Jesuitical

When President Trump took to Truth Social earlier this year and attacked Pope Leo for being “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” most Catholics were understandably shocked. But a clash between a secular leader and the bishop of Rome is hardly without precedent. This week on “Jesuitical,” hosts Zac Davis and Ashley McKinless talk with Miles Pattendens, an expert on popes and papal conclaves, about the long and quirky history of feuds between popes and politicians.

In Signs of the Times, Zac and Ashley discuss the Vatican rejection of a request from the German bishops to allow lay people to preach the homily at Mass. Plus, a look ahead at Pope Leo’s summer plans. 

And in As One Friends Speak to Another, America Media’s O’Hare fellows—Brigid McCabe, Ed Desciak and Will Gualitiere—share some spiritual insights from a year working at the intersection of the church and the world. 

Jesuitical listener survey

00:00 Context
2:47 Vatican says "no" to women preaching
12:07 Pope Leo's summer schedule
16:05 History of Catholic authority
19:46 The investiture controversy
26:03 Pastoral concern or power grabs?
34:27 Henry VIII vs. Popes
39:20 How the church lost power
43:10 Moral authority on the global stage
52:00 Donald Trump's attacks on Pope Leo
1:00:10 Fill out our listener survey! https://forms.gle/yggZcBKeXYKbWYpM7
1:01:12 Faith sharing with our Fellows!

Learn about America Magazine's Joseph A. O’Hare, S.J., Postgraduate Media Fellowship: https://www.americamagazine.org/ohare-fellows

Jesuitical listener survey: https://forms.gle/yggZcBKeXYKbWYpM7

Links:

Vatican to German bishops: No lay people preaching homilies at Mass

Extraordinary consistory signals Pope Leo’s push to work with cardinals on global challenges

Pope Leo speaks out on SSPX ordinations and U.S.-Iran deal

Pope Leo to accept Liberty Medal and address Americans on July 3

Electing the Pope in Early Modern Italy, 1450-1700

Support Jesuitical by becoming a digital subscriber to America Magazine!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on “Jesuitical,” Zac and Ashley sit down with Luke Burgis, the director of the Cluny Institute at The Catholic University of America and the author of The One and the Ninety-Nine: Forging Identity in the Age of Social Contagion. They discuss why we join and leave tribes, how to form a “solid” self and what healthy group identity looks like.

In Signs of the Times, Zac and Ashley discuss Vice President JD Vance’s new memoir on converting to Catholicism, the consecration of the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and new statutes for the Vatican’s commission for the protection of minors. Plus, Pope Leo wraps up his successful trip to Spain on the Canary Islands—but has some trouble getting off them.

And in As One Friend Speaks to Another, Zac shares what he’s thinking about going into his very first Father’s Day.

0:00 Intro
3:30 J.D. Vance’s new book “Communion”
9:36 U.S. bishops meet for annual meeting in Orlando
19:44 Pope Leo finishes Spain trip
21:39 Papal plane trouble
24:25 Interview with Luke Burgis
25:52 The parable of the lost sheep
31:16 The age of social contagion
33:56 What Luke learned in seminary
38:05 Is your community good for you?
42:27 People respond to aesthetics
46:30 The importance of distance
48:46 The Catholic Church is unique as a community
57:20 What is the Cluny Institute?
1:02:25 What about AI?
1:05:24 Canonization
1:08:07 As One Friend Speaks to Another

Links:

The One and the Ninety-Nine: Forging Identity in the Age of Social Contagion

Learn more about the Cluny Institute

JD Vance writes about his journey to Catholicism in his new book, ‘Communion’

Consecration 101: What the bishops’ upcoming consecration of the US to the Sacred Heart means

Pope Leo XIV approves new statutes for child protection commission

Pope Leo ends visit to Spain with a call to repent

What’s on tap?

Sancerre

You can follow us on X and on Instagram @jesuiticalshow.  

