Through a lens: historic glimpses of popes and the papal selection process
Presbyterian Historical Society shares photos of recent pontiffs
Editor’s note: In 2023, PHS was awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to digitize 22,500 photographs and supporting documents from the Religious News Service Photograph Collection. Work began during the summer months of 2023, and will continue through December 2025. Learn more about the project.
In the days that have followed the passing of Pope Francis on April 21, there has been mourning the world over. The life of Pope Francis — a name chosen to honor Saint Francis of Assisi — "was a testament to humility and compassion, embodying the spirit of service and love for our neighbors.” I borrow these words from the Rev. Jihyun Oh, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly and Executive Director of the Interim Unified Agency, whose words of gratitude for the Life of Pope Francis can be read here.
Now, the world has been watching as the conclave gathered to conduct a voting ceremony full of ritual to elect a new pope. It seems as apt a time as ever to share a number of recently unearthed photos from the Religious News Service Photograph Collection that illustrate some of the processes the Catholic Church uses in selecting a new pope, as well as some images of popes through the decades. Fans of the film “Conclave” and curious readers alike — we hope you enjoy this glimpse into the Catholic Church’s rituals of faith.
This photo shows the room within the Sistine Chapel where the cardinals hold the conclave for the election of the new pope. The caption explains that “On right and left are the canopied ‘cells’ where the cardinals ballot. The election is held in complete secrecy and is literally cut off from the outside world.” It also makes note of the one canopy still erected along the right wall, which “signifies the stall of the newly-elected pontiff.”
In terms of the secret balloting, four rounds are conducted each day until a two-thirds or more vote is settled upon. The votes are inserted into a chalice that rests atop the altar at the front of the room. After a round has been counted aloud, if no candidate has received the necessary votes, the ballots are burned in a stove near the chapel. They are burned with a particular mixture of chemicals that produces black smoke —an important detail for those paying attention to the goings-on behind the cathedral’s closed doors.
The image at right shows you exactly what we mean when we said the election is “cut off from the world.” Here, we see workers preparing for the conclave meeting of June 1963, in which Pope Paul VI was elected to fill the papal vacancy.
White smoke puffed from the chimney Thursday when Catholic cardinals voted in Robert Prevost as the 267th pontiff to lead the Catholic Church. Prevost, the first American pope in the 2,000-year history of the Church, took the name Leo XIV.
And the Religion News Service was there to cover it, of course. Below, we share a selection of archival photos from our RNS Photograph Collection that feature moments with popes of the past.
In the photo below, we see Pope Paul VI shaking hands with John H. Glenn, Jr., a Presbyterian and the first American to orbit the Earth, which he did three times in 1962. The caption notes that this greeting and the succeeding audience between Glenn, NASA leaders, and the pope was “the first time that a pope has met with an astronaut.” Glenn was in Europe at the time on a trip on behalf of President Lyndon Johnson.
Pope Paul VI served as head of the Catholic Church from 1963 until his death in 1978. He was succeeded by Pope John Paul I, who served until his own death, only 33 days after elected to fill the papal vacancy. A “year of three popes” as followed his death in late September 1978 hadn’t occurred since 1605. John Paul I was succeeded by John Paul II, who then went on to become one of the longest-reigning leaders to hold the position.
And here, 20 years later, Pope John Paul II shakes the hand of Mary Ann Lundy. Lundy, who died in March, was a Presbyterian feminist and a leader within the Sanctuary movement. For four years, beginning in 1995 — the year this photo was taken — Lundy was Deputy General Secretary of the World Council of Churches in Geneva, Switzerland. Pope John Paul II served as head of the Catholic Church from 1978 until his death in 2005.
The world now watches as Pope Leo XIV ascends the papacy and becomes the newest leader of the Catholic Church. We watch and we continue to mourn the loss of Pope Francis, for whose legacy we are grateful, and who set “an example of a life unapologetically committed to treating those living on the margins of society with kindness and respect, giving us a glimpse of a more just, compassionate society rooted in the dignity of all people and the well-being of all God’s Creation,” to once again quote Oh.
Want more photographs of popes through the years? View the RNS digital collection in Pearl, which is being updated regularly as our archivists work to scan and rehouse the collection.
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