Conclave ignored in the Oscar 2025: Theologian affirms that he will not win prizes for his precision

“Was Hollywood’s last progressive fantasy disguised as a prize deserving of the prize? Even Oscar voters had their doubts, ”wrote Regis Martin, STD, professor of dogmatic and systematic theology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, since 1988.

Next, the reflection of Professor Martin, author of a half dozen books, published in the National Catholic Register:

There was a time when certain films did not occur, since the film industry determined that the cost of production did not use the outrage that almost certainly caused.

In those golden days before culture began its accelerated decrease towards darkness, there were certain standards that even Hollywood did not dare to rape. Not for selfless reasons, of course, but even so, the need to make cinema should take into account an audience that was not willing to be constantly attacked in their sensibilities.

It was the golden age of Hollywood, when the big studies promised to respect a production code that, among other things, prohibited the realization of films “that degrade the moral standards of the spectator. The sympathy of the public should not lean towards crime, evil or sin. ” In other words, the good and the true should not be subverted, so that evil and injustice were not unpunished.

While the code was not explicitly Catholic, a Jesuit named Fr. Daniel A. Lord helped to elaborate it, providing a moral framework compatible with the teaching of the Church, especially in issues such as marriage and family. “The holiness of the institution of marriage and home,” he said, “must be respected.” And the Hollywood magnates, along with most of the Americans, agreed.

But all that has changed in the last fifty years, which explains why so many current films are so deplorable. Yes, there are exceptions, but they are scarce. Meanwhile, what is exhibited most frequently is so vulgar and degrading that the viewer leaves the cinema feeling tainted. Not only because many sex and violence scenes are unnecessarily excessive, but also because nihilism implicit in their narratives suggests that neither truth nor goodness can prevail at the end. Thus, the public leaves demoralized and depressed.

The worst corruption is when it doesn’t matter to choose between truth and lie, good and evil. Neither the whole Pepsi nor the world’s popcorn can compensate for a wasted afternoon in the cinema. As Shakespeare said in the pre-cinematographic era: “The expense of the spirit in a waste of shame … enjoyed just, but immediately despised.”

The ‘conclave’ scandal

That said, it is necessary to denounce corruption when we see it, especially when disguising virtue.

Do I have a movie in mind? Of course. Despite his eight nominations, conclave was mostly ignored in the Oscars, winning only the best adapted script award. Not even the performance of Ralph Fiennes as a prelate of progressive mentality that supervises the choice of a supposed new potato – a biological woman who then transitions and tries to be ordered with the name of innocent – was enough to impress Hollywood.

As a critic described the film, conclave is “very silly, but wonderfully staged.” Perhaps, but what it really represents is an act of subversion, not only of the natural order, but of the grace itself, in particular the grace of God by providing the church with the certainty that, when he speaks, it is Christ himself who is expressed.

However, what the film wants to make us believe is that it was not Christ at all who entrusted to the Church the authority to speak in her name, but that she simply seized an authority that she never had and that, in her opinion, Christ apparently had ever had, since certainty never was her style, only doubt.

“Let me talk to them from the heart for a moment,” he tells the cardinals gathered there, before continuing to tear the very heart of the Church. “To work together, to grow together, we must be tolerant, no person or faction should try to dominate another.”

The Fiennes character continues: “And throughout the many years of service to our mother, the Church, there is a sin that I have come to fear over all others: certainty.”

“Certainty is the great enemy of unity. Certainty is the deadly enemy of tolerance. Even Christ was not sure at the end. “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

“Our faith is a living faith precisely because it walks hand in hand. If there was only certainty and does not doubt, there would be no mystery and, therefore, there would be no need for faith. Pray for God to grant us a Pope who doubts … “

Without a doubt, a dazzling interpretation, for which Ralph Fiennes will have won his Oscar. But if the words he pronounces are true, however captivating they are, he becomes an invitation to despair, to that last doubt about the faith of the Church that must overcome the doubts that assault it.

“I have prayed for you so that your faith does not faint,” Jesus tells San Pedro on the night of his betrayal, “and when you have returned,” which will certainly happen when grace moves him to repentance, “confirm your brothers” (Luke 22:32).

What exactly? With greater uncertainty?

Translated and adapted by ACI Press. Originally published in National Catholic Register.