The Popecast: A History of the Papacy

Wayne Kalayjian is author of the new book Saving Michelangelo’s Dome: How Three Mathematicians and a Pope Sparked an Architectural Revolution, the incredible story of how precarious cracking throughout the dome of St. Peter's Basilica prompted an unprecedented collision of the greatest minds in construction, science, math, and the Catholic Church.

GET THE BOOK: Saving Michelangelo's Dome

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Wayne Kalayjian is a civil and structural engineer who has designed buildings, bridges, towers, and tunnels on five continents. He knows how they are built, why they stand up, how to keep them safe, and why—on occasion—they fall down.

Wayne also lectures at the University of Southern California and is an engineering expert for the California Department of Consumer Affairs. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and art history from Tufts University, a master’s degree in structural and earthquake engineering from Stanford University, and a master’s degree in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In 1995, Wayne engineered the move of an historic lighthouse on Cape Cod National Seashore. Just as the mathematicians in his book saved Michelangelo’s dome from collapse, he used those same scientific principles to save Highland Light from falling into the sea. Since then, his one-of-a-kind drawings have been on permanent display at the lighthouse museum in North Truro, Massachusetts. Wayne was raised in New England and lives in Southern California.

Our pope this week reigned at a time when the historical record wasn’t much, and we don’t know a whole lot about his life as a result. And yet his contributions to the history of the papacy have still resounded for over 1600 years.

Read Pope St. Siricius' full letter: https://thepopecast.fm/blog/siricius-decretal

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Today we chat with Andrew Gillsmith, author of the new and critically-acclaimed sci-fi novel, Our Lady of the Artilects. The book is absolutely outstanding (find the link to purchase it below) in its merging together of a plausible ultra-high-tech future and a global landscape that's shifted both geographically and spiritually.

GET THE BOOK: https://amzn.to/3E8bFpq

Find Andrew on Twitter @andrewgillsmith

Other book references from Andrew:

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Our pope this week was your garden variety early Church pontiff – battling heresy, beautifying churches, and being an all around good guy. But one thing set him apart...sending a certain snake-expelling bishop on mission to a little island in the North Atlantic, and changing the face of the world forever.

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Our pope this week was in the Chair of Peter for barely a moment in the great lifespan of Catholic history, but his humble heart and joyful demeanor has influenced each of the three popes that have followed him and put him firmly among the most memorable and beloved pontiffs of the last several centuries.

And yes, this is the second time we’ve covered him on the show, but he deserved a refresh – after all, on the day this is being released, our pope will be BEATIFIED by Pope Francis in Rome.

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First it was Peter. Then it was Linus. And then it was this guy.

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Today's episode is a great conversation with Timothy Nerozzi, who currently works as a Breaking News Reporter for Fox News. Timothy shares his take in particular on why secular reporting about the pope is quite terrible these days, his approach to journalism, and then of course we go into great detail on the office of the papacy itself – why we should keep a level head about Pope Francis, how the papacy has been changing over the past century, and a ton more.

In addition to his work at Fox News Digital, Timothy has written for a large swath of solid publications, including Catholic News Agency, The Lamp Magazine, Washington Examiner, and the Daily Caller.

LINKS:

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Special Guest: Timothy Nerozzi.

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Now, here at The Popecast we normally cover those men who are considered to be “valid popes” – that is, a legitimate part of the unbroken line of succession in the Roman Catholic Church that began when Jesus gave the keys to Peter and, as is commonly understood, sits now with Pope Francis.

And while there have been grandiose antipopes throughout history – men who we may one day talk about in more detail – today’s subject is another case entirely. Few may know about the man from Kansas who claimed to be pope, and unironically so.

Recently he died, so today’s episode will tell the story of and serve as a tribute for David Bawden, the man who for the past 32 years had – by his estimation – reigned over the true Catholic Church as Pope Michael.

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Links from the Episode:

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This pope is another one of those best kept secrets of Catholic history – he held some of the most influential post in Renaissance Christendom, presided over Catholicism’s response to the Protestant Reformation, and then cracked the top 10 for shortest papal reigns. But his mom sure would have been proud that he kept the name she gave him.

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Matt had the pleasure of being a guest on Real Presence Radio out in the Midwest, on a show hosted by none other than our most recent special guest Fr. Richard Kunst, to talk about the origins of The Popecast and his own personal favorite popes and papal history stories, among other things.

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Special Guest: Fr. Richard Kunst.

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