The guy we’re covering this week was nothing short of a prophet. He called out society’s future ills decades before they actually happened, and reigned as pope through the assassination of an American President, the sexual revolution, and a sweeping reform in the Catholic Church.

FROM THE EPISODE:

- Church of Spies: The Pope's Secret War Against Hitler - https://amzn.to/3Hmn8XV

- Humanae Vitae (full text): https://www.papalencyclicals.net/paul06/p6humana.htm

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Since there's a Pope Leo in the Vatican for the first time in over a century, we thought it might be nice to learn about the ORIGINAL Leo, who came to power at one of Catholicism’s first major turning points – the collapse of the Roman Empire and the simultaneous rise of the Church as the caretaker of civilization. Spiritual and corporeal danger alike were brewing beyond the walls of the Eternal City, but this GREAT pontiff was up to the task.

Read the Tome of Leo here: https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3604028.htm

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HABEMUS PAPAM! The cardinals elected Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, OSA on the evening of Thursday, May 8, after which the new pontiff took the regnal name of Pope Leo XIV.

Here's our armchair reflections on the election, his first appearance to the world from St. Peter's Basilica, and what to be thinking about in the weeks and months ahead.

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Although the papal election process has over the centuries, since 1996 the Catholic Church's rules governing conclaves have stemmed from a document from Pope St. John Paul II entitled Universi Dominici Gregis.

On today's episode, we're joined by Donald Paul Maddox, author of the excellent publication In Defense of Theology on Substack and co-host of the Saints in the Parish podcast, to take a deep dive into how the upcoming conclave to elect the next Successor of St. Peter will REALLY work.

- Subscribe to In Defense of Theology: https://indefenseoftheology.substack.com/

- Listen to Saints in the Parish podcast: https://www.stlawrencefairhope.com/parish-podcast.html

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Where to find The Popecast:

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Friend of the show and renowned papal memorabilia collector Fr. Richard Kunst rejoins The Popecast to talk about the Conclave of 1903 and the last instance of "jus exclusivae" – the right assumed by Catholic monarchs for centuries to veto a pick for the next pope (through their cardinal primate) if they found a particular candidate objectionable – along with various papal historical intricacies and speculations about the upcoming conclave to replace Pope Francis.

Fr. Rich's website: papalartifacts.com

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Our favorite Instagram world traveler and fan of the show - Marilis Pineiro of @exnunontherun - joins The Popecast for EPISODE 100 to share some great stories about her time in religious life serving Pope Francis directly while working in the Vatican.

FOLLOW: instagram.com/exnunontherun

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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

PATREON: https://patreon.com/thepopecast

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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Support The Popecast: A History of the Papacy