, our beliefs are grounded in truth rather than personal preferences or societal trends. Many of our priests (though certainly not all) align more with the Church’s teachings and policies than individual personalities or public opinion. For instance, the Church teaches that marriage is a sacred union between a man and a woman and that abortion is a grave evil—both of which stand in stark contrast to ideologies often promoted by left-leaning movements in America. While it's true that leaders—whether priests, doctors, or politicians—can fail us at times, we are called to pray for their conversion and guidance, trusting in God's grace to bring healing and renewal.
I second everything you commented here. What is sad though is that it seems that so many comments I see on articles have nothing to do with the article at hand. It's so frequent that I am finding just a rush of emotions and feelings that are justified, but wrongly placed. If the article was about abuse and rape, yes, comment away, but this article had nothing at all to do with those topics. I wish people would seek help to heal from proper sources, the Internet may do more harm for those hurting, and commenting on irrelevant articles is not going to help the healing process. It just helps perpetuate more and more anger, and the healing isn't happening. It's misdirected. I recently wrote an article on this exact issue, will be coming soon to Missio Dei.
Also, what is frustrating for me is that I was abused in the convent, actually two different convents, and people commenting are absolutely clueless to that truth because they have never read any of my articles on the topic, yet feel it appropriate to comment to me as if I do not know abuse. This article again had nothing to do with abuse. The article was all and all about how a female priesthood is not possible because an all male priesthood is Divine Revelation. Do people think if women were priests there would not be abuse? Maybe people should talk with the numerous women who were abused by nuns before they make comments. Women can be abusers too.
its PURELY about dont support the movie conclave??? and the main reasaon being its a bad look for the church??? yet the church does that on their own, with the scandals they make. ie abuse and why that came up. how bad is your reading comprehension? sorry the church messed your mental up that bad
Nuns, who raised me in catholic schools, were child abusers in their treatment of children. Not all, but some. in a child's mind, experiencing that was so demeaning. It has lasted all my life. I was a religious child but the pedestal I put Jesus and Mary on was taken apart as I grew. Also, no one knew. There was no kindness towards children, who under achieved. In the present time children can be recognized As ADHD performers and there was no help. I remember it now as a horror...i wanted to do well as the other children around me, especially girls, but I couldn't. Puberty brought rebellion and a kind of of giving up. Bad behaviors. But eventually I got through and achieved finally my Bachelors degree and somewhat success in my careers. I am 73 now...the old memories flow back in, and I live it again. I have been blessed with a son who has survived the scourge of modern times...opioids...all of his young high-school friends are deceased because of that. But my son is a working man with a wife and 3 children. Baptized and in process of receiving instruction via CCD. But, they are not like I was. Not passionate regarding faith. It is a sign of our times...electronics are their god. Unstoppable, especially in our culture. So, at this far end of my life I pray that God will will forgive my sins and focus on the fights I have fought and won with a difficult child but who none the less survived and thrived because of the love his parents have for him. He returned it. It was so hard, we were blessed at last and I thank the lord for that.
No, what is frustrating is people like you who want to “preserve how Catholicism is portrayed” but NEVER speak out on the hundreds if not thousands of years of sexual abuse, particularly against children, that continues daily today. Your “prayers” don’t do anything to protect the children in yall congregations across the globe from being raped by priests.
You may not like it but you bringing up how Catholicism is being viewed in loved all their crimes they continue to cover up. The Catholic Church became a type of government once the Roman Empire collapsed. That amount of power has seemingly attracted more and more messed up, criminal people yall love to worship and protect. What is trusting to everyone else is the denial of the evils of the Catholic Church
There are ministers of all denominations who commit sexual abuse. There are doctors, teachers, lawyers, caregivers, actors, singers, etc. who commit sexual abuse and other atrocities. Why is the Catholic church always attacked when the whole world is filled with evil and they are hardly the only institution committing crimes? I was taught Jesus is not responsible for evil acts, but he is there to help us get through them. Those who do not follow God are those who commit evil acts. This is about the movie, not the sexual abuse that has happened. We do need to pray. Pray for those who were victims of abuse. Pray that God will be there for us when we need him. Pray for our world.
And you will find many thousands of priests that have raped and molested
and unlike doctors,
Teachers, Coaches and other religions ministers, the catholic church spent decades hiding all their raping priests. Watch spotlight the movie from the excellent reporting from the boston globe who uncovered and exposed all the raping and moving priests around, bishops hiding it and not reporting to police in fact they were complicit in allowing a pedophile priests to move to another parish whee they could rape snd molest more kids across the country.
It is despicable
And to this day the church still allows it and hides it in other countries. Not to mention that they try to blame it all on gays saying oh it is just gay priests they are the problem,
when 75% of the rapes and molesting is a priest with a girl.
The church leadership has a lot to answer for still and although I still consider myself catholic I am no longer a mass goer at least not very often. I live my life as close to Jesus’s example and what he taught as I can and that is my form of catholicism. I dont need anything else.
The Catholic Church has a really hard time NOT being political when it took over for the Roman Empire and started governing the region itself, you are right. And being a government or pseudo-government sure does make it easy for your members to get away with or even cover up their crimes and sins!
Let's not forget about how this church made up its owl rules on how sinners could achieve eternal salvation, and how that involved taking Christ/the Holy Spirit out of the equation and putting a mortal, inherently sinful man appointed to the church by other men in charge of the decision!
Exactly. And that is NOT specific to Catholics at all and obviously doesn’t represent all Catholics (not sure why people often assume that when issues of the Church are spoken about). That’s a human flaw- you give a person absolute power or even a significant amount of power, they almost certainly will be corrupt in some way.
That's because the article portrayed the themes of rape/sexual abuse, lying, greed, envy, pride, and abuse of power as "politics" and "blasphemy." It did not directly state what actions were that had been carried out by the corrupted Cardinals in the movie.
Let's not pretend that prostitution and rape has not occurred high up in the Catholic church in recent history, because we all know it has, and it was no small thing. This movie actually downplays the issue, only involving one victim, when the real life references typically have more than that, if not several.
This habit ripples out to the rest of the Catholic church and is such a known part of the culture that people in other denominations, and even those without/Atheists make jokes at your church's expense because of it. It's a problem that you refuse to acknowledge, and instead you choose to shame the victims for speaking out against the church and the individuals who did these things to them.
This article isn't an irrelevant place to discuss the matter, in fact, the topic is right at home here.
The movie did downplay the rape/ moleststion issue. Big time. They could have been a lot more comprehensive and focused on it a lot more and chose not to. Thousands of victims and criminal priests
You don’t think thousands of priests being found guilty of rape and molestation of children in God’s church over decades is a huge outlier problem? And perhaps even worse as an institution after the guilty priests were known to be a problem, bishops didnt report it but rather moved them around to other parishes or hid them away? Never revealing why. Dont pretend that this systematically occurs at hospitals and schools with doctors and teachers. Yes once in a while a doctor or teacher or coach will be charged with these crimes but never has another institution actually kept it hidden and refused to report it to police and instead keep quiet and move the guilty rapist to other places like the catholic church has done thousands of times.
It is evil of the highest form. And the highest catholic church leadership actively participated in it. And priests are still doing it. Do an internet search and every day another priest is being charged. Look at the bishop accountability website and it is easy to see how widespread this has been. Thousands of priests over decades. And it is a world wide problem. Dont sweep it under the rug like oh this happens everywhere.
No, nothing even remotely close happens like it has happend in the catholic church happens anywhere.
It is true that such issues can occur systematically across institutions. However, we know that the devil seeks to attack and bring us down. Rest assured, nothing is being swept under the rug. I encourage you to review the previous comments for clarity. Let us remain steadfast in prayer for the Church and for the repentance of all sinners.
I also encourage you to reach out to organizations like O.U.R. (Operation Underground Railroad). They can provide you with some sobering statistics about trafficking and shed light on where these horrific realities are most prevalent. God Bless and let us stay in constant prayer.
The devil isnt the rapist, the priest who is deliberately manipulating a child and raping a child is the rapist.
Stop it with this oh the devil made me do it bullshit. Its the devil trying to bring us down.
