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An infodump meta for the Conclave fandom🖤❤️🖤 and also part of Jolie's Weekly Occasional Lectures on Catholic Church Organisation, Canon Law and Other Things You Never Thought You Would End Up Wanting To Read About Until You Contracted The Old Men Yaoi Bug 😝

(Previous lectures: Part 1: Ranks within the College of Cardinals - What is a Cardinal-Bishop? | Part 2: Christianity in present day Afghanistan | Part 3: What is a Cardinal Major Penitentiary?)

Today's lecture was inspired by this Tumblr post by @cleanpearlteeth , who comes to the conclusion that the fics presenting Thomas Lawrence as a workaholic who hardly ever leaves his office day and night is incorrect, because the Dean of the College of Cardinals actually doesn’t do shit outside of a conclave.

So, what does a Dean of the College of Cardinals actually do all day when there isn’t a conclave? Does he really work himself to death, or does he put up his feet and takes it easy (and, as cleanpearlteeth very plausibly suggested, develops depression because he feels so useless)?

Short answer: At the time of the LHF's death and the start of the conclave, it was very clearly the latter case for Thomas. But does that mean it has to stay that way after the conclave, too? Not at all. After the conclave, you can basically imagine Thomas's (work)day however you want, or however you need it for your headcanon or fic.

If you need general information on the office of Dean, the historical background, how to become Dean and how to quit being Dean, I recommend you read this excellent (and short) Wikipedia article. If you still have questions, feel free to drop me a line!

To figure out what Thomas's options would be after the conclave, let me talk a bit about the duties of the Dean first. They basically fall into two categories:

A) Duties during a sede vacante period (the more interesting times)

This is the situation that we all know about from the Conclave book and movie. The Dean officiates at the funeral of the late pope. He's basically the public face of the Holy See until a new pope is elected. He summons the conclave for the purposes of electing a new pope, and presides over the daily meetings of the College of Cardinals in advance of the conclave (the so-called General Congregations). The Dean also celebrates the solemn Missa Pro Eligendo Romano Pontifice, or Mass for the Election of the Pope, ahead of the voting, in St. Peter's Basilica (which is actually public and televised IRL and in the Conclave book). He then presides over the conclave itself (if under 80 and thus himself eligible to vote - which hasn't happened IRL since Ratzinger in 2005 because both Deans at the subsequent two conclaves were over 80). This includes both technical/administrative duties like making sure the security measures are in place and everyone has pens and papers to vote with, and spiritual leadership like leading the opening prayers and all the other prescribed solemn rituals. Why am I actually listing all of this? The movie shows you all you need to know. If the Dean participates in the conclave, he asks the pope-elect if he accepts the election, and then asks the new pope what name he wishes to use. If the newly elected pope is not already a bishop (a mere theoretical possibility; this hasn’t occurred since the 14th century or so), the Dean ordains him a bishop. He also goes sneaking around to sniff out secrets, discover scandals and expose his corrupt colleagues, all the while suffering terrible pangs of conscience of his own.

B) Duties during a pontificate (the less interesting times)

When there is a pope, the Dean is significantly less busy in his capacity as Dean. The College meets regularly, once or twice a year on average, to "discuss" church matters with the Pope, to witness the creation (appointment) of new cardinals and to get to know each other better (which is especially helpful for the cardinals who work as archbishops around the world and not in Rome). These meetings are called Consistories, and the Dean probably has a symbolic role in them, but it is apparently so insignificant and unimpactful that I haven’t found any specific information about it.

It’s important to note that a Consistory, although technically the forum where the cardinals "advise" the pope on church politics, does not work like a secular parliamentary debate. It’s extremely formalised, extremely civilised, and the strict hierarchy of the church makes it unlikely that different factions of cardinals would have heated discussions of their varying viewpoints in front of the pope (let alone criticise him openly). So even if the role of the peacemaker/arbiter would technically fall to the Dean in such a case, he's unlikely to have a lot to do there. (It’s fun to imagine this culture maybe changing under Pope Innocent though, and Thomas suddenly having to herd cats in between conclaves, too.)

