Pope Leo XIV watched Conclave movie to prepare, brother says

Yahoo

09-05-2025

Vatican watchers weren't the only ones consulting the movie Conclave before the pivotal election of a new pope.
The new pontiff himself – Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who took the name Leo XIV – watched the 2024 movie dramatizing the Vatican's selection process ahead of the sequestration of cardinals that chose him to lead the Catholic church, according to his older brother.
John Prevost, the middle of three Prevost brothers – Robert, now the first American pope, is the youngest – told NBC affiliate WMAQ-TV in their native Chicago that he spoke with his younger brother a day before the conclave began.
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'I said: 'Are you ready for this? Did you watch the movie Conclave, so you know how to behave?' And he had just finished watching the movie,' Prevost laughed. 'So he knew how to behave.'
The elder Prevost added: 'I wanted to take his mind off of it [the real conclave], you know, laugh about something because this is now an awesome responsibility.'
The drama-thriller directed by Edward Berger, based on the 2016 novel by Robert Harris, dramatized the selection process of a new pope following the death of a widely popular, moderate one. The fictional film, though based on real details, processes and dynamics within the insular Vatican, depicts political intrigue, gossip and rivalries within the church, ultimately culminating in the election of a surprise outsider candidate.
In real life, the new Leo XIV was on few shortlists for pope, given that no American had ever been chosen to lead the Catholic church, and the fact that he was named cardinal only two years ago. According to his brother, Prevost himself doubted his chances.
'He didn't think so,' John Prevost said. 'I didn't believe it and Rob didn't believe it – I should say Pope Leo didn't believe it at all, because there's not going to be an American pope was the attitude.'
John Prevost did think his brother was in serious contention, however. 'What I was reading and what I was hearing was that there were three outstanding candidates that were in first, second and third place,' he said, 'the cardinal from the Philippines, the [Vatican] secretary of state, and him [Robert].'
Related: The holy screen: a brief history of popes on film and TV, from Peter O'Toole to Robbie Coltrane
After a relatively short conclave – a day and four rounds of voting that ended on Thursday evening, local time – Pope Leo XIV assumed the role vacated by Pope Francis, who died aged 88 last month after a long period of ill health, with an address in Spanish and Italian to the many gathered in St Peter's Square. (The new pope has spent most of his ecclesiastical career in Peru, and is a naturalized citizen of the South American country.) Now tasked with shepherding the world's 1.4 billion Catholics through increasingly turbulent times, he will probably have little time for movies. But his brother provided some insight on how he likes to unwind from serious responsibilities.
'First we do Wordle, because this is a regular thing, OK,' John Prevost said. 'We do Words with Friends. It's something to keep his mind off life in the real world.'
Prevost also shared his family's reaction to the news that his brother had become the 267th pope in history, and the first pontiff from the US. 'It's totally unreal, it's totally surreal,' he said. 'It's a tremendous thing to take in, but it's something to be very proud of.'