The Popecast: A History of the Papacy

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.

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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 bein...

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 t...

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 anoth...

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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Today’s pope is certainly one for the record books. Even though he was only in office a couple short years, he’s memorable for one major papal staple that we take completely for granted these days.

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Today’s episode is one we’ve been very excited to bring you all for a long time. Our guest, Fr. Richard Kunst, is the curator of the world's largest collection of papal memorabilia and artifacts outside of the Vatican. Our conversation covers everything from how Fr. Rich’s collection came to be, some of the coolest and strangest articles he’s seen, his appearances on Pawn Stars, and (in the patron-only bonus section) even some ...

Our man this episode is altogether unique – and not just because he’s the only Successor of Peter with this particular name. No, he’s actually most famous for something he had no control over at all – because he was dead.

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This episode is about another one of those popes who you’ve probably never heard of, but is definitely one to remember. He was saintly from an early age, and despite desiring a life of anonymity in his service to Christendom, was plucked by the emperor from obscurity to become pope and, ultimately, usher in one of the biggest reform movements in Catholicism’s 2,000 year history.

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This week it's a special episode of the show – professor, historian, and author Dr. Michael Breidenbach joins the show to talk about his new book, Our Dear-Bought Liberty: Catholics and Religious Toleration in Early America (https://amzn.to/3e0RDAM)

Especially for those in America, the story Dr. Breidenbach tells in his book and on the podcast – how English-turned-American Catholics wrestled between fealty to the king and feal...

Today’s episode is about a pope who’s probably easy to overlook. He only reigned for a short time, we don’t know all that much about him, and he isn’t remembered as a saint – a canonized one anyway. And yet, he dabbled in plenty of important things and did alright.

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Today’s episode is about a pope who lived...and died...during the last and worst of Rome’s persecutions of the Christian people, that of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. But just how that living and dying went is still up for discussion. 1700 years later.

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Here's a pope who kept his head down and worked tirelessly for the good of Christendom. But in an age where secular rulers used the papacy as their plaything, he refused to be anyone’s puppet, and ended up paying the ultimate price. And what’s more, everyone though he was a bad pope until not all that long ago.

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This episode we're joined by JD Flynn and Michelle La Rosa from The PIllar to tackle one of the saltiest and most recent papal conspiracy theories – one of the doozies in pretty much the whole history of the Catholic Church. A half-century ago a pope reigned for a mere 33 days. Was it all just a strange coincidence, or was there something more nefarious afoot?

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This week's episode is a very special one indeed. Our pope today needs no introduction, being one of the finest men to ever grace the Chair of St. Peter, but he does need a long episode to tell the whole tale of his long and eventful life. October 22 – the day that this episode is being released – is this man’s feast day and the anniversary of the 1978 inauguration of his papacy, so raise a glass (or a pierogi) for one of the g...