Fr. Bill McCormick, SJ, is a political scientist by trade and a current writer at the Vatican-sponsored, Jesuit-run journal La Civiltà Cattolica in Rome. Host Mike Jordan Laskey invited him onto the podcast for a special bonus episode on this moment of transition for the Catholic Church. They discussed the current mood in Rome; Pope Francis’ legacy; the Society of Jesus’ special connection to the papacy through its history; how Ignatian spirituality might inform our approach to the conclave and this period of change; what it means to believe the Holy Spirit is guiding the conclave without whispering a name into the cardinals’ ears; the papacy and celebrity culture; and more. We wanted to bring it to you before the conclave begins on Wednesday, and we hope it will help you get into the right frame of mind and heart in this very full, liminal period of time.

For further reading, courtesy of Fr. Bill:

Bishop Erik Varden, https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/bishop-varden-were-never-passive

Fr. James Martin, SJ, https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2025/04/28/conclave-francis-new-pope-father-james-martin-250502

Fr. Raymond De Souza, https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2025/04/26/the-liturgical-deaths-of-popes/

Fr. Bill's work at America Magazine: https://www.americamagazine.org/voices/bill-mccormick-sj

Fr. Bill's work at La Civiltà Cattolica: https://www.laciviltacattolica.com/author/william-mccormick/

AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Media Lab, which is a project of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.

www.jesuits.org/

www.beajesuit.org/

twitter.com/jesuitnews

facebook.com/Jesuits

instagram.com/wearethejesuits

youtube.com/societyofjesus

www.jesuitmedialab.org/