That is such bullshit. The church is bringing itself down with its raping priests and anti gay anti trans anti women agenda. And its overly political rhetoric. That is why people have lost faith in the church and have left it.
The entire Catholic Church is in deep need of prayers. They have in large part lost their way. Yes there are good priests but allowing raping and molesting of thousands of children is not just like the random occasional doctor teacher coach all of whom have always gotten reported to police. Unlike the catholic church who allowed it for decades. The church has really gone astray in many ways and this is still a huge problem and it is worldwide
.... prayers dont take away the wrong they did??? yet prayers are what got them in the position they molested KIDS if adults werent bad enough. religion clouds minds. whats worse it even clouds the minds of people whop DIDNT commit the sin, allowing htem to live their life because in yourrrr mind they supposedly repented. yet, if kid are involved, there is no forgiveness. peroid. burnt at the stake
The church is a hypocritical, patriarchal organization.
I thought we were supposed to be following the example and teachings of Christ. How have so many Catholics come to embrace a deviant monster like Trump?
This movie shows truth. In every group of humans there are a few very good, a few bad and most in the middle just trying the best they can to do the right thing. Church hierarchy is no different and the honest portrayal is desperately needed.
Yes, priests, bishops, even the Pope have a fallen human nature. No one except Jesus, of course, and the Blessed Virgin Mary are sinless. I agree with you on that point. I did not speak of that in the article, I never said that the Church hierarchy is perfect. Trump was also never mentioned in the article, not sure what that has to do with the topic of female ordination and Divine Revelation. Trump isn't even Catholic.
Yes. You’re correct that Trump wasn’t mentioned in the article but I couldn’t help but recognize that the ideology of Trump and many of his followers was portrayed in the movie via one of the “candidates” for pope. Perhaps that was a coincidence? Either way the mindset of that contender was anti everything that Jesus taught and lived. The majority of Catholics in my life including many in my own family are Trump supporters so I struggle with understanding how they reconcile their Christian values with their political beliefs.
I realize that you’re opposed to the movie but since we’re critiquing it, I thought I’d mention the overwhelming support Catholics have given to a figure like Trump as another insight into the workings of the Catholic mind (influenced by the Church).
Well, sure, that candidate represented Trump or at minimum a Republican. Of course, he was characterized in a negative light without any nuance. Of course the good guys, Dems, were willing to do anything in their power to stop him, even choose a compromised candidate that more closely represented their views, in order to stop him. Fortunately, Father Martinez put the bad guy in his place with his impassioned speech that war is bad and everyone saw the error in their ways and did the right thing.
It has a lot to do with the catholic church and its current state. Many bishops support trump and have been outspoken about their support for trump and the republicans and their far right agenda. Trump has visited and met with Cardinal Dolan and the pope. Dolan spoke at trump’s inauguration and Vance is a catholic. So like it or not the church has embedded itself into politics for many years and it has certainly embedded itself into politics in recent years.
No trump isnt catholic, but they support him and act like he is instead of Biden. Why do many bishops support trump verbally in interviews amd verbalize their support of him then? They clearly side with him. Way too many priests and bishops are verbalizing their political support and agenda putting their political agenda before Jesus’s
Message of love kindness and caring snd acceptance of different. They verbalize their political viewpoints of gays, tans, migrants, etc. telling of their displeasure. However Jesus taught the opposite.
And they wonder why so many are leaving the church. Continue to leave or choose to practice their catholicism without going to church or the institution itself.
Okay but sexual abuse of any kind is actually evil and acting like people who do that are the same as regular everyday sinners is reckless behavior at best.
i mean elon went from being a tech finance nerd, to wanting mars, to now being in the white house as an advisor, yeah nothing to worry about at all... he..he..he
And forgetting about Mars, while everyone else so conveniently forgot he was so bent on colonizing Mars in the first place. Almost as if he has bigger and closer plans?
for the last part, would you say most politicians are in the middle? Or that politics tend to attract those that will compromise or even lack morals and love power. I ask because after the Roman Empire fell in 476, the Catholic Church took over because there was no government and society was chaos. That’s how paying the church for indulgences started (so the church could get more money) and why the Vatican set out to have Martin Luther killed since he translated the Bible into vernacular language, no longer allowing the church to lie about what the Bible says.
A church acting as a government entity is..well a government entity..with priests and nuns. Thus, I no longer feel high up people in the Church, especially the Vatican, are actually mostly corrupt. I mean, there was a priest promoted to Cardinal AFTER an article was released he has sexually abused a man when he was a child. That man is now an alcoholic struggling with life whilst his abuses continued to flourish without consequence.
The presence of good priests and nuns doesn’t cancel out the EVIL (abusing a child in any manner is straight evil) that occurs by many, many priests and those with positions of great power.
LOL - I said similar at greater length. The movie actually portrays the Cardinals favorably if reality, not PR, is considered. Most of them seem to be taking their jobs seriously, and the sex molester had a baby with a nun that he acknowledged, that was apparently raised and cared for.
Men raping children is horrifying, horrific and horrendous. An institution raping children is impossible...
Individuals who rape and perform horrendous acts upon others do so for their own will and their own reasons, they do not do so with the blessings or directives of any church of God.
So please explain why priests who are caught sexually abusing children or nuns are just transferred to other churches in other countries to continue abusing children? I would LOVE to know that since an institution abusing children is “iMpOssIbLe”
i mean theyd only lose that power if what they did was wrong, so of course they hide it, but its THEM covering it up. theres literally no way around the implications beside what a brainwashed mind can connect
They can do whatever they want with the blessings of any church of God, because the church isn't God. The church is just humans, Doug.
Literally in the movie one of the Cardinals used the excuse "because he told me to," which could have equally referred to God as it could have referred to the late Pope. People have been using God as an excuse to do horrible and unspeakable things for thousands of years. The Crusades was entirely based on the lame excuse of "but God told me to!!!"
when an individual does it sure you're right, but when the institution finds out, doesn't turn them in, and sends them to another church in another state or province of the world to continue what they did. which is ALL they ever do, where do you get off saying that? its an institutional problem outright at that point, and its been proven and shown time after time pope after pope
You’re correct. But the church sees itself as the highest power (hubris) so wants to make all the decisions. Why they make the decisions they make is another matter. They may not want people to realize how prevalent the behavior is.
I haven't seen the movie but I read the book and it was very moving. In the end, the new Pope is found to be intersexed; born that way. It was the will of god. God is infallible and doesn't make mistakes. It is flawed men that made rules excluding women from the Catholic Church hierarchy, not god.
This was the take from Bishop Barron on the movie that he shared via X:
“Just saw “Conclave.” If you are interested in a film about the Catholic Church that could have been written by the editorial board of the New York Times, this is your movie. The hierarchy of the Church is a hotbed of ambition, corruption and desperate egotism, Conservatives are xenophobic extremists and the liberals are self-important schemers. None can escape this irredeemable situation. The only way forward is the embrace of the progressive buzz words of diversity, inclusion, indifference to doctrine, and the ultimate solution is a virtue signaling Cardinal who takes the Papal name of Innocent and who is a biological female. Since it checks practically every woke box, I’m sure it will win a boatload of awards, but my advice is to run away from it as fast as you can.”
As someone who grew up in the church and is a Christian as an adult and slowly learned how hateful the popular doctrine of these churches is, and how factually wrong they often are, I found this movie to be surprisingly quite balanced, politically. Even the liberal main character had a dismayed reaction to finding out his new Pope was intersex.
You spend so much time looking for zebras that you miss God whispering in your ear.
I saw it last night and from what I gathered the man who was elected was a hermaphadite. He had both female and male organs. Isn’t that what Angels are supposed to be?No sex or both?
Angels are a distinct species from humans. While they may occasionally appear in human form, they are purely spiritual beings and do not possess human sex or gender. That said, we must remember that we are not electing an angel to lead the Church but a human pope—someone who shares in our human nature, complete with its strengths, weaknesses, and need for grace.
I mean yes on the angels, at least from some sources.
"Hermaphrodite" is not a term that's in use anymore and is actually considered offensive (because it has been used a lot as a slur). "Intersex" is more appropriate.
The character in the movie does have some female organs, and is intersex, and there are multiple different intersex types he could have if they were a real person. However, just because he has a uterus and ovaries doesn't mean they function or that there would be any other part we call "female." He may not even have XX chromosomes if he were a real person.
