The Popes since 1900: How 11 prelates rode 20th and 21st centuries

Pope Emeritus Benedict and his successor, Pope Francis. [Standard] 

For the last over 120 years, the men who wore the robes of papacy did not just lead the Catholic Church, they steered the world's oldest Christian body through some of the most turbulent waters in modern history.

Often seen as a bastion of tradition, the papacy might conjure images of timeless rituals and ancient walls, untouched by chaos of the world outside but in reality, being Pope in the modern age meant to constantly confront the world’s upheavals head-on guiding over a 1 billion faithful while responding to a whirlwind of global change.