Andrea Bocelli and Pharrell Williams hosted an unprecedented pop concert in St. Peter’s Square on Saturday night, Sept. 13, the eve of Pope Leo XIV’s 70th birthday. This week on “Inside the Vatican,” America Vatican correspondents Gerard O’Connell and Colleen Dulle discuss the concert, the Pope Leo’s birthday, and excerpts from his first major papal interview.

The hosts discuss Pope Leo’s comments on his American and Peruvian identity, synodality, polarization and the role of the Holy See as both a mediator and a voice for peace.

Links from the show:

Leo turns 70: What it means to have a (relatively) young pope

How do popes celebrate their birthdays? Pizza, parties and puppies

Pope Leo receives credentials of U.S. ambassador to the Holy See

Pope Leo calls out billionaires and income inequality in first interview

From Chicago to Chiclayo to Rome: The Global Social Vision of Pope Leo XIV

The unlikely hip-hop duo performing at a historic Vatican concert

Pope Leo expresses his ‘profound closeness’ to the people of Gaza as Israeli ground invasion begins

Credits:

Production, engineering and video editing: Kevin Christopher Robles

Executive producer: Sebastian Gomes

Inside the Vatican is a production of America Media.

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