Project Pope
1981 novel by Clifford D. Simak
Project Pope is a science fiction novel by the American author Clifford Simak, published in 1981 by Ballantine Books. The novel is about a group of robots and humans living on a planet called the End of Nothing. Their mission is to search the universe and other dimensions to seek out true religion and knowledge. They add the information they gather to their Pope, a robotic supercomputer, in order to make an infallible authority of all knowledge and religion. The novel was nominated for both a Hugo Award for Best Novel and a Locus Award for Best SF novel in 1982.
Plot
On a desolate planet named the End of Nothing at the edge of the galaxy, a group of robots and their human assistants form the religious institution called Vatican 17. This group is engaged in a secret project to create the ultimate infallible Pope, a supercomputer robot containing all knowledge that can be gathered from this universe and other dimensions.
Some of this information comes from human psychics called Listeners who can travel mentally to other planets and dimensions. Their experiences are recorded on "knowledge cubes" and eventually fed into the Pope. Based on the Pope's interpretation of all knowledge both material and spiritual the robots hope to establish a truly universal religion.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Project Pope” as 1981 novel by Clifford D. Simak. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1981 novel by Clifford D. Simak. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q10354447. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1981 and 1982.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
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- Expand the search: follow Project Pope primary sources, Project Pope archive and Project research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Project Pope” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.