Michelle Blanchard Ardillo

As an American and a Catholic, did I ever, in my wildest dreams, imagine an American pope? Absolutely not. But, on Thursday, May 8, 2025, that is exactly what happened. My husband and I were both home (freshly retired) and were having lunch at our kitchen counter. After we finished eating, my husband was cleaning up and I had gone into the living room to work on a writing project, another book review, no doubt. He had the kitchen tv on and suddenly shouted to me, “White smoke!” I immediately turned on the tv and switched to CNN, where much excitement—both on the tv and in my house—ensued.

An interminable amount of time passed and finally, finally, Cardinal Mamberti, a Vatican official, announced in Latin, Habemus papam, announcing Leo XIV as the new pope. Shock waves spread like wildfire across the entire world of Catholics and non-Catholics alike, as the realization that an American, albeit one with dual citizenship (USA and Peru), had been elected as successor to Pope Francis, as successor to the Chair of St. Peter, as Bishop of Rome, as the head of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church.

I was so excited that I rushed to get ready to go to the Catholic school—my home parish—where I had recently retired, where I had a tutoring appointment at 3:15, but I wanted to get there early enough, ASAP in fact, to share the excitement that I knew was wafting through the school, akin to the day before Christmas break, akin to the last day of school. And, I was not wrong! Everyone, both students and teachers alike, was so excited!

Naturally, when I saw this new book on NetGalley, I just had to request it. Thankfully, my request was granted, and I have just finished this newly published biography-ish of Pope Leo XIV.

First of all, I enjoyed reading this book. It is short, only 168 pages, published on July 15, 2025, by Loyola Press, a well-known publisher of Catholic works. I know Loyola Press well, as I taught middle school English for nearly twenty years from grammar, writing, and vocabulary materials published by Loyola Press.

The author, Christopher White, is currently the associate director for strategic initiatives and senior fellow of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University. White, more importantly for this book review, is the former Vatican correspondent and national correspondent for National Catholic Reporter. His reporting on Pope Francis’s papacy and passing, and the subsequent conclave leading up to the election of Pope Leo XIV, is what forms the basis for this book.

However, as I have followed many Catholic publications on social media for many years, and have read a lot of material on the papacies of Francis, Benedict, and John Paul II, I can’t say I learned much from reading this book. Much of the biographical information and reporting on Leo XIV begins halfway through this book, which on my Kindle started at around 46%. After Leo XIV’s election, I read many, many articles about our new pope. I watched the interviews of people who had known him, taught him, served with him in Peru, were raised with him, played “Mass” with him, and went to school with him.

If the second half of the book is about Leo XIV, the first half of the book is historical knowledge and reporting, something White is known for, about the history of previous conclaves, synods, and councils, and brief biographical information of popes all the way back to Pope John XXIII, whom I remember from my childhood, the first pope I can recall as he became pope when I was a two-year-old and died in 1963, the year I received First Holy Communion.

I enjoyed learning about Pope Leo XIV’s early days in the Church, his ascent in the leadership of his order. As Pope Francis was the first pope elected from the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits, Pope Leo XIV is the first pope elected from the Order of Saint Augustine. His devotion to both St. Augustine and Augustine’s mother, St. Monica of Hippo (my own Confirmation saint), was evident in that in his first appearance on the balcony of the Vatican after his announcement as pope, he was wearing the cross he was given when he was ordained as a cardinal. The cross contains relics of both St. Augustine and St. Monica.

This book is a good intro into the history of the papacy, of the conclave system, often shrouded in mystery, and of recent popes and their style of leadership. A blurb for this book states:

An authoritative account of the dramatic conclave that propelled Pope Leo XIV to the papacy and a discussion of the vision he brings to the Church’s future.

I think this is an accurate description of the second half of the book. Christopher White is no doubt a skilled reporter, whose articles and that of his former employer that are cited throughout the book revealed much about the inner workings of the Vatican.

Thank you to NetGalley, Loyola Press, and author Christopher White for the advance copy of this book.