Should the church encourage Catholic influencers?

Jesuitical

America Media

News, News Commentary, Spirituality, Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.7 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 2 June 2026

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On this bonus episode of “Jesuitical,” Ashley and Zac speak with two digital evangelization experts who helped create the Vatican’s study group report on the digital environment as part of the Synod on Synodality. Kim Daniels directs the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University, and José Manuel de Urquidi runs the Evangelization Lab. Both were synod delegates, along with then-Cardinal Robert Prevost (the future Pope Leo XIV), at the global sessions of the synod in Rome in 2023 and 2024. They discuss: 00:00 What are the Synod Study Groups? 7:10 How Pope Leo has shaped synodality 15:16 How influencers challenge church jurisdiction 28:30 Accompanying digital evangelizers 33:40 Converting to real communities Links: Study Group 3’s final report on the Digital Environment The Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life Evangelization Lab Coverage of Pope Leo’s encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas” You can follow us on X and on Instagram @jesuiticalshow. You can find us on Facebook at facebook.com/groups/jesuitical. Support Jesuitical by becoming a digital subscriber to America magazine at americamagazine.org/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Changes in sexual performance are more common than most people realize, and support doesn't need to feel awkward. With MedExpress, everything happens privately online. Start by completing a short consultation reviewed by UK registered clinicians. If eligible, treatment is delivered discreetly to your home with ongoing support whenever you need it. You're not alone in this. Visit medexpress.com.
0:21.8	Dot UK slash podcast to learn more. Hello and welcome to Jesuitical, a podcast from America Media for saints and sinners.
0:40.4	You can join us each week for honest conversations about the Catholic Church and our world today, sometimes over drinks.
0:47.3	I'm Ashla McKinless, and this week we are talking to Kim Daniels and Jose Manuel de Urquite.
0:53.6	They were both members of the Synod Study Group focused on the digital environment,
0:58.3	which delivered their final report to Pope Leo back in March.
1:02.3	Zach and I talked to Kim and Jose Manuel about influencer culture
1:06.7	and also how the digital environment is really challenging the church's traditional hierarchies
1:12.7	and how bishops exercise their authority. And I think this is a really important conversation,
1:18.1	especially in light of Pope Leo's new encyclical on artificial intelligence and human dignity.
1:24.3	Both these documents talk about how we as a church should react to these new
1:29.4	technologies in a way that maintains human dignity and human connection while not being
1:35.1	afraid to engage in the digital world. So stick around for our conversation with Kim and
1:41.9	Jose Manuel. And if you want more coverage of the encyclical and the Synod reports, check out the show notes below.
1:53.9	Joining us from Washington, D.C. is Kim Daniels.
1:57.3	Kim is the director of the initiative on Catholic social thought and public life at Georgetown
2:02.2	University and a member of the Vatican Dicastry for communication. Welcome back, Kim. Great to be here.
2:09.9	And joining us from Dallas, Texas is Jose Manuel de Orquite. Jose Manuel is the founder of the Juan
2:15.9	Diego Network and was a voting member of the Synod on Synodality.
2:20.3	Also welcome back.
2:22.3	Great to be here again. No mescal this time, but well, here we are.
2:25.3	No, I know. It's too sad. And you might know Urquiti if you looked at photos from the Synod as the guy in the baseball cap.
	...

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