Pope Leo

The Spectator's editor Michael Gove ‘was born into a sternly Presbyterian culture’, but – in this week's magazine – is ‘giving thanks to the Pope’ for producing Magnifica Humanitas, his encyclical about artificial intelligence (AI). AI will be ‘as transformative as the Industrial Revolution’ but decisions ‘about where this technology is going and how it might be deployed are concentrated... in perilously few hands’. Michael joins Damian Thompson on Holy Smoke to explain why the document reveals Pope Leo to be 'intellectually confident and coherent', what the Christian response to AI should be and why he believes Catholic social teaching is 'absolutely essential' in instructing us for how to deal with this next technological revolution. Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

Anglican author The Rev'd Fergus Butler-Gallie, Catholic priest Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith and Evangelical commentator Fleur Meston join Damian Thompson to reflect on 2025. They discuss Pope Leo XIV's leadership so far, the choice of Dame Sarah Mullally as Archbishop of Canterbury and why Christianity has been coopted by the far right. Plus, was the 'quiet revival' of Church-going the start of a trend – or just a blip? Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

Nearly everyone loves Robert Prevost, the unassuming baseball fan from Chicago who unexpectedly became Pope Leo XIV this year. But as he prepares to spend his summer in Castel Gandolfo he has some difficult decisions to make. Is he prepared to clear up all the doctrinal confusion created by his predecessor Pope Francis? And will he allow liberal bishop to continue to persecute Catholics who prefer the ancient Latin form of Mass?  Damian Thompson gives us his thoughts in advance of Recovering the Sacred, a Spectator event at St Bartholomew-the-Great in the City of London on July 8 featuring debate and sacred music illustrating the recovery of tradition by a new generation of Christians. For tickets and more information, go to spectator.co.uk/church.