On 8 September 2025, theologians Michaela Sohn-Kronthaler and Bernd Hillebrand shed light on the award-winning film “Conclave”. The key question: Does a papal election really happen the way Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini portray it in the film?
“You need people to look after the catering and ensure cleanliness, as well as doctors. Just like the cardinals, they also have to take an oath and pledge themselves to secrecy,” explained Sohn-Kronthaler and Hillebrand in the sold-out inner courtyard of the main building. “Many things in the course of the conclave are laid down in canon law. However, the use of black and white smoke is only a tradition and is therefore not prescribed.”
Religion and Entertainment
On 10 September, the planned cinema evening was moved to the auditorium due to rain – and “Gladiator II” transformed the room into an atmospheric cinema auditorium. Margit Linder from the Department of Classics explained the origins of gladiator fights: “The Etruscans were already organising such competitions in the 4th century BC as part of their funerary cult. Religion and entertainment always went hand in hand in antiquity.”
Even if Hollywood tells it differently: Roman gladiators were by no means in the arena every day. Linder: “The events were limited to a total of ten days a year. This meant that the chance of being killed was lower than is often assumed.”
