Politics and the Roman Catholic Church [View all]

The year was 1963, and I was freshly graduated from high school when the Pope died. Not being a Catholic, I hadn't thought much about Popes, but suddenly it was in the news. I followed that news, as multiple Popes came and went in rapid succession. It was a time of turmoil in the church, apparently. That was the first time I had heard of the Conclave that selects a new pope.

Coincidentally, in 1963, a novel by Morris L. West, "The Shoes of the Fisherman," rocketed to the top of the best seller list. The subject of the novel was the election of a new pope. So, I read it as soon as it was available at the local public library. I found the political intrigue and complexity of choosing a Pope to be fascinating. Now, way too many years later, the Cardinals in Rome have another new Pope to choose. Once again, I'm fascinated by the politics of it all, which reflect politics everywhere.

If you're as interested as I am this time, you can read "The Shoes of the Fisherman" now. It's a page-turner. If you don't have time to do that, watch the movie "Conclave," which won a couple of Oscars. It's very good, too, and covers the same sort of complicated ground.