Conclave star Isabella Rossellini reveals the hidden power of women in the Vatican

SINGAPORE – In a Vatican filled with powerful men in crimson robes, it is a silent woman in a black habit who holds one of the most strategic positions during the selection of a new Pope. 

In the mystery thriller Conclave, Italian-American actress Isabella Rossellini, 72, plays a nun named Sister Agnes.

During a conclave – the centuries-old, closely guarded meeting where cardinals gather to select a new pope – the clerics must live at the Casa Santa Marta, the building run by nuns overseen by Sister Agnes. 

Speaking at an online press event for the film, which opens in Singapore cinemas on Jan 2, Rossellini talks about the “silent authority” of women in the Catholic Church.

“The Church is traditionally patriarchal, with men making all the decisions. Women cannot even conduct a mass. The cardinals are all men. Women have a subservient role, but they don’t lack authority. You can have authority even in silence,” she says. 

In Conclave, Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) must manage the conclave following the unexpected death of the Pope.

As he struggles with his own questions of faith, he uncovers secrets amid the political manoeuvring of the cardinals.

Sister Agnes is an unexpected source of information about the true nature of the men vying to be the next head of the Church. 

Besides receiving critical acclaim and Oscar buzz, Conclave has scored six Golden Globe nominations. These include nods for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director for Edward Berger, Best Actor for Fiennes and Best Supporting Actress for Rossellini.  

Born to Swedish film star Ingrid Bergman and celebrated Italian director Roberto Rossellini, Isabella Rossellini grew up in Rome, the spiritual and administrative centre of the Catholic Church.

“I went to Catholic school and the nuns at the school had great authority. My mum, who was a very emancipated, strong woman with her own career, reminded me very much of the nuns. They both chose the life they wanted,” she says. 

The film shows the human side of the clergy and the way many believers accept that their behaviours do not always align with Church doctrine, yet consider themselves Catholic.

For Rossellini, this duality is personal.

“One of my best friends is gay and has been married to his husband for 40 years. He goes to church every day. He’s a saintly man who’s a doctor for infectious diseases. He believes in God, he’s religious. He shows that it’s possible to live with contradictions,” she says. 

This ability to embrace complexity while maintaining faith runs deep in her family heritage.

“I don’t know if my parents believed in God, but they were very respectful. My father made several religious films, about Jesus Christ, St Augustine and St Francis. Being Italian also means to be culturally Catholic. So he was attracted to the philosophy,” she says.

While Rossellini brings an insider’s perspective on Italian Catholicism to the film, her co-star Fiennes, seated next to her at the interview, is a former Catholic and approaches the Vatican drama from a different angle.

“I think as an actor, it’s always great to play a character dealing with an inner struggle,” says the 62-year-old English actor.

“Lawrence has an instinct for a more monastic life. Suddenly, he’s thrust into having to run the conclave of the Vatican. He’s in a state of grief. He’s lost his holy father, the Pope, whom he was close to once.

“On top of that, he encounters these moral, ethical questions about the conduct of his colleagues. And, of course, he encounters his inner ambition, which emerges at a certain moment.”

For Fiennes, these questions of faith and doubt echoed his spiritual journey. 

“I stepped back from the Catholic faith when I was a teenager. But it doesn’t stop me from looking at the great paintings, going into churches and feeling or wanting to be open to the spirit.”

This embrace of human frailty aligned with Germany-born Austrian-Swiss film-maker Berger’s vision for Conclave.

In an opening scene, first responders are shown arriving to process the corpse of the Pope, paying scant regard to the opulent surroundings.

The 54-year-old director of the Oscar-winning WWI drama All Quiet On The Western Front (2022) said at a separate online press event: “I wanted to make these cardinals humans. They fail, they sin, they cheat, they make mistakes. The Pope ends up in a plastic body bag, like you and I will.”