Minor other tasks of a Dean also include making speeches and addresses to various important church bodies at special events, like at assemblies of bishops or of Curia officials convened by the pope. His function there is to basically say hello to the rest of the church or Vatican on behalf of the cardinals - purely representative. The Dean is also the default celebrant at the funerals of Rome-based Curial cardinals when they die, but this is optional. They can appoint someone else to preside over their funeral in their will or in other private communication if they want to.

So the job of Dean is definitely not a full time job!

(The same, btw, also applies to the Secretary of the College of Cardinals - hi, Ray! - who takes on that role in addition to other duties only when the Dean needs to do any active Deaning; in Ray’s case, according to the book at least, his regular job is to be Secretary of the Dicastery of Bishops, which is a full time job in top level HR, basically.)

So does that mean Thomas will be on holiday the rest of the time?

It is possible to imagine a Dean who does nothing else for the church than that, especially if he’s getting on in years, or if he's too ill to do more. But generally speaking, the church likes to work its people hard, usually well past secular retirement age and often until illness and/or old age literally incapacitate them. The identity of most priests/bishops/cardinals is very tied up with the idea of constant work and service, too, and most of them would feel personally obliged to keep being useful to the church for as long as their physical and mental powers allow. 80 is currently a common cut-off age for Curial positions, but it's by no means fixed. There are members of the Curia who are older than that. It’s more like, before 80, you don’t even think of resigning/retiring unless you’re decrepit and/or involved in coverups of clerical sexual abuse. The times when being a high-ranking prince of the church was a cushy position where you weren't expected to do any work at all except occasionally raise your hand to bless your underlings and the laity are over.

Let's look at the recent RL Deans of the College of Cardinals for an idea what they do/did outside of conclaves and consistories!

Giovanni Batista Re (Dean 2019-present, aged 85-currently 91) no longer held an active senior Curia leadership position at the time when he became Dean at 85 (!), but in addition to his last leadership role as Prefect (head) of the Congregation of Bishops until 2010, he also used to be a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Congregation for the Oriental Churches in addition to serving in the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See until he turned 80.

Angelo Sodano (Dean 2005-2019, then aged 78-92) was an anomaly in that he was both Secretary of State (Aldo Bellini’s position in the Conclave universe) and Dean concurrently for a short time (2005 - 2006). He resigned as Secretary of State at 80 for age reasons, but continued as Dean until age 92, when Pope Francis dismissed him because he‘d covered up sexual abuse.

Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI, Dean 2002-2005, then aged 75-78) held several Curial and Curia-adjacent positions concurrently with the Deanship. He was Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, President of the Pontifical Biblical Commission and President of the International Theological Commission. He moved on from all of that when he was elected pope in 2005.

Bernardin Gatin (Dean 1993-2002, then aged 71-80) was Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America concurrently with his Deanship until he retired from all offices at 80.

Agnelo Rossi (Dean 1986-1993, then aged 73-80) was President of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See concurrently with the first half of his Deanship.

Carlo Confalonieri (Dean 1977-1986, then aged 84-93) had resigned from his other Curial posts for reasons of age by the time he became Dean at 84 (!).

The same was the case with Luigi Traglia (Dean 1974-1977, then aged 79-82) and Amleto Giovanni Cicognani (Dean 1972-1973, then aged 89-90).

Eugène-Gabriel-Gervais-Laurent Tisserant (Dean 1951-1972, then aged 67-88) was Secretary of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches and Prefect of the Congregation of Ceremonies until he was just past 80, and additionally Chief Librarian of the Vatican Library and Chief Archivist of the Vatican Secret Archives until a year before his death at 88, all concurrently with his Deanship.

What can we infer from all that for Thomas Lawrence? That throughout modern church history since around WWII, there have been two types of Deans.