I like Barron but he has really interjected his own fears and prejudices. Disagree with his take. First of all- the conflicts between the more conservative and the more liberal cardinals are very realistic. That’s humanity. Sorry Bishop Barron. In many instances it IS political and we can see the conflicts today with trivial comments like “ woke Hollywood,” etc. look deeper. Also, the cardinal who became pope was not a female. To be blunt- the cardinal had a penis and a uterus. That happens. Please look deeper
I find it so sad, especially after writing this article, how many Catholics simply do not embrace the truth of what the Church actually teaches. Too many Catholics are Catholics in name only. Catholicism is all or nothing. I'm tired of Cafeteria Catholics. It's so disheartening.
I haven’t read all the posts here but feel moved to respond respectfully to this one. Personally I find sticking to dogma that fails people disheartening. Surely our yardstick should be the way Jesus lived his life? I am Catholic and I loved the takeaway message of this film. The church - which is all its people - is: what comes next. I appreciate everyone has a right to their opinion and this is mine. If this makes me a cafeteria Catholic I’m
It's a well-done and thoughtful movie. Like any religious organization, the Catholic church changes and evolves over time — priests were originally allowed to marry, and now they're not. What is considered correct or right at any given moment is not a permanent state. The Catholic church is not what it once was, and it won't be the same in the future, either. If it doesn't accept change it will continue to lose followers.
An all-male priesthood is Divine Revelation, it CANNOT change. This is NOT an opinion, it is the truth. The Church doesn't have the authority to change it. You can disagree with it, but it's still the truth.
I believe the previous comment referenced priests being allowed to marry.
That being said you can’t prove anything is “divine revelation”. Everything is interpretation and if the interpretation doesn’t exist for the good of all humanity and for the purpose of teaching love and forgiveness it’s nothing. The church should be more concerned with following Christ’s example than in preserving domination of one gender in its hierarchy.
Hey Christina the 16th century just called and they want their Counter-Reformation indulgences back and are really pissed that your bible isn't written in Latin.
because u would like live in a fairy tale that catholicism worked well? that its not a cult? doesn't change it is.. or for that matter its one of the highest rated movies of the entire year, and that its PG and clean which is even wilder. almost certainly cleaner than the entire catholic churchs history
I just saw movie last night. I had mixed feelings. I'm actually Jewish and came away wondering what a Catholic person would think of the movie, so I came to this site. Now I'm sure, like anything else, not every person of the same religious faith feels the same way, but I can't see that a devout Catholic would have cared for this movie. And yes, it may be a highly rated movie, and had a great cast and was well acted, but bear in mind that by and large, people that go to movies and Hollywood in general cater to and lean towards a more liberal anti-religious audience, so the fact that this film was enjoyed by so many, may be due to the fact that it catered to and shared the beliefs of those people.
There’s no disrespect shown to God at all and the individuals portrayed are humans….not divine. They are only as holy as they are moral and that’s true for all humans.
You might want to consider asking your neighborhood priest before you go to the movies next time. Or before you read a book, or issue an opinion, or, well , anything. Just avoid making any decision by yourself. There! Fixed it for you!
True, but why waste time on yet another anti-Catholic film that has a clear agenda? The director made it clear in his interview that there was an agenda, and it wasn't in favor of the Catholic Church.
Your obsession over “raped kids” borders on projection. Between 1950 and 2002, accusations of child sexual abuse were made against 4,392 priests, which was about 4% of all Catholic priests serving during that period. Fun fact: more children have been sexually abused by public school teachers than by priests. Nearly 350 K-12 teachers were arrested for sex crimes involving children in 2022 alone. Research has suggested that the scale of sexual abuse in public schools might be nearly 100 times greater than that of the Catholic Church, based on the Department of Education's research.
Take your buzzwords and go cry in a corner. Your response reads like a 5th grade diary after being dumped on the bus. Low IQ, resentful and just sad.
The crimes committed by some members of the Church, especially against children, are horrifying and unacceptable, and the Church has taken significant steps to address these failures, including implementing stricter safeguards and accountability measures. While these sins are a betrayal of the Church's mission, they do not negate her foundation as the Body of Christ, the immense good she has brought to the world in areas like education, healthcare, and the defense of human dignity, or her central truth: the Eucharist, the actual Body of Christ, which remains the source of her life and mission. You can choose to focus on those in the Church who have fallen into sin, or you can look to the saints and those alive today who are tirelessly helping, healing, and saving souls for Christ, despite the darkness in the world.
This is sickening. The way people put a man made entity over actual children being tortured (yes raping a child is torture). There are priest found to be abusers DAILY, like the other said. And what safe guards? Not investigating until everyone involved is dead? Transferring a priest found to be abusing children to another Church in a different country? Promoting those to higher positions in the Church despite an article written by a man who was abused by said priest as a child? I’d actually love to know.
I completely agree that the abuse of children is a horrifying evil and that the pain caused by these acts, especially by those in positions of trust, is immeasurable. There is no excuse for it, and as a Catholic, I believe that these crimes cry out for justice both on earth and before God.
However, I think it’s also important to separate the failures of individuals and the Church’s institutional responses in the past from what is being done now to ensure accountability and to protect children. The Church has made significant progress in implementing safe environment policies, including zero-tolerance measures, mandatory reporting to civil authorities, and strict oversight of clergy etc. Many dioceses have independent review boards to address allegations, and training programs to prevent abuse are now mandatory for clergy, employees, and volunteers. Are you familiar with? Have you reached out to your local diocese to show concern and discuss this?
Have mistakes been made in the past? Without a doubt. Some were tragic and inexcusable, and we should never shy away from acknowledging that. But to claim that abuse is being systematically ignored (DAILY) or covered up today is not accurate. Abuse exists in every institution—schools, families, sports organizations—but the Church has become one of the most scrutinized and accountable entities in this regard. Are you crying for justice in the areas outside of the Church as well?
For those of us who are Catholic, it’s not about putting the Church as an institution over the victims—it’s about ensuring that both justice is done for survivors and that the faith we hold so dear is lived out authentically. We need to acknowledge past sins, fight for the protection of children, and rebuild trust through transparency and reform.
I’m happy to provide more details about the safeguards in place today if you’d like to discuss this further. Thank you for your message, and I hope we can win this demonic battle. God Bless
The RC Church is bigoted, medieval organization that has supported every fascist party in history, including the one currently emerging in the US (look at the links to Project 2025). It preaches intolerance and hatred, and supports pretty much any bigotry and prejudice you can think of. We don't need the criminality and cover-ups to condemn it, although they reveal a lot about its nature.
1. I would separate the two if it weren’t still such an issue. I would love to know how effective they really are, but getting any data on this issue is still quite difficult. You can pretend the Catholic Church has changed, but it hasn’t. The reality is, every institutions have policies and every institution breaks them or manipulates them. The Catholic Church is no different. As for the “safe environment”: Safe environment education sessions for students and parents at diocesan-sponsored educational programs….Diocesan-sponsored. Aaah yes, because letting the institution create the lessons on how to look out for abuse when they’re the ones being investigated for abuse regularly will really help. The unfortunate truth is majority of child abusers have never been convicted. Same is true in and outside the Church. When that’s the case and these policies are put in place by said institution, those predators just learn how to avoid being caught today. Also, what do those lessons entail given the Church is teaching them. The no tolerance policy was literally just created in the early 2000s and based on the number of cases still being reported, still don’t think it’s doing much. Again, this policy is enforced by the people being accused.
2. Yes, daily. Let’s take the French Catholic Church that discovered 330,000 victims of child SA over 70 years. That’s about 13 children being abused DAILY. The fact you down play the daily incidence of sexual abuse because it makes you too uncomfortable to face the truth that there is a real possibility a religious leader or leaders of your church are abusing children daily, but it is. Ah, the old “abuse happens everywhere but yall just pick on us.” What is that? Am I suppose to care less about the children being abused in the Catholic Church? You don’t think it’s the volume of reports that miiiiiight make the Catholic Church a spot light only second to Hollywood?
