Welcome back to the Extra Edition newsletter! I’m excited to bring you bonus content each month with a special inside look at my novels and the history behind them.

While most of the main characters in my novels are Catholic Christians, many of my readers are not. Therefore, with the recent historic announcement of Pope Leo XIV as the first American-born pope and Peruvian citizen, I thought it would be interesting to look at some topics related to the Catholic Papacy. Please note that I am not a theologian. For more details, I recommend talking to your local Catholic clergy.

In this Edition:

Quick Facts About the Papacy

Does the pope need to be a cardinal before election?

Do cardinals campaign to be pope or side with political parties?

Do Catholics believe the pope is infallible?

Is the movie Conclave accurate of the actual Conclave?

Bonus – Do Catholics worship Mary?

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Quick Facts About the Papacy

1. The pope (aka the Supreme Pontiff, the Vicar of Christ, the Bishop of Rome, and the Successor of Peter) leads the Roman Catholic Church (over 1 billion people) from the tiny country of Vatican City in Rome.
2. Pope Leo XIV is the 267th pope in an unbroken line since St. Peter. Of those, 82 are canonized saints; 31 are martyrs.
3. The Papal Conclave (the meeting where the pope is elected) occurs in the Sistine Chapel adjacent to St. Peter’s Square. Tradition holds that St. Peter was crucified upside down in this square and is now entombed in St. Peter’s Basilica, also adjacent to the square.
4. Pope Leo XIV was elected on May 8, 2025, the feast of the Apparition of St. Michael the Archangel to Pope Leo XIII, who penned the St. Michael the Archangel prayer to help defend the Church and her believers from demonic attacks.
5. Pope Leo XIV’s papal motto comes from St. Augustine and is, “In Illo uno unum,” which translates to, “In the one Christ, we are one.”

Does the pope need to be a cardinal before election?

First, let’s clarify what is meant by the title of cardinal. This is the highest pre-papal level of church leader and is appointed by the pope. Prior to being elected, most popes are priests, then bishops, then cardinals; however, the only official requirement to become pope is to be a baptized male. The last non-Cardinal pope was Pope Urban VI in 1378. For a full list of all 267 popes from Peter to Leo XIV, visit the Vatican’s website.

Do cardinals campaign to be pope or side with political parties?

No. The pope is ultimately chosen through each individual cardinal’s prayerful consideration and subsequent voting. 2/3 agreement must be reached to elect a new pope. Church leaders, whether they’re deacons, priests, bishops, cardinals, or the pope himself are called to teach what the Church teaches, including those topics related to political and/or moral issues. Sometimes those fall in line with a particular political party and sometimes they don’t, but no specific party is endorsed by the Church. Church leaders can speak out against a specific politician, law, or policy if it is leading people away from Church teaching, for example, in the case of abortion. However, people do not always behave as they should, so, it’s also important to become familiar with Church teaching through independent study. The Bible in a Year and Catechism in a Year studies are excellent resources.

Do Catholics believe the pope is infallible?

Sort of and only in rare instances. CatholicAnswers.com sums this up pretty well: “An infallible pronouncement—whether made by the pope alone or by an ecumenical council—usually is made only when some doctrine has been called into question. Most doctrines have never been doubted by the large majority of Catholics.”(1) This is known as the pope speaking Ex cathedra, a term that means “from the chair [of St. Peter].” When this happens, the pope prays for the intercession of the Holy Spirit and takes time to come to a decision before making an Ex Cathedra declaration. This is the only time the pope, through the Holy Spirit, is considered infallible. It is so rare that it’s only occurred twice in the last two centuries.

To be very clear, Ex Cathedra does not mean that every time the pope speaks, he is speaking infallibly. For example, when he speaks with the media, gives a homily, or has dinner with friends. One would expect him, even at these times, not to cause a scandal, but unfortunately, some popes throughout the Church’s 2,000 year history have. Therefore, it is important to pray for all church leaders so that, as Matthew 26:41 says, they “may not undergo the test. For the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Is the movie Conclave accurate of the actual Conclave?

I will be honest, I haven’t watched the movie, but I really liked the two reviews below because of the deeper messages they present about the Church and the Conclave process. I follow both of these priests regularly and trust their judgement.

Fr. David Michael Moses Review

Fr. Mike Schmitz Review

Do Catholics worship Mary?

This one isn’t related to the papacy, but it’s the #1 question I’m always asked by non-Catholics, so I think it’s important enough to include.

Catholics do not worship Mary and they never have. Catholics honor Mary as Jesus’s mother, as someone who knew Him intimately, followed Him completely, and leads us back to Him. We ask her to intercede to Jesus for us, praying for us as anyone on earth would pray for us. At the wedding at Cana, she told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you,” which is the same message she still gives us today. On Calvary, Jesus gave His mother to the Church when He said to John, “Behold, your mother,” and to Mary, “Behold, your son.” He honored Mary and asked that we honor her as well.

