“Habemus Papam.” We have a pope. We have a papa. We have a father.

The announcement of a new pope is a startlingly joyous and even spellbinding moment, when not just the faithful but also many who seemingly have no interest in the Church stop and cheer together. What is being proclaimed? What is the significance of the pope for the Church and, through the Church, for the world? What are we all struck by when the announcement echoes through the arms of St. Peter’s square to every corner of the world?

John Cavadini joins me today to talk about the announcement of the election of Pope Leo XIV. We hope this conversation offers you something a little different than what the typical news commentary on this historic occasion offers.

Church Life Today is a partnership between the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame and OSV Podcasts from Our Sunday Visitor. Discover more ways to live, learn, and love your Catholic faith at osvpodcasts.com. Sharing stories, starting conversations.

Have you ever thought about becoming a brand expert for C. S. Lewis or J. R. R. Tolkien? On the one hand, these seem like authors who need no introduction. On the other hand, how many people today really know the work of these towering 20th Century authors, beyond what made its way onto the silver screen? And what about one of the authors closely associated with them – Dorothy Sayers – who is far from well known in the general public but whose work is of similar creative and literary quality with her more famous friends and interlocutors?

Maybe you haven’t ever thought about launching a public relations campaign for one of these authors for the sake of a modern audience of young adults, but my guest today has. She is Christie Kleinmann, Professor of Public Relations at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. Professor Kleinmann is one of a dozen fellows in our second annual cohort of the Inklings Project, run out of the McGrath Institute for Church Life. Along with the other eleven fellows who come from colleges and universities across the United States and in four foreign countries, Professor Kleinmann developed and offered a new course this spring that draws the work of the Inklings into her own area of expertise: strategic public relations. The students in her course were divided into three semester-long groups, which each took as their “clients” one of these three Inklings: Lewis, Tolkien, and Sayers.

Today, Professor Kleinmann joins me to talk about the project of her course, the relevance of the Inklings, and the creativity of her students.

This is the first of a two-episode set. The second episode will feature three of Professor Kleinmann’s students, one from each of the three Inklings groups.

Follow-up Resources:

• Learn more about The Inklings Project. Interested in applying as a fellow for 2026–26? Check out the call for applications here (due July 1, 2025).
• Check out the Dorothy Sayers Instagram account from the Sayers group in Prof. Kleinmann’s course.
• Check out the C. S. Lewis Instagram account from the Lewis group in Prof. Kleinmann’s course.
• Check out the J. R. R. Tolkien Instagram account from the Tolkien group in Prof. Kleinmann’s course.
• Find syllabi from Inklings Project fellows in our free syllabus repository.

Read and subscribe to the “Inklings Quarterly.”

Church Life Today is a partnership between the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame and OSV Podcasts from Our Sunday Visitor. Discover more ways to live, learn, and love your Catholic faith at osvpodcasts.com. Sharing stories, starting conversations.

When we say the name “God”, have we assumed too quickly that we know what we mean? We use that word quite regularly, without much strain or prolonged consideration, as if the meaning of the word were self-evident. But what if you had to explain – indeed, translate – the word “God” into a language that had no such concept? That would force you, I think, to really reckon with what you mean and what you assume when you use that word: the name, “God”.

That is not merely an intellectual exercise; that was in fact the experience of the 16th and 17th Century Jesuit missionary, Matteo Ricci. His primary mission was to China, where he strove to bring and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who often had not only a different language but also a different imaginary landscape than that which European Christians were accustomed to.

In our episode today, the eminent scholar of the Sino-Western Exchange, Professor Anthony Clark, talks with me about Matteo Ricci, evangelization, inculturation, and the legacy of dialogue. Anthony Clark is Professor of Chinese History at Whitworth University, where he also holds the Edward B. Lindaman Endowed Chair, and he directs the Oxford Lewis-Tolkien Program, the Rome History and Culture Program, the area of Asian Studies, and the Study in China Program. He joins me today, in studio, while visiting Notre Dame to deliver a lecture titled “In the Footsteps of Dialogue: China and the Legacy of Matteo Ricci.”

Follow-up Resources:

• Find out more about Professor Anthony Clark at his website: https://anthonyeclark.squarespace.com/
• China's Saints: Catholic Martyrdom During the Qing (1644–1911), by Anthony Clark
• “China’s Religious Awakening after Mao,” by Ian Johnson, article in Church Life Journal
• “Religion in China, with Ian Johnson,” podcast episode via Church Life Today

Church Life Today is a partnership between the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame and OSV Podcasts from Our Sunday Visitor. Discover more ways to live, learn, and love your Catholic faith at osvpodcasts.com. Sharing stories, starting conversations.