426. The American Pope: Leo XIV, Trump, and the New Vatican Soft Power

In this episode of The Big Picture, Patrick speaks with leading religious and political journalist Catherine Pepinster to examine the soft power, geopolitics, and spiritual influence of Pope Leo XIV (Robert Prevost).

Episode Highlights

• The Rise of Pope Leo XIV: How the Augustinian friar and former missionary in Peru became leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, positioning him as a unique "American outsider" on the global stage.
• Clashes with the White House: An analysis of the high-profile disputes between Pope Leo, Donald Trump, and Vice-President J.D. Vance regarding foreign intervention, rhetoric on Iran, and controversial religious imagery.
• Reinterpreting "Just War" & AI: Discussion of the Pope's encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, which tackles the ethics of artificial intelligence (developed with input from tech figures like Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah) and argues that traditional just war theory is outdated.
• The Global Shift in Faith: Examining religious trends across the globe, from youth curiosity in the UK to rapid church growth across the Global South and Pentecostal shifts in South America.
• UK Politics & Vatican Diplomacy: How new UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham's Catholic upbringing influences his social values, and an insider look at Vatican diplomacy—including Archbishop Sir Paul Gallagher's mission to Moscow.

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Producer: James Hodgson

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