Stanley Tucci believes he has the reply to all the Catholic Church’s problems.
The 64-year-old is starring as Aldo Cardinal Bellini, in Edward Berger’s forthcoming film Conclave, about an election for the papacy. Starring Ralph Fiennes, the film drew crowds when it premiered and is already being tipped for the Oscars.
Although he admitted that “Catholicism is a myth I actually have great difficulty believing,” he did have some suggestions for the institution’s improvement.
“Priests should have the option to get married,” he told The Guardian. “That changes the whole lot. And nuns. Why can’t you be dedicated to God and love someone at the identical time? I don’t understand that.”
He continued, “Priests was married a few years ago however the Catholic church stopped that.”
Tucci added that the prohibition of marriage had less to do with saintly aspirations and more to do with the avoidance of inheritance for ladies.
“The excuse was that priests needed to devote themselves to God,” he said. “But really it was because after they died, the whole lot went to their wives. It wasn’t about devotion but money.
“And I believe that’s an issue. Priests with the ability to be married would ground them in point of fact and only enhance their spirituality. Let’s just start with that.”
Reflecting on priesthood, Tucci said, “These individuals are attempting to emulate God and yet they created God. So that’s weird. But without query, people in the general public eye are at all times under more scrutiny. You’re larger than life.”
Based on the novel of the identical name by Robert Harris, the actor admitted that the film follows certain stereotypes.
“The film does follow a certain trope, in a way, because the book did. But it’s an enchanting one – and never a straightforward one,” he said.
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“So often movies are made simply to make us feel higher. That’s why there are such a lot of pleased endings in movies, because there are such a lot of unhappy endings in life.”
The conclave is the centuries-old tradition through which, on the death of a pope, cardinals gather within the Sistine Chapel on the Vatican to take part in rounds of voting until they elect a recent pontiff.
Conclave comes from the Latin “cum clave,” meaning “with a key,” to point the Cardinals are locked in until they’ve chosen the brand new leader for the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics.
