After the white smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel chimney on May 8, we turned on the TV here at the Jesuit Conference HQ in Washington and landed randomly on ABC News. We immediately heard a familiar voice: It was Fr. James Martin, the Jesuit author who certainly needs no introduction to AMDG listeners. In addition to writing bestselling books like Come Forth about the biblical character of Lazarus and working at America Magazine and Outreach, an LGBTQ Catholic organization, Fr. Jim is a frequent commentator on the Catholic Church in the secular media.

ABC news sent him to Rome to be part of the team covering the funeral of Pope Francis, the conclave, and the first moments of Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate. Host Mike Jordan Laskey asked Fr. Jim on the show to share about his experiences in Rome this past month and to bring us behind the scenes. Fr. Jim also knows Pope Leo XIV a little bit, as they sat at the same table at the Synod on Synodality general assembly last year. He shared his impressions of the Pope and how he thinks he might be an agent of healing especially in the American church. Finally, Fr. Jim shared some of his memories of Pope Francis, who was a big supporter of Fr. Jim’s ministry. We know you’ll enjoy Fr. Jim’s perspective on witnessing Church history in Rome this month.

"Come Forth: The Promise of Jesus's Greatest Miracle": https://bookshop.org/p/books/come-forth-the-promise-of-jesus-s-greatest-miracle-james-martin/18814978

Outreach: https://outreach.faith/

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

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