Catholics will soon elect a new pope. Here's what happens in the conclave

By Steve Kraske,

Published May 6, 2025 at 3:00 PM CDT

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From left, cardinals Fernando Natalio Chomalí Garib, Anthony Poola, Charles Maung Bo and Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij leave the Vatican, Saturday, May 3, 2025, after attending a session of the General Congregation of cardinals in the New Synod Hall where they are preparing for the upcoming conclave starting on May 7, to elect the 267th Roman pontiff. — Cardinals (from left) Fernando Natalio Chomalí Garib, Anthony Poola, Charles Maung Bo and Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij leave the Vatican, where they are preparing for the upcoming conclave to elect the 267th Roman pontiff.

On Wednesday, cardinals — some of the highest-ranking clergy — will sequester to choose a new pope for the Catholic Church. Here's how the process works, and how it compares to the way it was depicted in the 2024 film "Conclave."

Catholic cardinals will convene beginning on Wednesday to elect a new pope in a process known as a conclave.

It's a process that may have more eyes on it than usual as a result of the hit 2024 film "Conclave," starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini.

But how similar is the real conclave to the film?

"There's a lot of reality in it, actually," said James Grimaldi, executive editor of the National Catholic Reporter, which is based in Kansas City.

Many of the technical details, such as the depiction of the formal voting process that takes place in the Sistine Chapel, and some of the politicking, are close to reality.

But at the same time, Grimaldi told KCUR's Up To Date, the film is "like anything Hollywood. It sort of distills it into the most dramatic fashion possible. And it sort of conflates some things and mushes them all together."

James Grimaldi, executive editor, National Catholic Reporter