Not Always Under Lock and Key: History of the Election of Popes

The Purpose of this publication is to trace the intriguing history of papal elections. As is clearly documented here the history of the election of Popes has not always been a happy event, but it has always been an exciting one for a variety of reasons. It is full of fascination, conjecture, extraordinary expectations, fear, violence, secular politics, power struggles, personal and family ambitions, and so forth. There is one thing constant in the history of papal elections: whether or not the electors of Popes cooperate with Divine Providence or not, the Holy Spirit ensures that the Church established by Jesus Christ on the rock of Peter continues to survive until the Lord's return at the en of time.