Vatican Journalist to Share Insider’s View of Pope’s Election at Elms College

CHICOPEE — Elms College will welcome Christopher White, a renowned Vatican journalist and author of one of the first biographies of Pope Leo XIV, to campus. White will be the keynote speaker for the Reverend Hugh Crean Distinguished Lecture and the Sister Mary Dooley Lecture, which will be combined this year and take place on Thursday, March 19.

White’s lecture, titled “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. The event will begin at 5 p.m. in the Elms College Alumnae Library Theater. The lecture is open to all. Click here to register.

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

“There’s been no more exciting — or surprising — news story over the last year than the election of a pope from the United States,” White said. “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.”

Since their inception, the Crean and Dooley lectures have brought prominent scholars and thought leaders to Elms College. 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 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,” Elms College President Harry Dumay said. “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.”