KINGSTON, R.I. – March 31, 2025 – University of Rhode Island medieval scholar Joëlle Rollo-Koster spent January conducting research at the Vatican Apostolic Archives in Rome. As she walked around Rome and Vatican City, she was stunned by the languages spoken by the faithful who visited the city for the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year.

Rollo-Koster, a fellow of the Medieval Academy of America and expert on the Avignon Papacy and the Great Western Schism, expected to hear people speaking French and German. But the majority of visitors spoke Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, and other world languages.

“Historically, the West has been the foundation of Catholicism,” she says. “But in the past generation, the margins of Catholicism – such as Asia – have become the important center of Catholicism.”

The changing demographics of the Catholic Church may be the future. But for the last six years, Rollo-Koster has led a team of international scholars  in telling the story of the papacy’s first 2,000 years – from Saint Peter, the believed first pope, to Francis.

“The Cambridge History of the Papacy,” published by the prestigious Cambridge University Press, provides a comprehensive and cross-disciplinary examination of the papacy from its creation and development as a central institution in the world that affects the lives of millions of Catholics to its vast influence on society, culture and world affairs for centuries. The three volumes address such topics as the pope’s dominion within the Church; papal authority as an instrument of governance; the papacy’s influence on such areas as art, science, medicine, and diplomacy; and its response to issues such as the role of the women in the Church, reproductive rights around the globe, and sexual scandals.

“This is the first in-depth history of the papacy covering topics thematically and chronologically,” Rollo-Koster says. “There have been encyclopedia and dictionary projects but never such a work, written by specialists on each subject. It is a critical historical survey of the structural development of the papacy as an institution, and as an actor in Church history and world history.”

Like other Cambridge histories, the three volumes – researched and authored by more than 90 specialists over its 2,400 pages – is meant to be a chief reference for the next century. Rollo-Koster, a frequently sought after media commentator on Church issues, was the lead editor on the project, working with Robert A. Ventresca, a professor of history at King’s University College at Western University; Melodie H. Eichbauer, professor of medieval history at Florida Gulf Coast University; and Miles Pattenden, a teacher of history at the University of Oxford. 

“This is not light reading,” Rollo-Koster says with a laugh. “We cover a huge array of history. But this has nothing to do with faith. This is how historians look at the papacy.”

Perhaps the oldest institution in the world, the papacy has had a direct influence not only on religion, but culture, politics, economy and society, she says. It has continued to remain relevant amid globalization with modern popes, such as John Paul II and Francis, making large efforts at interfaith communications.

“It has had a profound impact on the lives of millions of people, especially up until the 16^th century,” says Rollo-Koster. “As the Church has become global, we can see it continuing to have an impact in places where it has not before, like Asia, and in places where there have been profound and important other religions. It’s still expanding.”

It’s been able to last for centuries – and grow to more than 1.406 billion followers – by adapting and reinventing itself when needed. And it has stayed relevant as popes, such as Francis, have taken stands on issues such as climate change and LGBTQIA+ issues. “It changes. It goes with the flow,” she says. “But it’s always floating, always remaining on the top. I think its capacity for adaptation has to be the key.”

It has also managed to weather crises, such as the sexual-abuse scandal over the last three decades. For an institution which claims celibacy as an ideal, says Rollo-Koster, there might not be a deeper crisis. But while paying out billions in settlements, the Church is hardly diminished.

“It has a political capacity at standing its ground,” she adds. “I think it has a long institutional memory where it has gone through everything.”

In its history, there have been many challenges as the papacy was established. The top might be the pope’s right to fundamental authority over sovereigns, not only on matters of  religion but on governance. Other threats to its power have included radical movements—such as the Protestant Reformation—that challenged the pope’s infallibility, and the loss of papal territories, which forced the papacy to adopt a system where its revenues were not land-based.

“The papacy invented taxations in the Middle Ages,” she adds.

As the lead editor, Rollo-Koster edited or re-read the 90-plus articles in the three volumes numerous times. She came across a lot of history she did not know. “We are all specialists. We spend our life in our centuries,” says Rollo-Koster, a specialist on the 10^th to 14^th centuries.

Among the articles that stood out for her was the papacy’s use of radio and TV to connect with the faithful—after having banned the use of the printing press in the 15^th century. As a child in France, her family didn’t own a TV but she remembers listening to the pope on the radio with her mémé.  

“For me, this is great because I think here you see the savviness of the papacy. From the 1930s, the moment these new media appeared, they jumped on it. From there on, you start seeing the pope in his Popemobile and his travels,” she says. “That was brilliant. This is what made the success of the papacy, the capacity to adapt. Not really changing the message, but changing the way the message was transmitted.”