The Early Edition

What happened at the 2025 conclave, and what can it tell us about the path the Catholic Church is now on? And is it too soon to ask? Yes, because the dust is still settling, especially on Leo XIV’s ripening Petrine ministry; he has shown himself keen to listen and learn before acting. Where Francis was the Great Disruptor, Leo is turning out to be the Patient Consolidator. But then again, perhaps it is not too soon after all—because, as I’ve just illustrated, the first draft of papal history provided by Vatican journalists creates the frames through which the new pontificate is received. Somewhere between their as-it-happens reportage and the carefully researched books that appear a year or two after the white smoke come the “insta-books.” Written in haste to be rushed out a month or two into the new pontificate, they offer a vital first take on the story of the papal election and its fruit.