You can find us on Facebook at facebook.com/groups/jesuitical. 

Please consider supporting Jesuitical by becoming a digital subscriber to America magazine at americamagazine.org/subscribe
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on “Jesuitical”, Ashley McKinless and Zac Davis talk to Dianne Bergant, C.S.A.,  who taught Scripture at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago for 44 years. She also served as America’s Word columnist from 2002 to 2005. During her time at CTU, Sr. Dianne had one very famous student, Robert Prevost—the future Pope Leo XIV. With Sr. Dianne, Zac and Ashley discuss what it’s like to be the teacher of a future pope and how approaches to teaching Scripture have evolved over time.

During Signs of the Times, Ashley and Zac unpack Pope Leo’s trip to Spain and a new Sagrada Familia Lego Set, and they talk sports with Catholic perspectives on the World Cup and NBA Finals—featuring some words from O’Hare Fellow Ed Desciak. 

In “As One Friend Speaks to Another,” Ashley shares an exciting announcement.

Links from the show:


Pope Leo defends the unborn and migrants in historic speech to Spanish parliament


More than one million attend Pope Leo’s Mass and procession in the heart of Madrid


Pope Leo meets Bad Bunny in Madrid


In Spain, Pope Leo denounces polarization and hails commitment to multilateralism


Lego announces new set designed after Spain’s Sagrada Família basilica


Oligarchs can’t ruin the World Cup 


Celebrating faith and FIFA: Italian-American community welcomes soccer legends


Your Catholic Guide to the 2026 N.B.A. Finals: Spurs Sisters vs. Villanova Knicks

You can follow us on X and on Instagram @jesuiticalshow.  

You can find us on Facebook at facebook.com/groups/jesuitical. 

Support Jesuitical by becoming a digital subscriber to America magazine at americamagazine.org/subscribe
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on “Jesuitical,” Zac and Ashley speak with Mary Kate Polanin, the executive editor of The Good Newsroom, the digital news outlet of the Archdiocese of New York. They discuss the important and changing role of diocesan communications, Catholics in the digital space and New York’s new archbishop.

In Signs of the Times, Zac and Ashley discuss Pope Leo’s surprising and historic choice to lead the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication and dig into the advice “Magnifica Humanitas” offers to each of us when it comes to navigating our relationship with A.I. Plus: Pope Leo heads to Spain on Saturday—and Bad Bunny is hoping they cross paths. 

Links from the show:

Pope Leo appoints president of EWTN News as head of Vatican communications

America’s coverage of “Magnifica Humanitas”

Bad Bunny wants to meet Pope Leo XIV. In Madrid, a crossover event is in the works.

The Good Newsroom

You can follow us on X and on Instagram @jesuiticalshow.  

You can find us on Facebook at facebook.com/groups/jesuitical. 

Please consider supporting Jesuitical by becoming a digital subscriber to America magazine at americamagazine.org/subscribe
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this bonus episode of “Jesuitical,” Ashley and Zac speak with two digital evangelization experts who helped create the Vatican’s study group report on the digital environment as part of the Synod on Synodality. Kim Daniels directs the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University, and José Manuel de Urquidi runs the Evangelization Lab. Both were synod delegates, along with then-Cardinal Robert Prevost (the future Pope Leo XIV), at the global sessions of the synod in Rome in 2023 and 2024. 

They discuss:

00:00 What are the Synod Study Groups?

7:10 How Pope Leo has shaped synodality

15:16 How influencers challenge church jurisdiction

28:30 Accompanying digital evangelizers

33:40 Converting to real communities

Links:

Study Group 3’s final report on the Digital Environment

The Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life

Evangelization Lab

Coverage of Pope Leo’s encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas”

You can follow us on X and on Instagram @jesuiticalshow.  

You can find us on Facebook at facebook.com/groups/jesuitical. 

Support Jesuitical by becoming a digital subscriber to America magazine at americamagazine.org/subscribe
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices