what's amazing to me is that i attended catholic school for 9 years but know so little about the history of the catholic church. while badgering us to be good and keep the sacraments, they ignored where these traditions started and why they're important.
i no longer consider myself catholic (nor particularly religious, for that matter), but have also found the pomp and circumstance surrounding the changing of popes very interesting.
for those who have questions as to the what, why, and how things are done in the catholic church, i have found a website that has helped me better understand the workings of the church:
Catholic Info.