The Drama of the First Pope

The pick is in!

On Thursday, a conclave of Catholic cardinals elected a new Bishop of Rome; more popularly known as the Pope. The cardinal formerly known as Robert Provost, now Pope Leo XIV, is the new pontiff of the Catholic Church. And a bit surprisingly, he’s the first American pope.

I’m not even Catholic, but I find the whole process fascinating and incredibly dramatic.

This is the fourth pope of my lifetime, and every time a new one is chosen, it feels like something out of a movie. A few hundred high-profile Catholic cardinals gather in secret at the Vatican to pray and deliberate over who will become the next head of the Church. They aren’t even allowed to bring cell phones! No live tweets, no Twitch streams, and no cable news cameras.

The only sign we get is a metal smokestack and colored smoke. Black smoke means no pope yet, while white smoke means a new pope has been chosen. News cameras stay locked on that sacred chimney for days. While the longest conclave ever was in 1740, and it lasted 182 days, thankfully, this one only took two. But can you imagine the drama of waiting six months to see white smoke?

Once the decision is made, the new pope is ushered onto a balcony above St. Peter’s Square to address the crowds. People cheer, cry, and pray. The whole process is dripping with drama.

And it makes sense. Catholics believe Peter was the first pope. Peter and drama go together like peanut butter and jelly. It followed him everywhere. Some of the most dramatic moments in the Gospels revolve around Peter’s roller-coaster relationship with Jesus.

Well, tomorrow we'll see a little drama with the OG pope. Paul recounts a moment when he publicly confronted Peter. Why? Because Paul cared deeply about preserving the purity of the gospel, and he wasn’t even going to let Saint Peter distort it.

Join us tomorrow as we lean into the drama. What could make Paul confront the first pope to his face? Find out with us tomorrow and discover the heart of the gospel.