The Popecast: A History of the Papacy
The unvarnished, non-boring history of the popes of the Roman Catholic Church – told in a way to remind us that the world and the Church’s problems today have happened plenty of times before. Become a Paid Subscriber: https://anchor.fm/thepopecast/subscribe
Episodes
Enough with the AI audio versions of the pope's new encyclical. Those all seemed to rather largely miss the point, so here's a fully human read-through of Pope Leo XIV's brand new encyclical on artificial intelligence, human dignity, integral human development, and so much more.
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READ THE DOCUMENT FOR FREE: https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/encyclicals/documents/20260515-magnifica-humanitas.html
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Where to find ...
Katie McGrady – an author, podcaster, radio host, and Vatican Analyst for CNN – joins the show once again, this time to unpack Pope Leo XIV's new encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas. We get into everything from The Masters to the pontiff quoting Gandalf...maybe as a result of seeing a Katie's tweet? READ THE DOCUMENT: https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/encyclicals/documents/20260515-magnifica-humanitas.htmlFollow Katie:
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Jonathan Liedl, Managing Editor of the National Catholic Register, joins the show to talk about his on-location documentary about how Pope Leo XIV's nearly two decades in Peru shaped his priesthood, and now his papacy.
WATCH THE DOCUMENTARY: https://youtu.be/ziN1QrXh5vs?si=9zKoxhTHzOT_eXGM
Follow Jonathan: https://x.com/JLLiedl
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YOUTUBE: @t...
On his first anniversary, a reflection on Pope Leo XIV's election as Bishop of Rome. Where were you on that day? What do you remember?
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EMAIL: popecastmc@gmail.com
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POPECAST MERCH: https://the-popecast-store.creator-spring.com
Joining the show this week are John and Polly Snider, a Lutheran pastor and wife from Minnesota, who have been friends with Bob Prevost – now known to us as Pope Leo XIV – for over 40 years. Don't miss this episode that's chock full of stories and reflections from the life of the first American pope. --Where to find The Popecast: SUPPORT + NEWSLETTER: https://popes.substack.comYOUTUBE: @therealpopecast FB / T...
Returning once again to the show is Fr. Richard Kunst, curator of the largest private collection of papal artifacts anywhere in the world outside of Rome. We talk all about his huge exhibit at the Mall of America, a signed baseball from Pope Francis getting stolen, and a surprising meeting with some lifelong friends of Pope Leo XIV.
--Event with John & Polly Snider, Friends of Pope Leo XIV: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1C6t...
It’s safe to say that here in the 21st Century, we’re used to our popes having somewhat predictable backstories: entered the seminary at a young age, slowly rose through the ranks from priest to bishop to cardinal and so on. But centuries ago that wasn’t always the case – some had sordid backstories, fathering illegitimate children and living lives of ill repute, and some simply pursued one vocation only to have it ended suddenly b...
Dr. Matt Ponesse – or @medievalistmatt as he's known by so many – is a medieval history professor by day and a world-class memelord over on Instagram by…earlier in the day, as you'll learn in this episode. His calling card is using the marginalia from ancient manuscripts – the little doodles off to the side of the text itself – sometimes irreverent, sometimes just odd, but always hilarious when seen through 21st Century eye...
A very special guest indeed on this week’s show. I’m joined by Elise Ann Allen, Senior Correspondent for Crux in Rome, who recently conducted the first exclusive, extensive papal interviews of Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate. Those conversations have been turned into a brand new book from Penguin Random House entitled “Leo XIV: Citizen of the World, Missionary of the 21st Century.”
We talk quite a bit about what it’s like to sit across ...
Our favorite fellow papal history buff is back with us this week, Fr. Richard Kunst from the Diocese of Duluth Minnesota, here to talk about meeting Pope Leo XIV, his huge upcoming exhibit at the Mall of America, and some other little tidbits you won’t want to miss about traveling to and around Rome.
Fr. Rich's website: papalartifacts.com
--Where to find The Popecast: PAID SUPPORT + NEWSLETTER: https://popes....
Imagine: A corpse that’s nine months dead is propped on a throne in full papal vestments, and placed on trial for various alleged offenses. A teenage deacon is assigned to answer questions on its behalf. And the present pope is screaming at the body. Well that’s our pontiff for today’s episode. The man who lost his mind, his papacy, and eventually his life over a dead guy.
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Special guest Michael Lentz of Memory Medieval joins the show this week to discuss the landmark Norman victory over papal forces at the Battle of Civitate in 1053.
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MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE
- Norman Documentary: https://youtu.be/cNzyHW6c_ME?si=xJ5KR1oAubtqquH-
- [BOOK] Warrior Churchmen of Medieval England - https://amzn.to/4qMEKhP
- [BOOK] The Normans: From Raiders to Kings - https://amzn.to/4oPyjbY
- [BOOK] Empires of the Norma...
Our pope this week bears a familiar name to us in the present day, was one half of a powerful alliance between a pope and one of the greatest Western kings to ever live, and even had something in common with the current United States president. Stay tuned to the end to find out what it is.
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Where to find The Popecast:
PAID SUPPORT + NEWSLETTER: https://popes.substack.com
YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/@therealpopecast
FB /...
FROM THE EPISODE:
- Apply to the EWTN Summer Academy
- Anthony's website: https://www.anthonyspqr.com
- Follow Anthony on Instagram @anthonyspqr.com
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Where to find The Popecast:
PAID SUPPORT + NEWSLETTER: https://popes.substack.com
YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/@therealpopecast
FB / Twitter / Instagram: @thepopecast
EMAIL: popecastmc@gmail.com
This one is easily one of the most unique topics we’ve covered on the show thus far. Our guest is Dr. D.P. Curtin, and he is the founder and editor of The Scriptorium Project, an initiative of collecting, preserving, and translating the body of surviving documents from Christian antiquity, and making them available for the wider world to read and digest for themselves.
To date, the project’s releases have pulled from the Greek,...
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....
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...
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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NEWSLETTER: https://popes.substack.com
YOUTUBE: https://...
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 upco...
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 ...
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