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Prayers for a speedy conclave were answered when, on May 8, white smoke billowed from the Sistine Chapel chimney to signal the election of a new pope. Robert Francis Prevost, who will now be known as Leo XIV, later emerged—the first American pope in the Vatican’s history. In 2013, cardinals elected Pope Francis after five rounds of voting; for Pope Leo XIV, it was just four rounds to secure the two-third majority.
In the days since Pope Francis’s death on Easter Monday, amid the mourning, marveling at the ecclesiastical opulence, and the reveling in what felt like the Catholic Super Bowl, the divine mystique of the whole affair has drawn the world in. TikTok has been dominated by fan-cams likening cardinals and would-be popes to Drag Race contenders and explainers dissecting religious systems and traditions. Viewings of Edward Berger’s Oscar-winning film Conclave spiked 284% after Francis’s death, while Netflix’s 2019 drama The Two Popes was up 417%. Pope Leo’s brother shared that the new pope had actually watched Conclave himself so he “knew how to behave.”
While we won’t be getting The Real Housecardinals of the Vatican City on Bravo anytime soon—though Andy Cohen is something of a divine power in and of himself—there’s plenty more Catholic ephemera to enjoy. I’m both Irish and Italian, so alongside my Catholic guilt, internalized shame, and penchant for grandiosity comes a cultural diet that would satiate anyone who found themselves enraptured by the conclave. Through reporting on several stories about nuns and people of faith, however, I’ve also gathered a few monastic-approved recommendations.
One young nun from Wexford, Ireland—who, when I met her, had just turned 32 and was about to receive her first solemn vows—told me about the documentary that first inspired her to explore convent life. She had seen it with a friend who was recently dumped, and wanted to watch something “that absolutely involved no men or romance.” She also spoke to me about her love for Patrick Kavanagh’s poetry.
Be not afraid—below is a list of what to watch, see, and listen to if you’re not ready to close the doors on papal fever just yet.
From a silent Jesuit retreat along the Welsh coastline to Evangelical youth festivals, Lamorna Ash explores why young people are turning more and more to Christianity. Is it our age of disconnection and uncertainty? A desire to return to traditional values, or seek something altogether new? Ash, who grew up with a Church of England primary school education and a scant knowledge of hymns, embarks on a journey first spurred on by two friends—comedians—who both surprisingly pursued clerical life. The book beautifully unspools a bigger picture of faith and the need to nourish the soul.
“There is an awful lot of mysticism about. More than ever in recent years,” writes philosopher Simon Critchley in his centuries and continents-spanning book. It’s a fascinating excavation of humanity’s age-old—yet still very modern—quest to understand the divine, from a writer who has engaged with subjects as broad as football, suicide, humor, and David Bowie, all with equal fervor. Critchley is stylishly skeptical, but still retains playfulness and intrigue.
School of Love, Would You Believe
As mentioned, I once interviewed a young woman who said she was made to watch this documentary with a friend who had just been through a bad breakup, and requested they watch something that definitely didn’t feature any men. They came upon School of Love, a 2014 documentary from Irish broadcaster RTE about Ireland’s only female Cistercian monastery. It lit something within her, and just recently, she completed her first solemn vows with the same order to become a Cistercian nun.
School of Love follows the austere lives of the Cistercian Sisters of Saint Mary’s Abbey, Glencairn, in County Waterford, Ireland. Here, they follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, teachings founded in the sixth century. While, for some, this life of intense prayer, work, and silence would seem limiting, for this group of nuns, it represents access to experiences much bigger than their individual selves. (One such person in the doc is Dublin-born Angela, an IT specialist who visited Glencairn one weekend and stayed to pursue vows.) School of Love offers an intimate glimpse at some very personal journeys to faith, and the draw of intense religious communities.
The Popecast: A History of the Papacy
From a pope who wrote a romance novel and other bad-boy papas, to one who was elected because a bird landed on his head: The Popecast is a wacky, warts-and-all journey through the papal history books. With over 100 episodes and a huge cast of characters, the pod makes it clear that the problems plaguing the Catholic Church today are nothing new. Other episodes reflect on the most recent election and dive into how the conclave really works.
Pope Joan
This 1972 film is based on the medieval legend of a woman, in the guise of a man, who reigned as pontiff in 855 to 858 under the title of John VIII. It’s told through the eyes of a 20th-century evangelist (Liv Ullman) who believes herself to be Joan reincarnated. The popess’s very existence has long been disputed and discounted, but Michael Anderson’s film is nevertheless a grand and dramatic take on the Catholic hierarchy.
