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When the white smoke poured from the Sistine Chapel chimney on May 8, 2025, signaling the election of a new pope, the air in St. Peter’s Square seemed to crackle. I was there, shoulder to shoulder with journalists from every major outlet, each eager to be the first to spin the moment into a headline. The crowd erupted in cheers, pilgrims wept and cameras whirred. For Catholics, though, it was not simply a matter of history but of faith. A man had been chosen to stand in the line of Peter, to be our Holy Father.
In those frenzied hours, I joined my friend Katie Prejean McGrady in offering live coverage for CNN. As the world strained to comprehend what it meant that an American, Cardinal Robert Prevost, had become Pope Leo XIV, I witnessed Katie doing what she does best: cutting through noise with clarity, candor and faith. That same voice rings out in her contribution to “When the White Smoke Clears: A Guide to Pope Leo XIV’s Early Days” (Ascension, 2025).
The book itself is a kind of early compass to navigate Pope Leo’s pontificate, published in the immediate wake of the conclave. It gathers essays from familiar and trusted guides — Fr. Mike Schmitz, Jeff Cavins, Dr. Edward Sri, Dr. Marcellino D’Ambrosio and others — who sketch the outlines of Pope Leo’s biography, reflect on his first words and gestures, and help the faithful situate this new papacy within the unbroken tradition of the Church. It is not, nor does it claim to be, a definitive biography or sweeping theological synthesis. Rather, it is a set of meditations — snapshots in prose — that invite Catholics to pray, ponder and respond.
Continued below.
www.oursundayvisitor.com
In those frenzied hours, I joined my friend Katie Prejean McGrady in offering live coverage for CNN. As the world strained to comprehend what it meant that an American, Cardinal Robert Prevost, had become Pope Leo XIV, I witnessed Katie doing what she does best: cutting through noise with clarity, candor and faith. That same voice rings out in her contribution to “When the White Smoke Clears: A Guide to Pope Leo XIV’s Early Days” (Ascension, 2025).
The book itself is a kind of early compass to navigate Pope Leo’s pontificate, published in the immediate wake of the conclave. It gathers essays from familiar and trusted guides — Fr. Mike Schmitz, Jeff Cavins, Dr. Edward Sri, Dr. Marcellino D’Ambrosio and others — who sketch the outlines of Pope Leo’s biography, reflect on his first words and gestures, and help the faithful situate this new papacy within the unbroken tradition of the Church. It is not, nor does it claim to be, a definitive biography or sweeping theological synthesis. Rather, it is a set of meditations — snapshots in prose — that invite Catholics to pray, ponder and respond.
Continued below.
'When the White Smoke Clears': Seeing beyond the headlines
"When the White Smoke Clears" invites Catholics to encounter Pope Leo XIV not through headlines, but through the eyes of faith.
www.oursundayvisitor.com