Type 1 are the ones who were young enough (i. e., under 80) to be expected to take up the position concurrently with other and more demanding Curial and/or similar senior jobs in Rome (like Ratzinger, Gatin and Tisserant).

Type 2 are the ones who were elected Dean only once their more active careers had already ended due to their advanced age (i. e., the over 80s - like the current incumbent Re, his predecessor Solano, and Confalonieri, Traglia and Cicognani earlier, who are/were all ancient). For this latter type, I feel the position of Dean is supposed to give them a kind of Elder Statesman status, in recognition of their former services - not fully retired, still esteemed and consulted for their decades-long experience, but not expected to work themselves into the ground any more.

How does Thomas Lawrence fit into this pattern? He's canonically a weird hybrid of both types.

In terms of age, the movie character is clearly not supposed to be over 80 (else he couldn't participate in the conclave!), and even his book counterpart Lomeli is "only" 75. But in terms of his church career, that is all behind him already and he is very much an Elder Statesman. Book Lomeli got kicked out of his position as Secretary of State years before the events of the book, when the LHF replaced his predecessor's "old guard" in the Curia with his own confidants, and was then diagnosed with cancer and presumably had to take a break to get treatment as well. Movie Lawrence doesn’t have an official canon biography like that, but going by everything we see of him, it makes sense IMO to assume his and Lomeli's backstory are supposed to be the same or very similar. Both versions of the character even wanted to resign from the position as Dean itself just before the LHF's death. That makes Lawmeli an exception to the rule that you're supposed to keep powering on in the Curia until you’re 80. Whether that's due to his illness or to the LHF not trusting and/or appreciating him enough is a matter of interpretation. But it certainly makes Lawmeli an usually young Dean-only Dean.

So does that mean that he can't spend long days at his desk now, and that every post-canon scenario in which [the prelate of your choice for his boyfriend] walks up behind him, puts his chin on his shoulder and gently whispers "Don't work so hard, Thomas" is nonsense?

By no means. Maybe he wouldn't be up for a major Curial (or similar) position other than Dean any more (like being head of a Dicastery/Congregation). But wouldn't the new pontificate have the potential to rejuvenate and reinvigorate both his failing health and his lapsed faith, and make him ready and able to continue supporting the new pope and the church in some more active capacity again? It’s not a necessary conclusion, but certainly a plausible one. We're now definitely in the territory of interpretation and also speculation. What happens to Thomas after the conclave? We just don’t know, but there are plenty of paths still open to him if he wants to get active again.

So if you want him to stay in Rome and in the Vatican and do more than just be Dean, what kind of work could he do?

The work of most of the Dicasteries of the Curia (the equivalent of secular government ministers) is collaborative, as indicated by their former name, "Congregation" (meaning "to flock together" in latin). They have an appointed head, often called the Prefect, but below the Prefect they consist of various subsections and committees and commissions, and someone needs to sit on all those, too. The same is true of all the other major institutions that make up the Holy See. They all need supervisory committees and advisors, too. Sometimes the pope sets up special, temporary commissions for specific purposes outside of the usual structure of the Curia, too, and he needs people to staff those as well.

And as anyone who has ever sat on any committee can attest, there are ways and ways of doing that. You can use the time to doze, but you can also take it very seriously. And which type would Thomas be? Exactly. Glad we agree.

If you're looking for inspiration for your fic or your HC, look up the extensive list of Vatican institutions on Wikipedia and take your pick! Alternatively, he could also go back to lecturing on Canon Law at one of the Pontifical Universities, like Lomeli canonically did at an earlier point in his career. Or he could go and get actually involved in his suburbicarian diocese of Ostia, if you want him to explore his parish priest qualities. Or if none of that tickles your fancy, make something up! Invent a Special Papal Commission on Rooting Out Corruption in the Curia or whatever and make Thomas its head or one of its members.