Protestant Yet Concerned: Why Rome Still Matters As a Protestant who embraces the Gospel agenda of the Reformation, I affirm sola scriptura, sola gratia, sola fide, solus Christus, and soli Deo gloria as the pillars of true Christian doctrine. My ecclesiology rejects papal infallibility, Mariology, transubstantiation, and the magisterium’s claim to doctrinal authority. Yet, despite this, I have followed the 2025 papal conclave with a keen interest. One might ask: Why should someone so committed to Protestant theology be invested in an event so deeply enshrined in Roman Catholic tradition? My answer is both personal and theological. My ancestors in India were evangelized by Portuguese missionaries, most notably Saint Francis Xavier, who brought the message of Christ long before Protestant missions arrived on Indian soil. I was baptized into the Catholic Church, though it was the Word of God that eventually led me to the clarity of Protestant doctrine. My faith journey from R...