And don’t you ever disrespect someone like that and have the nerve to claim holiness. I speak up against child sexual abuse. PERIOD. I’ve stop listening to artists (still do as they get accused), attend rallies, send letters to congress, actually speak with victims. And I don’t get defensive if I have to speak up against an institution of which I’m apart.
How bout you Jonathon? What do YOU do to ensure your church is free of abuse besides praying is away pretending is doesn’t exist?
Well I did not think it was a very good movie, so I agree with him. But I am sure he is not worried by its portrayal of the RC Church; he probably agrees with it.
I feel that the portrayal of the Catholic Church in this movie is a lot more positive than I expected. There are men who take their job seriously and want to follow Christ. More than can be said for the real life rapists in long dresses and their bureaucratic apologists in the real world
I hope so. The RC Church is bigoted, medieval organization that has supported every fascist party in history, including the one currently emerging in the US (look at the links to Project 2025). It preaches intolerance and hatred, and supports pretty much any bigotry and prejudice you can think of. We don't need the criminality and cover-ups to condemn it, although they reveal a lot about its nature.
This is not the RC Church way. The RC Church way is to ban the book (or in this case movie) and burn all the copies (and if possible the author/director as well).
I have not watched a Hollywood movie in a theatre for several years, it looks like it will be a few more years before I will be seeing another one. Thank you for your report on this disgusting movie.
I find it absolutely interesting and fascinating, hence why I will be publishing an article on this topic soon, that the majority of the comments have absolutely nothing to do with the article. I guess since I haven't written an article before that had so many commenters, that I never noticed such a pattern. Honestly, I find it intriguing, and I almost wonder if anyone has conducted a study to see if majority of comments on a number of Catholic articles these days have comments that are irrelevant to the article and simply is just filled with emotions and feelings of anger, bitterness, and outright hostility for the Catholic Church. I would imagine most authors of Catholic articles are hopeful that there will be intelligent discussion about the topics of their article that speak of the Truth of our Catholic faith, but that just hardly ever seems to be the case. I guess this is just cancel culture, "I do not like what you wrote so therefore I am going to scream into the abyss of the Internet about anything I want expressing ill will and outright hate towards the Church because you should not have been allowed to write anything that differs from my opinion even if my opinion is against the TRUTH." It's our new reality as Catholic writers. We need to pray hard for those who have much hate in their heart for Christ and the Truth. One cannot accept Christ and hate the Church for Christ and the Church are one. Christ is the Head of the Church, which is the Mystical Body of Christ. There can be no dialogue with hate.
from your article: “ The portrayal of the clergy and the Church’s hierarchy in “Conclave” is deeply troubling. The film focuses on scandals and power struggles, perpetuating negative stereotypes about Church leaders.”
We are responding to this. It’s so funny anytime we speak up against the troubling aspects of Catholic leaders and how they have, in fact, embraced scandal and are seemingly obsessed with power. You just don’t like our discussion topics. I’d love to have intellectual conversations about the history of the Catholic Church, particularly when it took over power after the Roman Empire fell, but it seems any criticism of the Catholic Church triggers you. Thus, you’re in your own way of having an intellectually stimulating conversation that focuses on facts.
funny i cant find your article so many days later. also funny how you KEEP saying none of these comments are relevant, while in another comment you claim the article to be about women priests, when the title has NOTHING to do with that. in fact thats simply an attempt to spoil the movie when the actual article you reference keeps that OUT
youre just SOOOOO salty your husband doesnt touch you right because his religion taught him to dream about your son and you dont wanna think about it
Thank you for this review. Media is a powerful tool in influencing people. May we all be guided as we live amidst a world that seems to grow more secular each day.
Movies that contribute to distorting the truth of the Church of Jesus Christ and our Catholic Faith should never be supported. It is the work of evil and contributes nothing but corruption.
But the church and its clergy playing politics constantly and siding with despicable political
Candidates and their own current in fighting, with clergy constantly bashing the current pope and making their opinions anout not liking the current pope vocal in the media, oh and how could we forget priests molesting and raping kids is not Corrupt or worth talking about and examining and being critical Of
Ms. Sorrentino, thank you for your review, although having just watched Conclave I came to a different conclusion than you about its message and about any commentary related to the Catholic Church. If you believe that there is no inhumanity or use of power in the Catholic Church you don't know your history. At many points in history, Catholic Popes were power brokers in European politics. Many had mistresses and several had children with women out of wedlock. These are not conjectures, they are truths. That is not to mention the abuses that members of the clergy have imparted on the community, in both small and large ways. The movie focuses on the presence of these human "frailties" within the church and within the scope of the Conclave. But, even in identifying those human faults, the movie is cautionary rather than condemning. One of the most emotional parts of the movie is to hear the cardinal from Africa bemoan how a prior indiscretion (impregnating a nun) makes him ineligible for becoming Pope. It doesn't excommunicate him from the Conclave. Similarly, the human frailties of others, including Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) result in their nonelection as Pope. In the end, it is the hand of God that directs the Conclave to select the least among them as Pope. In my mind, it is this divine intervention that underscores the legitimacy of the Conclave and a respect for the Catholic Church. People like to throw around the word "woke" as signaling the deterioration of our institutions. Perhaps the inclusion of an intersex character is a modern trope, but it also works and aligns with the values of the Catholic Church. This character had no designs on the papacy. Cardinal Benitez struggled with his own intersex condition, ultimately choosing to accept it rather than destroy it. That the hand of God would select an intersex Pope is confusing and feels threatening, however it is consistent with the mysteries of the Church. After all, who would have thought that God would take the form of an infant and enter the world through a virgin birth? I found nothing in this movie to be anti-Catholic. I thought it focused on humility, mystery, and the challenges we face in our faith. All of these are truly and deeply defining experiences of Catholics. If they are not, then we haven't attempted to understand ourselves or our faiths in mature ways.
I think at this point we should all be a little suspicious of Hollywood movies, and agendas. Thanks for writing about this "woke" blasphemous film.
Is it more blasphemous than priests raping kids? Or priests bishops politically aligning with bigots, and sexual assaulters?
Anyone who has experienced the trauma of rape, whether in an institution or at home, is in deep need of our prayers and support. As Catholics, our beliefs are grounded in truth rather than personal preferences or societal trends. Many of our priests (though certainly not all) align more with the Church’s teachings and policies than individual personalities or public opinion. For instance, the Church teaches that marriage is a sacred union between a man and a woman and that abortion is a grave evil—both of which stand in stark contrast to ideologies often promoted by left-leaning movements in America. While it's true that leaders—whether priests, doctors, or politicians—can fail us at times, we are called to pray for their conversion and guidance, trusting in God's grace to bring healing and renewal.
I second everything you commented here. What is sad though is that it seems that so many comments I see on articles have nothing to do with the article at hand. It's so frequent that I am finding just a rush of emotions and feelings that are justified, but wrongly placed. If the article was about abuse and rape, yes, comment away, but this article had nothing at all to do with those topics. I wish people would seek help to heal from proper sources, the Internet may do more harm for those hurting, and commenting on irrelevant articles is not going to help the healing process. It just helps perpetuate more and more anger, and the healing isn't happening. It's misdirected. I recently wrote an article on this exact issue, will be coming soon to Missio Dei.
Also, what is frustrating for me is that I was abused in the convent, actually two different convents, and people commenting are absolutely clueless to that truth because they have never read any of my articles on the topic, yet feel it appropriate to comment to me as if I do not know abuse. This article again had nothing to do with abuse. The article was all and all about how a female priesthood is not possible because an all male priesthood is Divine Revelation. Do people think if women were priests there would not be abuse? Maybe people should talk with the numerous women who were abused by nuns before they make comments. Women can be abusers too.
the article had NOTHING at ALL about that???????
its PURELY about dont support the movie conclave??? and the main reasaon being its a bad look for the church??? yet the church does that on their own, with the scandals they make. ie abuse and why that came up. how bad is your reading comprehension? sorry the church messed your mental up that bad
Nuns, who raised me in catholic schools, were child abusers in their treatment of children. Not all, but some. in a child's mind, experiencing that was so demeaning. It has lasted all my life. I was a religious child but the pedestal I put Jesus and Mary on was taken apart as I grew. Also, no one knew. There was no kindness towards children, who under achieved. In the present time children can be recognized As ADHD performers and there was no help. I remember it now as a horror...i wanted to do well as the other children around me, especially girls, but I couldn't. Puberty brought rebellion and a kind of of giving up. Bad behaviors. But eventually I got through and achieved finally my Bachelors degree and somewhat success in my careers. I am 73 now...the old memories flow back in, and I live it again. I have been blessed with a son who has survived the scourge of modern times...opioids...all of his young high-school friends are deceased because of that. But my son is a working man with a wife and 3 children. Baptized and in process of receiving instruction via CCD. But, they are not like I was. Not passionate regarding faith. It is a sign of our times...electronics are their god. Unstoppable, especially in our culture. So, at this far end of my life I pray that God will will forgive my sins and focus on the fights I have fought and won with a difficult child but who none the less survived and thrived because of the love his parents have for him. He returned it. It was so hard, we were blessed at last and I thank the lord for that.
