What Is a Laparoscopic Hysterectomy? Everything About the Procedure That Resulted in Conclave‘s Twist Ending
With the sudden news of Pope Francis’ death, there has been a skyrocketing renewed interest in the Academy Award-winning film Conclave. The 2024 film depicts what happens after a Pope dies, when a Conclave convenes to elect a new Pope.
Nearly 24 hours after his death was announced, Variety reported that streaming viewership spiked 283%. The 2024 film depicts what happens after a Pope dies, when a conclave convenes to elect a new Pope. Led by Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), cardinals are sequestered in the Vatican to discuss who would be fit to succeed the pontiff. However, the vote is plagued when Lawrence finds an abundance of scandals, including popular candidate Cardinal Tremblay (John Lithgow) committing Simony and Cardinal Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati) fathering a child with a nun.
The voting process takes a turn when the Sistine Chapel is attacked by an explosion, which prompts the traditionalist Cardinal Goffredo Tedesco to try to incite a war on religion if he’s elected Pope. It sparked the recently joined Cardinal Vincent Benitez to give an impassioned speech about peace among everyone, and he ultimately received the most votes for the papacy. Shortly after the final vote, Lawrence discovers the real reason why the Holy Father tried to send Benitez to Geneva for a mysterious medical appointment and seemingly confronts him. Benitez reveals that he had an appointment for a laparoscopic hysterectomy, but decided not to undergo the procedure as he wanted to live in the body that God created him in.
What is a Laparoscopic Hysterectomy?
A laparoscopic hysterectomy starts when a doctor cuts an incision in the abdomen and inserts a small tube containing a telescope (laparoscope) and a tiny video camera. The procedure would remove organs like the womb, cervix, and any part of the reproductive system.
Benitez revealed himself to be intersex. He was born with a uterus and ovaries, but was raised with the knowledge of being male-presenting. People who are intersex have genitals, chromosomes, or reproductive organs that don’t fit into the male or female binary. Their genitals might not match their reproductive organs. Most intersex people are healthy throughout their lives and don’t know about it in the long term. Benitez only discovered that he had the organs when he received an appendix removal in his late 30s.
The movie is one of the rare instances that exhibit intersex people and their livelihoods. James Factora of Them. explained, “That real-world context also just makes the ending all the more delicious: A Mexican intersex man becomes the head of the Catholic Church, an institution that, in real life, declared that gender-affirming surgery and surrogacy are ‘violations of human dignity‘ this year.”
While the vote is finalized, Cardinal Lawrence seems to be relieved about ending his duties as dean of the conclave. The result was never going to be an easy win, and the big question is whether we’ll see that same kind of drama played out in real life with the upcoming conclave.
