On April 15, to mark the one-year anniversary of Pope Leo’s historic election, Commonweal editor Dominic Preziosi moderated a conversation with religion reporters and columnists about the new pope and his early pontificate at the Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage at Loyola University Chicago. 

“Pope Leo has focused on the obligation to care for the poor and vulnerable,” Preziosi noted in his introductory remarks, “and on the need for the Church to be in dialogue with the modern world, especially with the ‘seemingly inexorable advance’ of artificial intelligence and its implications for human dignity and with war and peace. All very much in keeping with what was expected.”

Participants included journalists Colleen Dulle, Vatican correspondent for America magazine; Gretchen Crowe, editor-in-chief of OSV News; and Michael Sean Winters, columnist at the National Catholic Reporter.

The discussion was jointly sponsored by the Hank Center and Commonweal magazine. Michael Murphy, director of the center, noted that the event was planned well in advance of Donald Trump’s public criticism of Leo.

“A few months ago, this seemed like perhaps a rather more straightforward topic of conversation,” Preziosi said before noting the start of the Trump administration’s campaign of mass deportation, the U.S. raid in Venezuela, the war with Iran, and the repeated attempts by vice president—and “noted theologian”—J. D. Vance to lecture the pope about Catholic doctrine.

The discussion was part of the Hank Center’s annual Cardinal Bernardin Common Cause Lecture series. Launched in 2017, the Common Cause lecture series was named in honor of former Archbishop of Chicago Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, who was known for his development of the “seamless garment” ethic of life and his commitment to the common good. 

To view the discussion, click here.