Former Fox News star Megyn Kelly is voicing her disapproval of the new movie Conclave, which is about the mystery surrounding the death of a fictional Roman Catholic Pope and the ancient, secretive process to replace the leader of the Vatican.
Based on the 2016 novel of the same title by Robert Harris, Conclave stars Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabella Rossellini.
Kelly, a Catholic, wrote of the fictional thriller: “Just made the huge mistake of watching the much-celebrated ‘Conclave’ & it is the most disgusting anti-Catholic film I have seen in a long time. Shame on Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci & John Lithgow for starring in it & shame on director Edward Berger (among others).”
Kelly revealed the “spoiler” (the new Pope is intersex) and added: “I wish I had known so I wouldn’t have watched it. There are almost no redeeming characters in the movie – every cardinal is morally bankrupt/repulsive.”
She added: “I’m disgusted. What a thing to release to streaming just in time for Christmas. They would never do this to Muslims, but Christians/Catholics are always fair game to mock/belittle/smear.”
Just made the huge mistake of watching the much-celebrated “Conclave” & it is the most disgusting anti-Catholic film I have seen in a long time. Shame on Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci & John Lithgow for starring in it & shame on director Edward Berger (among others). “Spoiler:”…
— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) January 5, 2025
Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals & Institutions at Princeton University, replied to Kelly: “Before anti-Semitism once again became the anti-Semitism of the intellectuals, anti-Catholicism was (as Peter Viereck famously said) ‘the anti-Semitism of the intellectuals’–and of the Hollywood elite.”
Before anti-Semitism once again became the anti-Semitism of the intellectuals, anti-Catholicism was (as Peter Viereck famously said) “the anti-Semitism of the intellectuals”–and of the Hollywood elite.
— Robert P. George (@McCormickProf) January 5, 2025
Note: In 2009, the New York Times writer David Kirkpatrick called George — who received the Presidential Citizen Medal from President George W. Bush in 2008 — the “most influential conservative Christian thinker.”
Kirkpatrick reported that George’s critics, “including many of his fellow Catholic scholars, argue that he is turning the church into a tool of Republican Party.”
Most of the comments following Kelly’s rant against Conclave agree with her opinion of Hollywood and are asking “Why hasn’t the Pope come out to condemn?” the movie.
But not all. As one bold fan of Kelly wrote: “I’m usually with you but the Vatican and the Pope is corrupt. They are not what you think they are. They don’t represent Christ. Huge difference between being a Christian and what they are doing in the Vatican.”
