Conclave

Following the death of Pope Francis on April 21, 2025, many outlets have cited this film for its accurate depiction of the conclave procedures. When the pope is found to be dead, he is asked three times if he is deceased before the "sede vacante" is formally proclaimed. The papal ring (the Ring of the Fisherman) is removed and destroyed to prevent misuse of the pope's seal on documents. An official statement declaring the throne of the Holy See (the Catholic church's governing body) vacant is issued, beginning a nine-day period of mourning. The papal apartments are cordoned off with crimson ribbon and sealed with a wax papal seal. The College of Cardinals are sequestered in apartments (Domus Sanctae Marthae, or Saint Martha's House) where they eat and sleep between ballots. The windows and doors of the Sistine Chapel, where the election and balloting take place, are darkened, shuttered and locked to preserve the secrecy of the conclave. The film also shows more recent security measures, such as the Sistine Chapel being swept for electronic listening devices. ID badges are now issued to all conclave attendants after a reporter disguised as a servant was discovered during the conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI in 2005. All members of the College of Cardinals must surrender their mobile phones and other electronic devices, Vatican City's Wi‑Fi is temporarily disabled, and wireless signal jammers are activated inside the Sistine Chapel itself.

It has been suggested that Adeyemi would be the first African pope. The Roman Catholic Church, however, already had three African pontiffs — Victor I, Miltiades and Gelasius I — all of whom served prior to AD 500. More likely the claim intends to mean the first Black African or sub‑Saharan pope, since those three, although born in Roman Africa, were of North African and/or Roman or Greek descent.