No, what is frustrating is people like you who want to “preserve how Catholicism is portrayed” but NEVER speak out on the hundreds if not thousands of years of sexual abuse, particularly against children, that continues daily today. Your “prayers” don’t do anything to protect the children in yall congregations across the globe from being raped by priests.
You may not like it but you bringing up how Catholicism is being viewed in loved all their crimes they continue to cover up. The Catholic Church became a type of government once the Roman Empire collapsed. That amount of power has seemingly attracted more and more messed up, criminal people yall love to worship and protect. What is trusting to everyone else is the denial of the evils of the Catholic Church
There are ministers of all denominations who commit sexual abuse. There are doctors, teachers, lawyers, caregivers, actors, singers, etc. who commit sexual abuse and other atrocities. Why is the Catholic church always attacked when the whole world is filled with evil and they are hardly the only institution committing crimes? I was taught Jesus is not responsible for evil acts, but he is there to help us get through them. Those who do not follow God are those who commit evil acts. This is about the movie, not the sexual abuse that has happened. We do need to pray. Pray for those who were victims of abuse. Pray that God will be there for us when we need him. Pray for our world.
Look up the bishops accountability website
And you will find many thousands of priests that have raped and molested
and unlike doctors,
Teachers, Coaches and other religions ministers, the catholic church spent decades hiding all their raping priests. Watch spotlight the movie from the excellent reporting from the boston globe who uncovered and exposed all the raping and moving priests around, bishops hiding it and not reporting to police in fact they were complicit in allowing a pedophile priests to move to another parish whee they could rape snd molest more kids across the country.
It is despicable
And to this day the church still allows it and hides it in other countries. Not to mention that they try to blame it all on gays saying oh it is just gay priests they are the problem,
when 75% of the rapes and molesting is a priest with a girl.
The church leadership has a lot to answer for still and although I still consider myself catholic I am no longer a mass goer at least not very often. I live my life as close to Jesus’s example and what he taught as I can and that is my form of catholicism. I dont need anything else.
The Catholic Church has a really hard time NOT being political when it took over for the Roman Empire and started governing the region itself, you are right. And being a government or pseudo-government sure does make it easy for your members to get away with or even cover up their crimes and sins!
Let's not forget about how this church made up its owl rules on how sinners could achieve eternal salvation, and how that involved taking Christ/the Holy Spirit out of the equation and putting a mortal, inherently sinful man appointed to the church by other men in charge of the decision!
Exactly. And that is NOT specific to Catholics at all and obviously doesn’t represent all Catholics (not sure why people often assume that when issues of the Church are spoken about). That’s a human flaw- you give a person absolute power or even a significant amount of power, they almost certainly will be corrupt in some way.
That's because the article portrayed the themes of rape/sexual abuse, lying, greed, envy, pride, and abuse of power as "politics" and "blasphemy." It did not directly state what actions were that had been carried out by the corrupted Cardinals in the movie.
Let's not pretend that prostitution and rape has not occurred high up in the Catholic church in recent history, because we all know it has, and it was no small thing. This movie actually downplays the issue, only involving one victim, when the real life references typically have more than that, if not several.
This habit ripples out to the rest of the Catholic church and is such a known part of the culture that people in other denominations, and even those without/Atheists make jokes at your church's expense because of it. It's a problem that you refuse to acknowledge, and instead you choose to shame the victims for speaking out against the church and the individuals who did these things to them.
This article isn't an irrelevant place to discuss the matter, in fact, the topic is right at home here.
The movie did downplay the rape/ moleststion issue. Big time. They could have been a lot more comprehensive and focused on it a lot more and chose not to. Thousands of victims and criminal priests
You don’t think thousands of priests being found guilty of rape and molestation of children in God’s church over decades is a huge outlier problem? And perhaps even worse as an institution after the guilty priests were known to be a problem, bishops didnt report it but rather moved them around to other parishes or hid them away? Never revealing why. Dont pretend that this systematically occurs at hospitals and schools with doctors and teachers. Yes once in a while a doctor or teacher or coach will be charged with these crimes but never has another institution actually kept it hidden and refused to report it to police and instead keep quiet and move the guilty rapist to other places like the catholic church has done thousands of times.
It is evil of the highest form. And the highest catholic church leadership actively participated in it. And priests are still doing it. Do an internet search and every day another priest is being charged. Look at the bishop accountability website and it is easy to see how widespread this has been. Thousands of priests over decades. And it is a world wide problem. Dont sweep it under the rug like oh this happens everywhere.
No, nothing even remotely close happens like it has happend in the catholic church happens anywhere.
It is true that such issues can occur systematically across institutions. However, we know that the devil seeks to attack and bring us down. Rest assured, nothing is being swept under the rug. I encourage you to review the previous comments for clarity. Let us remain steadfast in prayer for the Church and for the repentance of all sinners.
I also encourage you to reach out to organizations like O.U.R. (Operation Underground Railroad). They can provide you with some sobering statistics about trafficking and shed light on where these horrific realities are most prevalent. God Bless and let us stay in constant prayer.
This whole blame the devil thing is such garbage
The devil isnt the rapist, the priest who is deliberately manipulating a child and raping a child is the rapist.
Stop it with this oh the devil made me do it bullshit. Its the devil trying to bring us down.
That is such bullshit. The church is bringing itself down with its raping priests and anti gay anti trans anti women agenda. And its overly political rhetoric. That is why people have lost faith in the church and have left it.
The entire Catholic Church is in deep need of prayers. They have in large part lost their way. Yes there are good priests but allowing raping and molesting of thousands of children is not just like the random occasional doctor teacher coach all of whom have always gotten reported to police. Unlike the catholic church who allowed it for decades. The church has really gone astray in many ways and this is still a huge problem and it is worldwide
.... prayers dont take away the wrong they did??? yet prayers are what got them in the position they molested KIDS if adults werent bad enough. religion clouds minds. whats worse it even clouds the minds of people whop DIDNT commit the sin, allowing htem to live their life because in yourrrr mind they supposedly repented. yet, if kid are involved, there is no forgiveness. peroid. burnt at the stake
Very well said.
I agree.
The church is a hypocritical, patriarchal organization.
I thought we were supposed to be following the example and teachings of Christ. How have so many Catholics come to embrace a deviant monster like Trump?
This movie shows truth. In every group of humans there are a few very good, a few bad and most in the middle just trying the best they can to do the right thing. Church hierarchy is no different and the honest portrayal is desperately needed.
Yes, priests, bishops, even the Pope have a fallen human nature. No one except Jesus, of course, and the Blessed Virgin Mary are sinless. I agree with you on that point. I did not speak of that in the article, I never said that the Church hierarchy is perfect. Trump was also never mentioned in the article, not sure what that has to do with the topic of female ordination and Divine Revelation. Trump isn't even Catholic.
Yes. You’re correct that Trump wasn’t mentioned in the article but I couldn’t help but recognize that the ideology of Trump and many of his followers was portrayed in the movie via one of the “candidates” for pope. Perhaps that was a coincidence? Either way the mindset of that contender was anti everything that Jesus taught and lived. The majority of Catholics in my life including many in my own family are Trump supporters so I struggle with understanding how they reconcile their Christian values with their political beliefs.
I realize that you’re opposed to the movie but since we’re critiquing it, I thought I’d mention the overwhelming support Catholics have given to a figure like Trump as another insight into the workings of the Catholic mind (influenced by the Church).
