The reality show of the conclave

The start of the conclave has dragged the programs into a level of procedural detail that is frankly excessive. We are more informed about the details of voting for a pope than about the dynamics of the electoral system of democracy. The so-called experts—because Vatican experts emerge from under the rocks—describe to us even how they would act in the most unheard-of eventualities. Theories are often contradictory among the wise men at the same table or between different networks. This is proof that the conclave has become a theme park of the Church's liturgical extravagance. The television presentation demonstrates this. Everything is a mouse, while Helena Garcia Melero consulted with the panelists, religious music played in the background. A heavenly choir of white voices to elevate the audience's spirituality. Public mirror They recreated the interior of the Sistine Chapel with a hilarious twist. Susanna Griso and her co-host placed themselves inside the image, inside the papal tribune, and from the fictional little balcony they commented on the voting dynamics. Minutes later, on the set, they made a mosaic of all the cardinals on the screen behind the collaborators' sofa. More than a conclave, it seemed like the start of a talent show in which participants would be eliminated.

In Ana Rosa's program, on Telecinco, proposed the same system for digitally recreating the Sistine Chapel, and one of the reporters explained the installation and operation of the heaters that will burn the ballots to generate the smoke for the verdict. The approach was fanciful, because with the desire to go into the details of smoke production, the heaters went up and down like an elevator, hid underground, and a chimney emerged from within the Sistine Chapel itself. The need to specify the smoke-dying system led the presenter to reveal to the audience each of the elements that came into play to provoke a chemical reaction that would result in white or black smoke. Diligent, the reporter clarified to the viewers: "Potassium chlorate, lactose, rosin..." And then he added: "Potassium perchlorate, anthracene, sulfur..." As if the people, sitting at home, were expert scientists who could assess the mixture with criteria. Then, Ana Rosa Quintana consulted the gastronomic requirements. They explained, for example, that you couldn't eat chicken, cakes or rolls because foods that could carry information are prohibited. "And when do they have to pee?" asked the presenter, worried. "There will be some latrines...", reassured her colleague.

The conclave is being treated as a reality heavenly, and useless speculation, pools, anecdotes and the most inconsequential details turn it into a frivolity to break the dynamics of the most earthly information routine.