Catholicism Is So Hot Right Now. Why?

The Assignment with Audie Cornish

Podcast Admin

News Commentary, News, Politics

4.6 • 844 Ratings

🗓️ 8 May 2025

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Catholicism is having a moment. The election of a new pope set social media buzzing with silly songs and comedy sketches, fantasy pope drafts and power rankings, and last year’s Oscar-winner ‘Conclave’ provided an imaginary reference point for what was happening behind the Sistine Chapel’s closed doors. But the interest goes beyond the papal election: Reports point to a rise in young converts, from JD Vance to Shia LaBeouf to a wave of Zoomers. Audie talks with Christine Emba of the American Enterprise Institute to unpack what’s driving this renewed fascination. Editorial note: This episode was updated on 5/8/25 with language describing the election of a new pope. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Finally, White Smoke.
0:05.2	There is a new head of the global Catholic Church.
0:08.8	And for those of you who have been following coverage closely,
0:11.8	maybe you made a prediction about who would step out onto the St. Peter's Basilica balcony.
0:16.5	Maybe you just found yourself caring way more about it than you expected.
0:21.8	You might have been, what some people are calling, Pope Pilled.
0:25.3	Let's have a conclave.
0:26.6	I want to have a conclain.
0:27.8	Stop the door tight.
0:29.2	Let's have a conclaim.
0:30.4	For the last couple of weeks, the internet has been more than ready.
0:34.5	Songs, sketches, power rankings.
0:37.4	We got a brand new season of the Pope games coming out and the girls are going at it.
0:41.3	And of course the president got involved by posting an AI-generated meme of himself in the Pope's white robes.
0:48.3	Actually, my wife thought it was cute.
0:50.3	She said, isn't that nice?
0:52.3	There were plenty of jokes.
0:53.3	But honestly, this felt like a race that everyone had a horse in.
0:57.2	I'm not even Catholic.
0:59.2	I'm an atheist.
1:00.2	Like, I care a lot who the next pope is going to be.
1:04.8	This cultural moment, it actually had been building for a while.
	...

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