Well, sure, that candidate represented Trump or at minimum a Republican. Of course, he was characterized in a negative light without any nuance. Of course the good guys, Dems, were willing to do anything in their power to stop him, even choose a compromised candidate that more closely represented their views, in order to stop him. Fortunately, Father Martinez put the bad guy in his place with his impassioned speech that war is bad and everyone saw the error in their ways and did the right thing.
“Even choose a compromised candidate”. Sometimes a compromised candidate is a better choice if the opposition is cruel, arrogant and thoughtless.
Christina, you’re delusional.
It has a lot to do with the catholic church and its current state. Many bishops support trump and have been outspoken about their support for trump and the republicans and their far right agenda. Trump has visited and met with Cardinal Dolan and the pope. Dolan spoke at trump’s inauguration and Vance is a catholic. So like it or not the church has embedded itself into politics for many years and it has certainly embedded itself into politics in recent years.
No trump isnt catholic, but they support him and act like he is instead of Biden. Why do many bishops support trump verbally in interviews amd verbalize their support of him then? They clearly side with him. Way too many priests and bishops are verbalizing their political support and agenda putting their political agenda before Jesus’s
Message of love kindness and caring snd acceptance of different. They verbalize their political viewpoints of gays, tans, migrants, etc. telling of their displeasure. However Jesus taught the opposite.
And they wonder why so many are leaving the church. Continue to leave or choose to practice their catholicism without going to church or the institution itself.
Okay but sexual abuse of any kind is actually evil and acting like people who do that are the same as regular everyday sinners is reckless behavior at best.
Can’t even watch a movie without thinking about Trump. You poor soul.
We all should be thinking about what Trump, Musk and the other billionaire oligarchs who are running our govt signify.
Power corrupts most people. That’s the lesson of the movie and it parallels government. The movie ended well. Let’s hope America does too.
i mean elon went from being a tech finance nerd, to wanting mars, to now being in the white house as an advisor, yeah nothing to worry about at all... he..he..he
And forgetting about Mars, while everyone else so conveniently forgot he was so bent on colonizing Mars in the first place. Almost as if he has bigger and closer plans?
Trump is an evil, cruel, greedy, narcissist, racist anti gay hater. A felon criminal.
A Rapist, a porn star fucking adulterer pos. He is as far from Christian or catholic as anyone can get.
What is your problem nothing to do with the topic are you mentally retarded?
for the last part, would you say most politicians are in the middle? Or that politics tend to attract those that will compromise or even lack morals and love power. I ask because after the Roman Empire fell in 476, the Catholic Church took over because there was no government and society was chaos. That’s how paying the church for indulgences started (so the church could get more money) and why the Vatican set out to have Martin Luther killed since he translated the Bible into vernacular language, no longer allowing the church to lie about what the Bible says.
A church acting as a government entity is..well a government entity..with priests and nuns. Thus, I no longer feel high up people in the Church, especially the Vatican, are actually mostly corrupt. I mean, there was a priest promoted to Cardinal AFTER an article was released he has sexually abused a man when he was a child. That man is now an alcoholic struggling with life whilst his abuses continued to flourish without consequence.
The presence of good priests and nuns doesn’t cancel out the EVIL (abusing a child in any manner is straight evil) that occurs by many, many priests and those with positions of great power.
Thank you 🔥
LOL - I said similar at greater length. The movie actually portrays the Cardinals favorably if reality, not PR, is considered. Most of them seem to be taking their jobs seriously, and the sex molester had a baby with a nun that he acknowledged, that was apparently raised and cared for.
I know - I thought it was fair and portrayed them well. You'd have to be pretty out-there to think this was a bad portrayal.
or simply a practicing Catholic. It doesn’t matter what I think, it’s what the Church teaches.
Men raping children is horrifying, horrific and horrendous. An institution raping children is impossible...
Individuals who rape and perform horrendous acts upon others do so for their own will and their own reasons, they do not do so with the blessings or directives of any church of God.
So please explain why priests who are caught sexually abusing children or nuns are just transferred to other churches in other countries to continue abusing children? I would LOVE to know that since an institution abusing children is “iMpOssIbLe”
They do it to protect the Church’s patriarchal power
which DOES make them involved and EQUALLY guilty
i mean theyd only lose that power if what they did was wrong, so of course they hide it, but its THEM covering it up. theres literally no way around the implications beside what a brainwashed mind can connect
They can do whatever they want with the blessings of any church of God, because the church isn't God. The church is just humans, Doug.
Literally in the movie one of the Cardinals used the excuse "because he told me to," which could have equally referred to God as it could have referred to the late Pope. People have been using God as an excuse to do horrible and unspeakable things for thousands of years. The Crusades was entirely based on the lame excuse of "but God told me to!!!"
Exactly. God doesn’t tell anyone to do these horrific things. That’s all on us.
Also may I point you to institutions such as the Church of Scientology and The Church of Latter Day Saints?
when an individual does it sure you're right, but when the institution finds out, doesn't turn them in, and sends them to another church in another state or province of the world to continue what they did. which is ALL they ever do, where do you get off saying that? its an institutional problem outright at that point, and its been proven and shown time after time pope after pope
You’re correct. But the church sees itself as the highest power (hubris) so wants to make all the decisions. Why they make the decisions they make is another matter. They may not want people to realize how prevalent the behavior is.
TERRIBLE movie
I haven't seen the movie but I read the book and it was very moving. In the end, the new Pope is found to be intersexed; born that way. It was the will of god. God is infallible and doesn't make mistakes. It is flawed men that made rules excluding women from the Catholic Church hierarchy, not god.
You are an idiot this a Hollywood film and God would never do this man has done this through drug use on the Mothers part
Your opinion
As should we be suspicious of our religious leaders, who we know to have done and covered up horrible things. It’s just logic.
Great and timely review. Thanks.
This was the take from Bishop Barron on the movie that he shared via X:
“Just saw “Conclave.” If you are interested in a film about the Catholic Church that could have been written by the editorial board of the New York Times, this is your movie. The hierarchy of the Church is a hotbed of ambition, corruption and desperate egotism, Conservatives are xenophobic extremists and the liberals are self-important schemers. None can escape this irredeemable situation. The only way forward is the embrace of the progressive buzz words of diversity, inclusion, indifference to doctrine, and the ultimate solution is a virtue signaling Cardinal who takes the Papal name of Innocent and who is a biological female. Since it checks practically every woke box, I’m sure it will win a boatload of awards, but my advice is to run away from it as fast as you can.”
As someone who grew up in the church and is a Christian as an adult and slowly learned how hateful the popular doctrine of these churches is, and how factually wrong they often are, I found this movie to be surprisingly quite balanced, politically. Even the liberal main character had a dismayed reaction to finding out his new Pope was intersex.
You spend so much time looking for zebras that you miss God whispering in your ear.
Exactly
I saw it last night and from what I gathered the man who was elected was a hermaphadite. He had both female and male organs. Isn’t that what Angels are supposed to be?No sex or both?
Angels are a distinct species from humans. While they may occasionally appear in human form, they are purely spiritual beings and do not possess human sex or gender. That said, we must remember that we are not electing an angel to lead the Church but a human pope—someone who shares in our human nature, complete with its strengths, weaknesses, and need for grace.
Intersexed people actually exist and have a greater chance of becoming pope than angels, for that reason, and consequently, I agree with you.
I mean yes on the angels, at least from some sources.
"Hermaphrodite" is not a term that's in use anymore and is actually considered offensive (because it has been used a lot as a slur). "Intersex" is more appropriate.
The character in the movie does have some female organs, and is intersex, and there are multiple different intersex types he could have if they were a real person. However, just because he has a uterus and ovaries doesn't mean they function or that there would be any other part we call "female." He may not even have XX chromosomes if he were a real person.
I like Barron but he has really interjected his own fears and prejudices. Disagree with his take. First of all- the conflicts between the more conservative and the more liberal cardinals are very realistic. That’s humanity. Sorry Bishop Barron. In many instances it IS political and we can see the conflicts today with trivial comments like “ woke Hollywood,” etc. look deeper. Also, the cardinal who became pope was not a female. To be blunt- the cardinal had a penis and a uterus. That happens. Please look deeper
I find it so sad, especially after writing this article, how many Catholics simply do not embrace the truth of what the Church actually teaches. Too many Catholics are Catholics in name only. Catholicism is all or nothing. I'm tired of Cafeteria Catholics. It's so disheartening.
