As the world held its collective breath for white smoke at the Vatican to signal the selection of a new Catholic pope, some members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were smugly thinking how straightforward their faith‘s succession process is.

No guessing. No politicking. No top candidates. The senior apostle simply moves up a seat.

Some wonder, though, what’s wrong with mystery and surprise? Is an election in this context necessarily devoid of the Holy Spirit? Couldn’t God make any system righteous? Why does it matter?

On this week’s show, Latter-day Saint historian Matthew Bowman and Utah Catholic archivist Gary Topping discuss how the two global religions pick their top leaders — the precedents at play, the politics involved, the pluses, the minuses, and how both can see God’s hand in the result.

Listen to the podcast: