What’s on Pope Leo’s desk this fall

In this week’s episode of “Inside the Vatican,” Gerry and Colleen take the opportunity of Pope Leo’s 71st birthday on Monday, Sept. 14, to look back at what he has accomplished thus far in his papacy and what major items remain on his desk for the fall, including trips to France and Latin America, a series of high-profile appointments and the ongoing trials of Marko Rupnik and Angelo Becciu.

The hosts also announce the launch of the newest America newsletter, Vatican Notebook! Subscribe here (americamagazine.org/sign-up-for-vatican-notebo…).

Chapters:

0:00 Intro

3:21 Pope Leo celebrates his 71st birthday

5:50 A review of Pope Leo's first year

10:01 Pope Leo's effect on geopolitics

13:53 Pope Leo assembles a diverse new team

21:50 Leo's focus on peace, poverty and A.I.

28:10 Pope Leo is in no rush

29:10 The pope's preferences for bishops

35:11 Plans for filling bishop vacancies

37:03 Marko Rupnik trial updates

40:53 A new attitude on Vatican finances

44:30 Outro

Links:

• How do popes celebrate their birthdays? Pizza, parties and puppies (americamagazine.org/explainer/2025/09/12/pope-…) (from 2025)

• Is Pope Leo ‘Americanizing’ Vatican fundraising? (americamagazine.org/vatican-dispatch/2026/09/0…)

• Pope Leo: Catholics cannot be ‘unengaged spectators’ amid ‘injustice, discrimination and violence’ (americamagazine.org/news/2026/09/02/pope-leo-g…)

• Pope Leo’s visit to France likely to attract a million people (americamagazine.org/news/2026/09/09/pope-franc…)

• Peruvian city to unveil world’s tallest statue of Pope Leo for trip to South America (americamagazine.org/news/2026/09/08/tallest-st…)

• A long-awaited reckoning: A timeline of the Father Marko Rupnik case (americamagazine.org/news/2026/09/04/marko-rupn…)

• Subscribe to Vatican Notebook (americamagazine.org/sign-up-for-vatican-notebo…)

Follow Gerry on X: @gerryorome (x.com/gerryorome)

Follow Colleen on Instagram: @colleendulle (instagram.com/colleendulle)

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