So Christina, what does it teach?
I believe most of the values Pope Francis embraces are truly Christian yet so many Catholics don’t like him. Why is that?
I haven’t read all the posts here but feel moved to respond respectfully to this one. Personally I find sticking to dogma that fails people disheartening. Surely our yardstick should be the way Jesus lived his life? I am Catholic and I loved the takeaway message of this film. The church - which is all its people - is: what comes next. I appreciate everyone has a right to their opinion and this is mine. If this makes me a cafeteria Catholic I’m
comfortable with that.
You’re very young. It takes time to grow in the faith
You knew they wouldn't, you said as much. This isn't a surprise.
If you are actually right, let God handle it. You tried. If you're not, I hope he helps you see that.
It's a well-done and thoughtful movie. Like any religious organization, the Catholic church changes and evolves over time — priests were originally allowed to marry, and now they're not. What is considered correct or right at any given moment is not a permanent state. The Catholic church is not what it once was, and it won't be the same in the future, either. If it doesn't accept change it will continue to lose followers.
An all-male priesthood is Divine Revelation, it CANNOT change. This is NOT an opinion, it is the truth. The Church doesn't have the authority to change it. You can disagree with it, but it's still the truth.
Divine revelation? From a man?
Lol
That is hilarious and preposterous
The catholic church chooses to be male dominant and sexist.
There is nothing divine about oppression and bigotry not raping kids.
I believe the previous comment referenced priests being allowed to marry.
That being said you can’t prove anything is “divine revelation”. Everything is interpretation and if the interpretation doesn’t exist for the good of all humanity and for the purpose of teaching love and forgiveness it’s nothing. The church should be more concerned with following Christ’s example than in preserving domination of one gender in its hierarchy.
Ridiculous. Everything on earth can change
Hey Christina the 16th century just called and they want their Counter-Reformation indulgences back and are really pissed that your bible isn't written in Latin.
Thank you for this article! My husband and I will not be going to see it! +JMJ+
It's ok to see it and judge for yourself. Don't let others make up your mind for you. You might find it interesting.
because u would like live in a fairy tale that catholicism worked well? that its not a cult? doesn't change it is.. or for that matter its one of the highest rated movies of the entire year, and that its PG and clean which is even wilder. almost certainly cleaner than the entire catholic churchs history
I just saw movie last night. I had mixed feelings. I'm actually Jewish and came away wondering what a Catholic person would think of the movie, so I came to this site. Now I'm sure, like anything else, not every person of the same religious faith feels the same way, but I can't see that a devout Catholic would have cared for this movie. And yes, it may be a highly rated movie, and had a great cast and was well acted, but bear in mind that by and large, people that go to movies and Hollywood in general cater to and lean towards a more liberal anti-religious audience, so the fact that this film was enjoyed by so many, may be due to the fact that it catered to and shared the beliefs of those people.
It is a piece of crap and never should have been made
Not very good as movie go, I agree. The central performance is impressive though.
I am not even a Catholic and I regret seeing this film!
Why?
It's a blasphemous movie
There’s no disrespect shown to God at all and the individuals portrayed are humans….not divine. They are only as holy as they are moral and that’s true for all humans.
Better burn the director.
You might want to consider asking your neighborhood priest before you go to the movies next time. Or before you read a book, or issue an opinion, or, well , anything. Just avoid making any decision by yourself. There! Fixed it for you!
It’s fiction
I think one should see it though to have an informed opinion. The public and especially Catholics can discern the truth.
True, but why waste time on yet another anti-Catholic film that has a clear agenda? The director made it clear in his interview that there was an agenda, and it wasn't in favor of the Catholic Church.
I didn’t see it as anti catholic at all
Perhaps if the church wasnt so political and bigoted and raping kids
Maybe people wouldnt have negative opinions about the hcurch. Not “an agenda”
Just seeing it for what it has been for a long time
Sinful and allowing horrible sinful crimes against children amd still happening
Google the words
“Priest arrested “
there are priests arrested for crimes practically each day
Your obsession over “raped kids” borders on projection. Between 1950 and 2002, accusations of child sexual abuse were made against 4,392 priests, which was about 4% of all Catholic priests serving during that period. Fun fact: more children have been sexually abused by public school teachers than by priests. Nearly 350 K-12 teachers were arrested for sex crimes involving children in 2022 alone. Research has suggested that the scale of sexual abuse in public schools might be nearly 100 times greater than that of the Catholic Church, based on the Department of Education's research.
Take your buzzwords and go cry in a corner. Your response reads like a 5th grade diary after being dumped on the bus. Low IQ, resentful and just sad.
Thank you so much for your boldness in giving these statistics. Don't forget to add Boy Scout leaders and doctors.
The crimes committed by some members of the Church, especially against children, are horrifying and unacceptable, and the Church has taken significant steps to address these failures, including implementing stricter safeguards and accountability measures. While these sins are a betrayal of the Church's mission, they do not negate her foundation as the Body of Christ, the immense good she has brought to the world in areas like education, healthcare, and the defense of human dignity, or her central truth: the Eucharist, the actual Body of Christ, which remains the source of her life and mission. You can choose to focus on those in the Church who have fallen into sin, or you can look to the saints and those alive today who are tirelessly helping, healing, and saving souls for Christ, despite the darkness in the world.
This is sickening. The way people put a man made entity over actual children being tortured (yes raping a child is torture). There are priest found to be abusers DAILY, like the other said. And what safe guards? Not investigating until everyone involved is dead? Transferring a priest found to be abusing children to another Church in a different country? Promoting those to higher positions in the Church despite an article written by a man who was abused by said priest as a child? I’d actually love to know.
I completely agree that the abuse of children is a horrifying evil and that the pain caused by these acts, especially by those in positions of trust, is immeasurable. There is no excuse for it, and as a Catholic, I believe that these crimes cry out for justice both on earth and before God.
However, I think it’s also important to separate the failures of individuals and the Church’s institutional responses in the past from what is being done now to ensure accountability and to protect children. The Church has made significant progress in implementing safe environment policies, including zero-tolerance measures, mandatory reporting to civil authorities, and strict oversight of clergy etc. Many dioceses have independent review boards to address allegations, and training programs to prevent abuse are now mandatory for clergy, employees, and volunteers. Are you familiar with? Have you reached out to your local diocese to show concern and discuss this?
Have mistakes been made in the past? Without a doubt. Some were tragic and inexcusable, and we should never shy away from acknowledging that. But to claim that abuse is being systematically ignored (DAILY) or covered up today is not accurate. Abuse exists in every institution—schools, families, sports organizations—but the Church has become one of the most scrutinized and accountable entities in this regard. Are you crying for justice in the areas outside of the Church as well?
For those of us who are Catholic, it’s not about putting the Church as an institution over the victims—it’s about ensuring that both justice is done for survivors and that the faith we hold so dear is lived out authentically. We need to acknowledge past sins, fight for the protection of children, and rebuild trust through transparency and reform.
I’m happy to provide more details about the safeguards in place today if you’d like to discuss this further. Thank you for your message, and I hope we can win this demonic battle. God Bless
The RC Church is bigoted, medieval organization that has supported every fascist party in history, including the one currently emerging in the US (look at the links to Project 2025). It preaches intolerance and hatred, and supports pretty much any bigotry and prejudice you can think of. We don't need the criminality and cover-ups to condemn it, although they reveal a lot about its nature.
1. I would separate the two if it weren’t still such an issue. I would love to know how effective they really are, but getting any data on this issue is still quite difficult. You can pretend the Catholic Church has changed, but it hasn’t. The reality is, every institutions have policies and every institution breaks them or manipulates them. The Catholic Church is no different. As for the “safe environment”: Safe environment education sessions for students and parents at diocesan-sponsored educational programs….Diocesan-sponsored. Aaah yes, because letting the institution create the lessons on how to look out for abuse when they’re the ones being investigated for abuse regularly will really help. The unfortunate truth is majority of child abusers have never been convicted. Same is true in and outside the Church. When that’s the case and these policies are put in place by said institution, those predators just learn how to avoid being caught today. Also, what do those lessons entail given the Church is teaching them. The no tolerance policy was literally just created in the early 2000s and based on the number of cases still being reported, still don’t think it’s doing much. Again, this policy is enforced by the people being accused.
