SALON LUITPOLD | „Der Vatikan im Wandel – wer ist Leo XIV.?"

"The Vatican in transition - who is Leo XIV?"

Andreas R. Batlogg in conversation with Simon Biallowons (Verlag Herder)

On Easter Monday 2025, Pope Francis dies after twelve eventful years in office. Just eight days later, the cardinals elect a successor, Robert Francis Prevost, who calls himself Leo XIV - and surprises the world. Jesuit and Vatican expert Andreas Batlogg was in Rome during these dramatic days and provides exclusive insights into the end of one pontificate and the beginning of a new one. Who is this Pope, the first American and Augustinian to ascend the Chair of Peter? What does his election mean for the future of the Catholic Church? Will he continue the legacy of Francis or break new ground?

Andreas R. Batlogg, Dr. theol., was born in 1962 and is a Jesuit and publicist. From 2008 to 2015, he headed the Karl Rahner Archive in Munich and was editor-in-chief of the monthly magazine "Stimmen der Zeit" until 2017. Batlogg has been working in Vienna since May 2025 and is known as an expert on the Church and the Pope in Germany and Austria.

Simon Biallowons, born in 1984, studied philosophy and is a graduate of the Catholic School of Journalism ifp. He worked as a correspondent in Rome, lived in the Middle East and reported as a reporter for various media in many countries. Biallowons is the author of several bestsellers and is currently managing director and editor-in-chief of Herder Verlag.