Published May 6, 2025
At first glance, it may seem strange—if not outright contradictory—for Protestants to care about who becomes the next pope. After all, the Protestant Reformation was built on rejecting papal authority. From Martin Luther’s 95 Theses to the clarion calls of the Reformers, Protestants have long distanced themselves from Rome’s magisterium. To put my own Protestant bona fides on the line, I reject the office of the papacy and affirm Scripture alone as the highest authority, not any bishop, including the bishop of Rome. And yet, as another papal conclave approaches, starting tomorrow, Protestants would be short-sighted to think it irrelevant. The truth is, we have a stake—an indirect but real stake—in who wears the white cassock next.
Why? Because we do not live in cultural isolation. Protestantism and Catholicism, despite our theological divides, share a civilizational framework that has been shaped by the Christian moral imagination—the dignity of the human person, the belief in objective truth, a concern for religious liberty, the rejection of statist tyranny, and the immutable realities of marriage and family. The Catholic Church, for all our doctrinal differences with it, remains the most globally visible institution representing historic Christianity. Whatever my disagreements with Catholicism (and they are many), the moral firmament provided by an ancient and visible institution cannot be overlooked. In the eyes of a secular world, the pope is not just a leader of Catholics; he is a symbol of the broader Christian moral witness. Protestants may bristle at that, but it is an undeniable reality. And when that symbol is weakened or distorted, as it was under Pope Francis, it affects all of us—Protestants included.
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EPPC Fellow Andrew T. Walker, Ph.D., researches and writes about the intersection of Christian ethics, public theology, and the moral principles that support civil society and sound government. A sought-after speaker and cultural commentator, Dr. Walker’s academic research interests and areas of expertise include natural law, human dignity, family stability, social conservatism, and church-state studies. The author or editor of more than ten books, he is passionate about helping Christians understand the moral demands of the gospel and their contributions to human flourishing and the common good. His most recent book, out in May 2021 from Brazos Press, is titled Liberty for All: Defending Everyone’s Religious Freedom in a Secular Age.
