Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
JesuiticalApril 26, 2024
The Sistine Chapel in the Vatican Museums is pictured in this March 9, 2013, file photo, as preparations began for the conclave that elected Pope Francis. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) 

Few events inspire a media spectacle quite like the election of a pope. The white smoke, cardinals locked in the Sistine Chapel, secret ballots and ancient rules—it’s catnip for secular and Catholic journalists alike. But how did these customs evolve—and how might they change in the future?

To find out, Zac and Ashley talk with Miles Pattenden, a historian, expert in the history of papal conclaves and the author of Electing the Pope in Early Modern Italy, 1450-1700.

They discuss:

  • How the election of popes evolved from St. Peter to today
  • The role of the Holy Spirit—and politicking—inside conclaves
  • And whether the secrecy of conclaves can survive in a modern world that prizes transparency

In Signs of the Times, Zac and Ashley discuss a new Justice Department investigation into last year’s leaked F.B.I. memo about the potential domestic threat posed by “traditional Catholics.” Plus, in a talk about forgiveness, a Michigan bishop called on Catholics not to “hate” politicians like Joe Biden—and then called the president stupid. 

Want to advertise your school, ministry program, book or anything else on Jesuitical? Send us an email at jesuitical@americamedia.org 

Links from the show:

What’s on tap?
Amaro Spritz

The latest from america

Paola Ugaz, a Peruvian journalist who helped expose the abuse committed by leaders of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, gives Pope Leo XIV a stole made of alpaca wool, during the pope's meeting with members of the media May 12, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Pope Leo offered a heartening message for a global media that has endured a pretty awful year.
Kevin ClarkeMay 23, 2025
If you think our enthusiasm for our basketball team was intense, just wait until you see our support for Pope Leo XIV.
Jack DoolinMay 23, 2025
“I don’t think he’s the kind of man who sends coded messages,” Cardinal Michael Czerny says in this exclusive interview with Gerard O’Connell.
Gerard O’ConnellMay 23, 2025
First-grade students finish an assignment at St. Ambrose Catholic School in Tucson, Ariz., in this 2014 photo. Arizona has one of the nation’s strongest school choice programs, with vouchers available to every child in the state. (CNS file photo/Nancy Wiechec)
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a ruling denying state funds to a Catholic charter school in Oklahoma. What should American Catholics be asking about public funding for school choice?
Beth BlaufussMay 23, 2025