Pope Leo and Trump aren’t the first feuding leaders: a history of papal power clashes
About this episode
The episode discusses historical clashes between popes and secular leaders, focusing on recent comments by Donald Trump about Pope Leo.
When President Trump took to Truth Social earlier this year and attacked Pope Leo for being “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” most Catholics were understandably shocked. But a clash between a secular leader and the bishop of Rome is hardly without precedent. This week on “Jesuitical,” hosts Zac Davis and Ashley McKinless talk with Miles Pattendens, an expert on popes and papal conclaves, about the long and quirky history of feuds between popes and politicians. In Signs of the Times, Zac and Ashley discuss the Vatican rejection of a request from the German bishops to allow lay people to preach the homily at Mass. Plus, a look ahead at Pope Leo’s summer plans. And in As One Friends Speak to Another, America Media’s O’Hare fellows—Brigid McCabe, Ed Desciak and Will Gualitiere—share some spiritual insights from a year working at the intersection of the church and the world. Jesuitical listener survey 00:00 Context 2:47 Vatican says "no" to women preaching 12:07 Pope Leo's summer schedule 16:05 History of Catholic authority 19:46 The investiture controversy 26:03 Pastoral concern or power grabs? 34:27 Henry VIII vs. Popes 39:20 How the church lost power 43:10 Moral…
People in this episode
Hosts: Zac Davis, Ashley McKinless
Guest: Miles Pattendens
Topics covered
- papal power clashes
- history of feuds
- Catholic authority
- Vatican policies
- spiritual insights
- political influence
Keywords
- Catholic Church
- Vatican
- political feuds
- spiritual insights
- Pope Leo
- Donald Trump
- papal power
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: America Media, Vatican, German bishops, America Magazine, Joseph A. O’Hare, S.J., Postgraduate Media Fellowship
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