The Popecast: A History of the Papacy – Details, episodes & analysis

Wayne Kalayjian is author of the new book Saving Michelangelo’s Dome: How Three Mathematicians and a Pope Sparked an Architectural Revolution, the incredible story of how precarious cracking throughout the dome of St. Peter's Basilica prompted an unprecedented collision of the greatest minds in construction, science, math, and the Catholic Church.

GET THE BOOK: Saving Michelangelo's Dome

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Wayne Kalayjian is a civil and structural engineer who has designed buildings, bridges, towers, and tunnels on five continents. He knows how they are built, why they stand up, how to keep them safe, and why—on occasion—they fall down.

Wayne also lectures at the University of Southern California and is an engineering expert for the California Department of Consumer Affairs. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and art history from Tufts University, a master’s degree in structural and earthquake engineering from Stanford University, and a master’s degree in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In 1995, Wayne engineered the move of an historic lighthouse on Cape Cod National Seashore. Just as the mathematicians in his book saved Michelangelo’s dome from collapse, he used those same scientific principles to save Highland Light from falling into the sea. Since then, his one-of-a-kind drawings have been on permanent display at the lighthouse museum in North Truro, Massachusetts. Wayne was raised in New England and lives in Southern California.

Our pope this week reigned at a time when the historical record wasn’t much, and we don’t know a whole lot about his life as a result. And yet his contributions to the history of the papacy have still resounded for over 1600 years.

Read Pope St. Siricius' full letter: https://thepopecast.fm/blog/siricius-decretal

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Today’s pope is certainly one for the record books. Even though he was only in office a couple short years, he’s memorable for one major papal staple that we take completely for granted these days.

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Sponsored By:

• Catholic Balm Co.: Fans of The Popecast get 10% off their entire order with the promo code POPE – visit catholicbalm.co to check out their entire supply of beard balms, oils, lotion bars, muscle and skincare rubs, and more. Promo Code: POPE

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Today’s episode is one we’ve been very excited to bring you all for a long time. Our guest, Fr. Richard Kunst, is the curator of the world's largest collection of papal memorabilia and artifacts outside of the Vatican. Our conversation covers everything from how Fr. Rich’s collection came to be, some of the coolest and strangest articles he’s seen, his appearances on Pawn Stars, and (in the patron-only bonus section) even some never-before-heard stories about BOTH Popes John Paul.

In addition to curating this great collection, Fr. Rich is a priest of the Diocese of Duluth Minnesota, pastor of St. James Parish in Duluth, and believe it or not, was even at one time Fr. Mike Schmitz’s vocation director when the latter was in formation for the priesthood.

FR. RICH'S WEBSITE: https://www.papalartifacts.com
Michelangelo & the Pope's Ceiling [Book recommendation from Patron-Only Bonus section]: https://amzn.to/3KkQqTb

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Special Guest: Fr. Richard Kunst.

Sponsored By:

• Guadalupe Roastery: These guys are the real deal – not only is their coffee excellent, but their mission is to empower farmers to support themselves and their families by bringing you the most directly sourced cup of coffee possible. So head on over to guadaluperoastery.com and get a couple pounds for you and a friend. Listeners to the Popecast can use the promo code POPE at checkout and get 10% off their entire order. Promo Code: POPE

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Our man this episode is altogether unique – and not just because he’s the only Successor of Peter with this particular name. No, he’s actually most famous for something he had no control over at all – because he was dead.

PATREON: https://patreon.com/thepopecast
FB / Twitter / Instagram: @thepopecast
EMAIL: popecastmc@gmail.com
NEWSLETTER: https://popes.substack.com

Sponsored By:

• Catholic Balm Co.: Fans of The Popecast get 10% off their entire order with the promo code POPE – visit catholicbalm.co to check out their entire supply of beard balms, oils, lotion bars, muscle and skincare rubs, and more. Promo Code: POPE

Support The Popecast: A History of the Papacy

This episode is about another one of those popes who you’ve probably never heard of, but is definitely one to remember. He was saintly from an early age, and despite desiring a life of anonymity in his service to Christendom, was plucked by the emperor from obscurity to become pope and, ultimately, usher in one of the biggest reform movements in Catholicism’s 2,000 year history.

