Curated playlist

Popes

Pope Paul IIINicolaus Copernicus dedicated his treatise on a sun-centered universe to Pope Paul III.
Pope John Paul IIPope John Paul II visited the man who shot him in 1981 and called him a brother.
Pope Julius IIPope Julius II told cardinals praising his health, "They are flattering me," and died months later.
Pope Alexander VIPope Alexander VI opened the first holy door at St. Peter's Basilica on Christmas Eve 1499.
Pope Clement XIVPope Clement XIV signed the order that ended the Jesuits in 1773. He had been educated by Jesuits himself.
Pope FrancisPope Francis stepped onto the balcony of Saint Peter's Basilica in March 2013 and greeted the crowd with one plain Italian word, "Buonasera", which means good evening. Moments later he described himself as a pope who had come almost from…
Pope Clement VIIPope Clement VII was born one month after his father was stabbed to death in a cathedral.
Pope Benedict XVIPope Benedict XVI was born Joseph Alois Ratzinger on Holy Saturday, the 16th of April 1927, and was baptised the same day. For years as a cardinal, he said what he wanted most was a quiet life in his house in Pentling, a Bavarian village…
Pope Pius XIIPope Pius XII was elected on the 2nd of March 1939, which happened to be his 63rd birthday. The cardinals needed only one day and three ballots to choose him. According to rumour, he asked for one more ballot to be sure the result was…
Pope Pius VIIPope Pius VII was crowned in 1800 wearing a papier-mâché tiara. French forces had confiscated the real papal tiaras.
Pope Leo XIVBefore the 2025 conclave, the future Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, explained his chances to a friend by text message. "I'm an American, I can't be elected," he wrote. He was elected anyway. This documentary follows a path…
Pope Boniface VIIIIn 1303, soldiers paid by France's king broke into Pope Boniface VIII's palace. They held him captive for three days.
PopeWhite smoke from a narrow chimney above the Sistine Chapel is how the world learns that a new pope has been chosen. The pope is the bishop of Rome and the head of the Catholic Church, which has 1.4 billion members. The most recent man to…