March 11, 2026

Visiting author Christopher White to speak on Pope Leo XIV and the new papacy

REGIONAL
By Sharon Roulier

CHICOPEE – He “called it” before it happened. Christopher White, a renowned Vatican journalist and author of one of the first biographies of Pope Leo XIV, predicted that then-Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost “has the best chance of making history in this conclave.”

White made the statement in an April 30, 2025 article he wrote for the National Catholic Reporter, claiming the Chicago-born Augustinian friar was “worthy of serious consideration” for the papacy.

On Thursday, March 19, Elms College will welcome White to the campus as the keynote speaker for the Reverend Hugh Crean Distinguished Lecture & Sister Mary Dooley Lecture, which will be combined this year. The lecture entitled, “From Missionary Priest to Missionary Pope: Inside the Election of the First U.S. Pope,” will discuss the conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV in May 2025.

White is the author of “Pope Leo XIV: Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a New Papacy” (2025). The former Vatican and national correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter and Crux, is now the associate director for Strategic Initiatives and a senior fellow of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University.  

White said, “There’s been no more exciting or surprising news story over the last year than the election of a pope from the United States. I very much look forward to the opportunity to visit Elms College and the chance to pull back a curtain a bit to help explore the dynamics of the conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV.”

In an interview with Catholic Communications for the Diocese of Springfield, White called now- Pope Leo an “all-American” in that he grew up in Chicago, who was at the same time a missionary.

“That combination made him very appealing to the College of Cardinals” during the conclave that elected the pope.

During his lecture, White said he plans to look back at the legacy of Pope Francis and what happened in the two weeks between the death of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo.

He said he got to know Pope Leo some two years before he was elected pope.

“I got to know him first as a bishop and then as a cardinal,” said White, who described the pope as “very measured, careful and well-studied.”

Pope Leo also was “a down-to-earth individual, despite being the head of his religious order,” added White.

The 2-week period of the conclave was a “strange time,” according to White, as he recalled the occurrence of confidential, closed door meetings between the 133 voting cardinals and many more who were beyond voting age but allowed into the meetings. He said, as a Vatican journalist, he had developed relationships with many of the cardinals and “they would speak in broad terms” about what they were looking for in the next pope. 

He said he often heard the cardinals were looking for someone who shared in the same mission as Pope Francis; someone who had global experience; and someone who was a systems man.

“There weren’t a ton of men who checked all those boxes,” said White.

Yet, after just four ballots, Pope Leo XIV was elected. “Many of the cardinals were very proud of that and it was seen as a unifying moment in the church,” said White.

Elms College President Harry Dumay, Ph.D. said, “The election of the first pope from the United States is an exciting time for American Catholicism in general, and for U.S. theologians and scholars of Catholic thought in particular. In keeping with the traditions of both the Reverend Hugh Crean and the Sister Mary Dooley lecture series, we are pleased to welcome author Christopher White as he shares his first-hand account of the Church’s contemporary history.” 

Since their inception, the Crean and Dooley Lectures have brought prominent scholars and thought leaders to Elms College to engage in conversations about. This year’s lecture is sponsored jointly by the St. Augustine Center for Ethics, Religion, and Culture and the Institute for Theology and Pastoral Studies.

The annual Rev. Hugh Crean Distinguished Lecture was established through an endowment made by B. John (Jack) and Colette Dill to honor the legacy of Rev. Hugh Crean, recognizing Crean’s academic work at Elms College and his pastoral ministry throughout the Diocese of Springfield and the entire region. 

The Sister Mary Dooley Lecture was established by Elms College to recognize the tremendous contributions of Sister Mary Dooley ‘44, the sixth president of Elms College, who made significant contributions to the college, including adding intercollegiate sports.

The lecture begins at 5 p.m. on March 19 in the Elms College Alumnae Library Theater. It is open to all. A link to register is at https://www.elms.edu/events/visiting-author-christopher-white-on-pope-leo-xiv/