PATREON: https://patreon.com/thepopecast
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EMAIL: popecastmc@gmail.com
NEWSLETTER: https://popes.substack.com

TWO RESOURCES MENTIONED AT THE END

• Popes in a Year daily email series: flocknote.com/popes
• Chronological List of Popes & Popecast episodes: https://www.thepopecast.fm/pope-list

Sponsored By:

• Catholic Balm Co.: Fans of The Popecast get 10% off their entire order with the promo code POPE – visit catholicbalm.co to check out their entire supply of beard balms, oils, lotion bars, muscle and skincare rubs, and more. Promo Code: POPE

Support The Popecast: A History of the Papacy

This week it's a special episode of the show – professor, historian, and author Dr. Michael Breidenbach joins the show to talk about his new book, Our Dear-Bought Liberty: Catholics and Religious Toleration in Early America (https://amzn.to/3e0RDAM)

Especially for those in America, the story Dr. Breidenbach tells in his book and on the podcast – how English-turned-American Catholics wrestled between fealty to the king and fealty to the pope, how religious liberty as we know it is directly traced to an appeal from the brother of America's first Catholic bishop, and many other lesser-known historical threads – is truly something you won't want to miss.

BOOK by Dr. Michael Breidenbach: https://amzn.to/3e0RDAM
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NEWSLETTER: https://popes.substack.com

Special Guest: Dr. Michael Breidenbach.

Sponsored By:

• Catholic Balm Co.: Fans of The Popecast get 10% off their entire order with the promo code POPE – visit catholicbalm.co to check out their entire supply of beard balms, oils, lotion bars, muscle and skincare rubs, and more. Promo Code: POPE

Support The Popecast: A History of the Papacy

Today’s episode is about a pope who’s probably easy to overlook. He only reigned for a short time, we don’t know all that much about him, and he isn’t remembered as a saint – a canonized one anyway. And yet, he dabbled in plenty of important things and did alright.

PATREON: https://patreon.com/thepopecast
FB / Twitter / Instagram: @thepopecast
EMAIL: popecastmc@gmail.com
NEWSLETTER: https://popes.substack.com

Sponsored By:

• Catholic Balm Co.: Fans of The Popecast get 10% off their entire order with the promo code POPE – visit catholicbalm.co to check out their entire supply of beard balms, oils, lotion bars, muscle and skincare rubs, and more. Promo Code: POPE

Support The Popecast: A History of the Papacy

Today’s episode is about a pope who lived...and died...during the last and worst of Rome’s persecutions of the Christian people, that of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. But just how that living and dying went is still up for discussion. 1700 years later.

PATREON: https://patreon.com/thepopecast
FB / Twitter / Instagram: @thepopecast
EMAIL: popecastmc@gmail.com
NEWSLETTER: https://popes.substack.com

Sponsored By:

• Catholic Balm Co.: Fans of The Popecast get 10% off their entire order with the promo code POPE – visit catholicbalm.co to check out their entire supply of beard balms, oils, lotion bars, muscle and skincare rubs, and more. Promo Code: POPE

Support The Popecast: A History of the Papacy

Here's a pope who kept his head down and worked tirelessly for the good of Christendom. But in an age where secular rulers used the papacy as their plaything, he refused to be anyone’s puppet, and ended up paying the ultimate price. And what’s more, everyone though he was a bad pope until not all that long ago.

PATREON: https://patreon.com/thepopecast
FB / Twitter / Instagram: @thepopecast
EMAIL: popecastmc@gmail.com
NEWSLETTER: https://popes.substack.com

Sponsored By:

• Catholic Balm Co.: Fans of The Popecast get 10% off their entire order with the promo code POPE – visit catholicbalm.co to check out their entire supply of beard balms, oils, lotion bars, muscle and skincare rubs, and more. Promo Code: POPE

Support The Popecast: A History of the Papacy