Center on Religion and Culture
Welcome to Fordham’s Center on Religion and Culture
At a time when religion’s role in American life is both praised and contested, Fordham’s Center on Religion and Culture (CRC) explores the complex relationship between faith and contemporary life.
Through public events and conversations with experts and artists, scholars and faith leaders, the CRC seeks to engage and elevate the public dialogue about religion and culture, the mind and the soul, inclusion and identity, politics, and the arts.
The CRC is hosting a full slate of in-person and online events in the 2026-2027 academic year.
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A Global Pope for a Global Church: Leo XIV and the Paradox of an American Papacy
The 18th Annual Julia Burunat Memorial Lecture
October 18, 2026 | 4:30 p.m.
Twelfth-Floor Lounge | Fordham University | Lincoln Center
113 W 60th Street | New York, NY 10023An ironclad rule of conclave politics was always that no American could be elected pope. Ever. Then in May 2025, the College of Cardinals chose Chicago-born Robert Prevost to succeed Pope Francis, taking the name Leo XIV. American by birth, Peruvian by assimilation, everything about the “Latin Yankee,” as they call him in Rome, has been a paradox.
In the annual Burunat Lecture, David Gibson, a longtime Vatican reporter before he came to Fordham to direct the Center on Religion and Culture, unpacks Leo’s papacy by trying to answer three principal questions: Why was he elected? What does his papacy mean for the global Catholic Church? And for American Catholicism?
RSVP by October 14 by emailing [email protected] or calling (718) 817-3240.
Stay tuned for details on the CRC’s growing schedule of programs and follow us on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, Twitter) for updates. You can also join our email list to receive CRC news and event invitations.
In the meantime, you can check out our YouTube channel for curated videos of our past events, or learn more about our past programming below.
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