Summary: While the election of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio to head the Roman Catholic Church as Pope Francis received widespread international attention, in fact the last six months have seen the elevation of three Christian clerics to fill the top position in their respective churches. This month historian David Brakke examines the different processes involved in electing these figures and explains how the Christian world came to have two popes and a primate in the first place. He also looks ahead to the challenges the new Church leaders will face in the coming years as they confront globalization, the communications revolution, and the growing popularity of charismatic Christianity. For more on religion past and present, see The Sunni-Shi'i Divide in the Muslim World; The Meaning of “Muslim Fundamentalist”; Charles Darwin and America; and Syria's Islamic Movement.
