Cardinal Vincent Benitez quotes from Conclave (2024)

View Quote The church is not the past. It is what we do next.

View Quote I am what God made me.

View Quote I think again of your sermon. I know what it is to exist... between the world's certainties.

View Quote Lawrence: The other night, you were kind enough to say that you had voted for me. Now, I don't know if you've continued to do so, but if you have, then I must repeat my plea to you to stop.
Benitez: Why?
Lawrence: Well, firstly, I lack the spiritual depth to be Pope. Secondly, I couldn't possibly win. A long, drawn-out Conclave would be seen by the media as proof that the Church is in crisis.
Benitez: You have come to ask me to vote for Cardinal Tremblay?
Lawrence: Yes, I have, and to urge your supporters to do the same.
Benitez: Cardinal Tremblay already spoke to me about this.
Lawrence: Oh, well, I'm sure he has.
Benitez: You want me to vote for a man you see as ambitious?
Lawrence: I do not want to see Tedesco as Pope. He would take your church back to... to an earlier era.
Benitez: I'm sorry, but I cannot vote for a man unless I deem him the most worthy to be Pope. And for me, that is not Tremblay. It's you.
Lawrence: [yelling] I don't want your vote!
Benitez: Nevertheless... you have it.