Just finished Conclave by Robert Harris and I canât stop thinking about the Cardinalsâ very specific placements in a Soviet apartment building Casa Santa Marta.
Tremblayâs rooms (he has a suite, the glutton!) are on the first floor, closest to the commotion, the talks, to the chapel, yes, but also to the dining hall, the only place in the entire building where our Cardinals are free to talk, mingle, discuss, persuade, convince. Tremblay, the most corrupt of all Popes-to-be, is at the epicentre of human sins as he is the one most entangled by them. He not only corrupts, his shameless bribery bringing him total dismissal from the late Pope, but also backstabs others by exposing Adayemi. Not with a godly intention of shedding light on a horrible situation of statutory rape, but with a simple goal of removing a strong opponent from his path. Blackmail.
Lomeli and Adeyemi share a floor together (simple rooms), both of them passing the late Popeâs lodgings on their way to their âcellsâ. Yet Adeyemi seems unconserned by that - on the contrary, he brings his supporters up to his room, he laughs freely, he talks freely, heâs completely unphased by the presence of the late Popeâs suite (as well as his spirit?). Adeyemi is blinded by his chances of becoming the new Pope, he craves the Papacy. Why would he care about the rooms of a dead man whose throne he is so eager to occupy?
Lomeli, on the other hand, reacts to the Popeâs sealed lodgings as one would to a splinter stuck permanently in their thumb. It brings forth a constant, dull throbbing ache, a reminder of his own failings of faith, connecting them to the failings of the late Holy Father who also struggled. But not with his faith in God, oh no. In church. And every time Lomeli passes the suite itâs like someone tears open the wound thatâs been festering inside him for countless years, the one heâs overlooked, ignored, didnât mind, accepted, buried - and now it seeps putrid liquid down his throat, now it poisons his body, now it corrodes his heart and twists his intestines. Servant of the church, not of God. A manager. Servus Fidelis. Itâs little wonder he was the one âappointedâ to lead this Conclave.
Bellini resides just one floor higher (floor 3), staying in a suite thatâs located right above the rooms of the late Holy Father. As if even his lodgings tell of his âworthinessâ to carry the heavy load of the Papal crown. A perfect successor to the late Pope. And yet! And yet when he confronts Lomelli, asking him about his âambitionsâ, accusing him of eager participation in the mad race we see him descending. Descending from his floor down, down, down to the dining hall, to the commotion and sin. Vaticanâs own purgatory. And as swiftly and surely as his feet carry him down the stairs, his moral descent mirrors that of his physical body.
Benitezâs lodgings (a simple room) are at the very top of the building, far removed from the strife & havoc both physically (he arrived late, alone and unaccounted for, he doesnât know anyone, his room was a last minute solution to his accidental appearance) as well as emotionally (Benitez does not engage in the twists, turns and stabs of other Cardinals - on the contrary, he speaks freely and honestly, his words gentle but his truth unyielding. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God!)
We donât know the placement of Cardinal Tedescoâs rooms for sure but i would argue that we donât really need to. We see him lounging in the lobby between the chapel and the dining hall, his feet up on a coffee table, a king among servants, a prince among sinners, a devil among men. What Tedesco represents, what he stands for doesnât need concrete placement, doesnât need a specific room or a floor. It is corrosive, it is pervasive and it is, to our own shame, everywhere. His reactionary policies, his racist âtraditionalistâ views, his scornful attitudes lounge on the first floor, amidst men, as naturally as ever because they belong there. This is their home. Not a room assigned by lot on one of the many floors of Casa Santa Marta. Not a prison cell. But a widespread, unashamed existence amongst men for such vile hatred can only come from & can be perpetuated by men.
P. S. All aforementioned Cardinals reside in block A. Cardinal Benitez is the only one placed in Block B (which is, once again, obvious as he was a surprising addition to the Conclave, receiving whatever room was still available). Nevertheless, though we know that rooms were given by a lot (randomised), all the distinguished, first-world, prominent figures of the church, especially those seen as potential candidates for the papacy reside in Bloc A. Bloc B, from the names we see mentioned, is mainly reserved for cardinals of lesser standing and/or representing Catholic Church outside âwestern worldâ.
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