The process to elect a new pope is currently underway and, if the events of 2024 thriller Conclave were at all accurate, several cardinals are donning their red robes and bickering about who would be the best successor to Pope Francis.
Electing a new pope - or pontiff - is one which has deep roots in both religious and Italian history.
Inside the Vatican's Sistine Chapel a papal conclave involving 138 eligible members from the College of Cardinals are placing their votes for who should be the next Bishop of Rome.
In order to elect a new pope, there must be a two-thirds majority for the chosen successor.
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And judging by the two plumes of black smoke emitted from the iconic church, the cardinals are yet to reach a decision.
While the rest of us wait for white smoke to erupt from the Sistine Chapel's chimney, the world's media is currently running a crash course on a cardinal who's who — including an interview with a priest who has a very famous brother.
Hailing from a family of Italian-Americans in New York is Catholic priest Robert Sirico who recently gave an interview to Sky News about the conclave.
But many of fans of The Sopranos may have noticed that he looks oddly familiar.
That's because he's none other than the younger brother of late actor Tony Sirico, best known for playing the role of Paulie 'Walnuts' Gualtieri in the famous mafia series.
He can also be seen on the big screen, having appeared in films such as Goodfellas, A Bronx Tale, and The Godfather over the years.
While the two brothers look alike, they have led completely different lives, with Robert becoming ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in 1989 after two decades as a minister. Robert would also come out as gay and even go on to perform the first same-sex marriage in the history of the US state of Colorado in 1975.
Meanwhile, as a school dropout who went from prison to Hollywood, Tony's life has arguably been a lot more colourful.
Before becoming a favourite of directors such as Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen as well as Sopranos creator David Chase, he had a very different life.
After dropping out of high school, Tony found himself being shot in the leg over a girl, serving in the US Army and later serving 20 months in New York's Sing Sing prison after being convicted of various charges, including felony weapons possession.
Following his time in prison the actor pursued a successful film career before passing away from dementia in 2022.
Unfortunately for us, the Sopranos-Catholic Church crossover won't go as far as the pope himself, as Robert is not part of the papal conclave, but it's still a fun piece of trivia.
Topics: UK News
Brenna Cooper