[2] A film based on the book, starring Ralph Fiennes, directed by Edward Berger and written by Peter Straughan,[3] was theatrically released in the United States by Focus Features on 25 October 2024.

The death is not suspicious, as the late pope had a history of heart problems, and a review of his schedule the preceding day indicates nothing out of the ordinary, only a meeting with Camerlengo Joseph Tremblay followed by dinner with Archbishop Janusz Woźniak, the Prefect of the Papal Household.

Shortly before the 118 cardinals are sequestered for the duration of the conclave, Woźniak approaches Lomeli and claims that the late pope had divulged to him during their final dinner that he had demanded Tremblay's resignation.

Lomeli asks for the sister's confession, and learns that thirty years previously, when she was a young postulant and Adeyemi was a village priest, the two had an illicit relationship that produced a child who was given up for adoption.

Lomeli is bound not to divulge details of the confession, but the lunch incident ignites speculation of a possible scandal and the dean lets it be known to Adeyemi's supporters that what he did was significant enough that he will have to resign his offices after the conclave.

At breakfast on the third day of the conclave, Lomeli distributes copies of the Tremblay report, with the bribe recipients' names redacted, to the other cardinals.

As voting on the seventh ballot commences, an explosion rocks the Sistine Chapel, but since no one is injured and only windows are shattered, the process continues.

The cardinals break for lunch, and the dean is informed that the explosion was part of a series of coordinated terrorist attacks against Catholic institutions across Europe that were carried out by Muslim extremists.

Just before the result of the conclave is publicly revealed, O'Malley brings to Lomeli's attention that Benítez had booked and later abandoned an appointment at a gender reassignment clinic in Geneva earlier that year.

Lomeli knows that Benítez's condition will inevitably be discovered by a future medical examination or upon his death, but resolves to keep it secret for now, trusting that God's will guided the conclave's outcome.