2. Yes, daily. Let’s take the French Catholic Church that discovered 330,000 victims of child SA over 70 years. That’s about 13 children being abused DAILY. The fact you down play the daily incidence of sexual abuse because it makes you too uncomfortable to face the truth that there is a real possibility a religious leader or leaders of your church are abusing children daily, but it is. Ah, the old “abuse happens everywhere but yall just pick on us.” What is that? Am I suppose to care less about the children being abused in the Catholic Church? You don’t think it’s the volume of reports that miiiiiight make the Catholic Church a spot light only second to Hollywood?
And don’t you ever disrespect someone like that and have the nerve to claim holiness. I speak up against child sexual abuse. PERIOD. I’ve stop listening to artists (still do as they get accused), attend rallies, send letters to congress, actually speak with victims. And I don’t get defensive if I have to speak up against an institution of which I’m apart.
How bout you Jonathon? What do YOU do to ensure your church is free of abuse besides praying is away pretending is doesn’t exist?
From what I've read, the Vatican had no problem with the film or the story.
You are lying. The current pope is appalled by this crap
Well I did not think it was a very good movie, so I agree with him. But I am sure he is not worried by its portrayal of the RC Church; he probably agrees with it.
Where is the anti Catholicism?
I feel that the portrayal of the Catholic Church in this movie is a lot more positive than I expected. There are men who take their job seriously and want to follow Christ. More than can be said for the real life rapists in long dresses and their bureaucratic apologists in the real world
Wondering if a docuseries like The Keepers (on Netflix) is also “anti-Catholic” 🤔
I hope so. The RC Church is bigoted, medieval organization that has supported every fascist party in history, including the one currently emerging in the US (look at the links to Project 2025). It preaches intolerance and hatred, and supports pretty much any bigotry and prejudice you can think of. We don't need the criminality and cover-ups to condemn it, although they reveal a lot about its nature.
This is not the RC Church way. The RC Church way is to ban the book (or in this case movie) and burn all the copies (and if possible the author/director as well).
I am not even a Catholic and I found the movie offensive. I should have never went to see it.
I have not watched a Hollywood movie in a theatre for several years, it looks like it will be a few more years before I will be seeing another one. Thank you for your report on this disgusting movie.
I find it absolutely interesting and fascinating, hence why I will be publishing an article on this topic soon, that the majority of the comments have absolutely nothing to do with the article. I guess since I haven't written an article before that had so many commenters, that I never noticed such a pattern. Honestly, I find it intriguing, and I almost wonder if anyone has conducted a study to see if majority of comments on a number of Catholic articles these days have comments that are irrelevant to the article and simply is just filled with emotions and feelings of anger, bitterness, and outright hostility for the Catholic Church. I would imagine most authors of Catholic articles are hopeful that there will be intelligent discussion about the topics of their article that speak of the Truth of our Catholic faith, but that just hardly ever seems to be the case. I guess this is just cancel culture, "I do not like what you wrote so therefore I am going to scream into the abyss of the Internet about anything I want expressing ill will and outright hate towards the Church because you should not have been allowed to write anything that differs from my opinion even if my opinion is against the TRUTH." It's our new reality as Catholic writers. We need to pray hard for those who have much hate in their heart for Christ and the Truth. One cannot accept Christ and hate the Church for Christ and the Church are one. Christ is the Head of the Church, which is the Mystical Body of Christ. There can be no dialogue with hate.
from your article: “ The portrayal of the clergy and the Church’s hierarchy in “Conclave” is deeply troubling. The film focuses on scandals and power struggles, perpetuating negative stereotypes about Church leaders.”
We are responding to this. It’s so funny anytime we speak up against the troubling aspects of Catholic leaders and how they have, in fact, embraced scandal and are seemingly obsessed with power. You just don’t like our discussion topics. I’d love to have intellectual conversations about the history of the Catholic Church, particularly when it took over power after the Roman Empire fell, but it seems any criticism of the Catholic Church triggers you. Thus, you’re in your own way of having an intellectually stimulating conversation that focuses on facts.
Respectfully, I followed your article in my comments.
Don't worry it's a social media thing, not reserved for catholics. (Or as I like to can it, Antisocial media!)
funny i cant find your article so many days later. also funny how you KEEP saying none of these comments are relevant, while in another comment you claim the article to be about women priests, when the title has NOTHING to do with that. in fact thats simply an attempt to spoil the movie when the actual article you reference keeps that OUT
youre just SOOOOO salty your husband doesnt touch you right because his religion taught him to dream about your son and you dont wanna think about it
I thought it was a great movie and I wasn’t disappointed. And yes I am Catholic.
Fucking idiot worst film ever and you are not a real Catholic
And you Pinocchio are not a real boy.
You get my vote for grand inquisitor!
I saw this movie today and was 100% disgusted. Shame on Hollywood.
There was nothing disgusting about this movie.
You find it disgusting that a group of humans struggle with an important decision?
How strange.
How dare hollywood make such a movie
I loved the movie. Every Catholic should see it.
This is not Hollywood's first attempt at pushing a narrative with a clear agenda.
Dare? Would you like to stop them? Please say yes, as it would confirm everything we already know to be true about the RC Church.
Thank you for this review. Media is a powerful tool in influencing people. May we all be guided as we live amidst a world that seems to grow more secular each day.
Caroline Quadrino
Thank you for defending Catholic Doctrine!
Movies that contribute to distorting the truth of the Church of Jesus Christ and our Catholic Faith should never be supported. It is the work of evil and contributes nothing but corruption.
But the church and its clergy playing politics constantly and siding with despicable political
Candidates and their own current in fighting, with clergy constantly bashing the current pope and making their opinions anout not liking the current pope vocal in the media, oh and how could we forget priests molesting and raping kids is not Corrupt or worth talking about and examining and being critical Of
Ha! sure right
You’re absolutely correct.
Jesus but you people are scary!
So you voted for Trump also :))))
What does Trump have to do with the film you fucking bitch go and die and leave this planet please
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/26/kevin-roberts-project-2025-opus-dei
Ms. Sorrentino, thank you for your review, although having just watched Conclave I came to a different conclusion than you about its message and about any commentary related to the Catholic Church. If you believe that there is no inhumanity or use of power in the Catholic Church you don't know your history. At many points in history, Catholic Popes were power brokers in European politics. Many had mistresses and several had children with women out of wedlock. These are not conjectures, they are truths. That is not to mention the abuses that members of the clergy have imparted on the community, in both small and large ways. The movie focuses on the presence of these human "frailties" within the church and within the scope of the Conclave. But, even in identifying those human faults, the movie is cautionary rather than condemning. One of the most emotional parts of the movie is to hear the cardinal from Africa bemoan how a prior indiscretion (impregnating a nun) makes him ineligible for becoming Pope. It doesn't excommunicate him from the Conclave. Similarly, the human frailties of others, including Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) result in their nonelection as Pope. In the end, it is the hand of God that directs the Conclave to select the least among them as Pope. In my mind, it is this divine intervention that underscores the legitimacy of the Conclave and a respect for the Catholic Church. People like to throw around the word "woke" as signaling the deterioration of our institutions. Perhaps the inclusion of an intersex character is a modern trope, but it also works and aligns with the values of the Catholic Church. This character had no designs on the papacy. Cardinal Benitez struggled with his own intersex condition, ultimately choosing to accept it rather than destroy it. That the hand of God would select an intersex Pope is confusing and feels threatening, however it is consistent with the mysteries of the Church. After all, who would have thought that God would take the form of an infant and enter the world through a virgin birth? I found nothing in this movie to be anti-Catholic. I thought it focused on humility, mystery, and the challenges we face in our faith. All of these are truly and deeply defining experiences of Catholics. If they are not, then we haven't attempted to understand ourselves or our faiths in mature ways.
SO well said. Thank you!