Conclave

The pope dies of a heart attack, and the Vatican goes on hold. It falls to Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, dean of the College of Cardinals, to run the conclave that will choose the next leader of the Catholic Church. He is going through his own crisis of faith and only wanted to step away, but he takes on the task.

Cardinals from around the world arrive in Rome and are locked in, cut off from the outside, until one name gets enough votes in the Sistine Chapel. Four frontrunners emerge quickly: the liberal Bellini, a friend of Lawrence; the traditionalist Tedesco; Tremblay from Canada; and Adeyemi from Nigeria.

To everyone's surprise, a cardinal nobody knew also shows up: Vincent Benítez, appointed in secret by the pope to serve in Kabul. With each round of voting, alliances form and fall apart, rumors spread through the halls, and Lawrence learns the pope was keeping secrets about some of the candidates. Between black smoke and white smoke, he has to decide how far he will go to protect the Church.