Cardinal Rocco — The Pope Must Die Character Profile

About Cardinal Rocco

A corrupt cardinal secretly aligned with the Mafia who manipulates the conclave to elect a puppet pope. He attempts to blackmail the Pope over a secret son but is ultimately betrayed and shot by his own Mafia backers, dying during his confession to the Pope.

Character Facts

Played by

Alex Rocco

Appears in

The Pope Must Die (1991)

Role

Supporting

Relationships (3)

• Cardinal Rocco — Alliance Co-Conspirator — Monsignor Fitchie (Paul Bartel)

  Political allies working together to gather leverage against the newly elected Pope.

• Cardinal Rocco — Alliance Mafia Backer — Vittorio Corelli (Herbert Lom)

  Financial and operational support relationship where Corelli backs Rocco's Vatican manipulation.

• Cardinal Rocco — Conflict Blackmailer — Veronica Dante (Beverly D'Angelo)

  Rocco exploits Veronica's hidden past to exert political pressure on the Pope.

Explore the full interactive character relationship map of The Pope Must Die

More characters from The Pope Must Die

• Albinizi, The Pope (Robbie Coltrane)
• Veronica Dante (Beverly D'Angelo)
• Father Rookie (Adrian Edmondson)
• Joe Don Dante (Balthazar Getty)
• Monsignor Fitchie (Paul Bartel)
• Rico (Steven O'Donnell)
• Paulo (Salvatore Cascio)
• Abbot (Ernest Clark)
• Alberto (Relja Bašić)
• Father Santini (Ranko Zidarić)
• Father Albini (Janez Vajevec)
• Cardinal Spott (Božidar Smiljanić)