Mary is a beautiful example of what following Christ should look like. St. Maximilian Kolbe, a priest and WWII martyr, once said, “Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did.”(2) I could give a thousand other quotes, but here are just a few to emphasize why Mary is so important:

Pope Saint John Paul II – “The Blessed Mother has been given to us as a model in our pilgrimage of faith. From Mary we learn to surrender to God’s will in all things. From Mary, we learn to trust even when all hope seems gone. From Mary, we learn to love Christ, her Son and the Son of God. For Mary is not only the Mother of God, she is Mother of the Church as well.”(3)

St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo – “Didn’t the Virgin Mary do the will of the Father? I mean, she believed by faith, she conceived by faith, she was chosen to be the one from whom salvation in the very midst of the human race would be born for us, she was created by Christ before Christ was created in her. Yes, of course, holy Mary did the will of the Father. And therefore it means more for Mary to have been a disciple of Christ than to have been the mother of Christ. It means more for her, an altogether greater blessing, to have been Christ’s disciple than to have been Christ’s mother. That is why Mary was blessed, because even before she gave him birth, she bore her teacher in her womb.”(4)

And finally, in Pope Leo XIV’s first papal address, he said, “Our Mother Mary always wants to walk at our side, to remain close to us, to help us with her intercession and her love.”(5)

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Until next time, happy reading!

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

Kelsey

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Purchase signed copies of my books: kelseygietl.com

Follow me on:

COPYRIGHT © KELSEY GIETL 2025

Welcome back to the Extra Edition newsletter! I hope everyone had a very blessed Easter. I’m excited to bring you bonus content each month with a special inside look at my novels and the history behind them.

Behind the Design of Across Oceans

I recently reread my first published novel, Across Oceans, and realized how far I’ve come as an author and cover designer. Since that first design, between my own books and other authors, I’ve created hundreds of different versions of covers, most of which are never shown to the readers. (You can see the ones that made the cut here.) So, today, I thought it would be fun to share the design process for Across Oceans including all three “final” versions.

Version #1 – “The Suitcase”

Across Oceans takes place in the early 1910s, the exact same time that my great-grandmother was married and luckily for me, I still have her wedding dress. Since the story involves travel, I also wanted to incorporate my grandmother’s antique suitcase. Here are some of the photos from the first photo shoot:

Here is how the first cover turned out – my great-grandmother’s wedding dress, gloves, and headpiece inside my grandmother’s suitcase. I was in love with this design. It had exactly the romantic feel and nostalgia I was going for. I even printed a proof copy and still thought it was great.

Then I showed it to my beta readers, and their comments shattered all those warm fuzzy feelings I had. “It’s a great first try.” “It’s boring.” “It looks like an indie cover, you need something more professional.” “The font is, um, ok, I guess.” “The font is definitely wrong.” “Where’s the ocean?” I’ll admit, I was initially overwhelmed, but I picked myself up, reviewed a LOT of historical fiction covers, opened a blank file, and started again.

Version #2 – “Make It Blue”

Photo shoot #2 took a different approach. I realized that readers, especially romance readers, tend to prefer people on the cover. But this was my first book, stock photos were expensive (and still are), and I didn’t yet understand all the nuances of copyrights and acceptable stock sites. Therefore, across my first four books, I only used photos that belonged to me. For Across Oceans, I was the model in my great-grandmother’s wedding dress and my daughter took the photos. Here are a few of the many photos we took:

Despite my love of the suitcase, it didn’t fit the cover and was eventually nixed. I blended the colors on the dress, added an ocean photo I had taken in Florida for the background, drew a ship in Photoshop, added a tagline, and found a better font. I was once again in love with the cover, especially after I received the green light from beta readers. I approved my proof and uploaded it for publication.

Version #3 – “Make it Pink”

But over the next six months, I kept looking at that cover and started feeling that something was off about it. I just couldn’t figure out what. Then one of my beta readers said to me, “Maybe because it’s so blue?” It was like a light went off. She was right! All the colors blended together. It didn’t stand out when compared to other book covers. I did some more research and learned that adding a pop of color (especially a shade of red) is more likely to draw a reader’s eye. So, I changed the sky to a pinkish purple, added a background and border to the title, and swapped out the tagline for an author endorsement to better fill the space. Across Oceans also received a new series title: Over the Atlantic.

Voila! Here is the cover that has been used ever since:

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Until next time, happy reading!

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

Kelsey

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Purchase signed copies of my books: kelseygietl.com

Follow me on:

COPYRIGHT © KELSEY GIETL 2025