Papacy in global politics: Pope Leo XIV and peacemaking today

Pope Leo XIV has been elected at a time of disruption in the international order, also originating from changes in US foreign policy. The international situation has implications for the diplomatic activity and relations of the Vatican with the different continents, but also in the priorities of the papacy both at the religious and political level.

Massimo Faggioli’s lecture will analyse the new role of the papacy in global politics at the time of Pope Leo XIV, the first pope from the USA.

Professor Faggioli will be joined in discussion by Carmody Grey and James Walters.

Meet our speaker

Massimo Faggioli is Professor in Ecclesiology at the Loyola Institute at Trinity College Dublin. Among his recent publications: The Liminal Papacy of Pope Francis. Moving Toward Global Catholicity (2020); The Oxford Handbook of Vatican II, co-edited with Catherine Clifford (2023). He is co-author of Global Catholicism: Between Disruption and Encounter (2024) with Bryan Froehle. His book on Leo XIV will be published in autumn 2026 (in English by Liturgical Press and in Italian by Morcelliana).

Discussants

Carmody Grey is Special Professor of Integral Ecology at Radboud University (Netherlands). Alongside her Visiting Professorship at LSE, she is Adjunct Professor of Ethics at the University of Bern (Switzerland). She was previously Assistant Professor of Catholic Theology at Durham University. Since joining Durham in 2018, she forged a global reputation in philosophical theology and theological ethics, with a focus on science, nature and technology. Her monograph Theology, Science and Life was published in 2023. She holds multiple degrees in theology and philosophy (Trinity College Oxford, King’s College Cambridge, the University of Bristol, and the University of Nottingham) as well as a postgraduate degree in conservation biology (from Edinburgh).

James Walters is founding director of the LSE Faith Centre and LSE Religion and Global Society. Since opening in 2014, the centre has developed programmes to promote religious literacy, interfaith leadership, and a better understanding of religion-related conflict among LSE’s diverse student body, in government and among wider global publics. Professor Walters is a Professor in Practice, affiliated to the Department for International Relations and an associate of the LSE Department of International Development.

Chair

Luca Tardelli is Associate Professor (Education) in International Relations at LSE. His research focuses on international security, military intervention, and US foreign policy.

More about this event

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