If the robot-run Vatican’s grand project to build an infallible Pope and the Listeners’ reality-spanning searches for a literal Heaven stirred you, Stapledon’s visionary journey in Star Maker will feel like the next step up the ladder. Its nameless traveler sweeps across civilizations and epochs toward an encounter with the creator itself—mirroring the way Project Pope uses vast discovery to interrogate divinity, purpose, and consciousness.

Drawn to the debates inside the robot Vatican over infallibility and the evidence for "Heaven," you’ll appreciate Father Ruíz-Sánchez’s moral crisis in A Case of Conscience. As he evaluates the seemingly virtuous alien world of Lithia, he must decide whether it’s a divine wonder or a theological trap—much like how the Listeners’ reports force Project Pope to weigh revelation against dogma.

If you loved how Project Pope balances big ideas with the warm rhythms of everyday life among robot monks and human collaborators, you’ll feel right at home aboard the Wayfarer. Chambers’ crew navigates thorny questions of personhood, identity, and belonging—echoing the compassionate conversations that arise from the Listeners’ journeys and the Vatican’s humane ethos.

If the Listeners’ forays into bewildering worlds and the tantalizing possibility of a discovered "Heaven" gave you chills, Rendezvous with Rama delivers that same hush of discovery. Clarke’s team maps the immense cylindrical starship, peeling back mysteries step by step in the same spirit of patient wonder that defines Project Pope’s most breathtaking moments.

If you were riveted by the inquiry into whether the Listeners truly found Heaven—and the schisms it sparks within the robot Vatican—Contact will resonate. As Ellie Arroway’s team deciphers a message from the stars and constructs a machine of uncertain purpose, the global debate over truth, belief, and evidence mirrors Project Pope’s gripping investigation.