Sherlock Lecture

Austen Ivereigh

“From Francis to Leo:  Reflections on the Style of Church in the ‘Change of Era’"

The Sherlock Lecture is a free public lecture open to all. Pope Francis' biographer, Austen Ivereigh, will join us virtually on the topic “From Francis to Leo:  Reflections on the Style of Church in the ‘Change of Era.’" This talk will explore how Francis sought to reshape the Church to evangelize today’s very different era and that the choice at the 2025 conclave was whether to continue in the direction defined by Evangelii Gaudium; the decisive election of Leo confirmed it.

Austen Ivereigh is a UK-based writer, journalist and commentator best known for his books on and with Pope Francis, and for his role in the media explaining the convictions of the Catholic Church. He is Fellow in Contemporary Church History at Campion Hall, Oxford and a regular contributor to The Tablet, America magazine and Commonweal, among others. He speaks fluent Spanish, Portuguese and Italian, and is in demand as a speaker.

He has authored two authoritative works on the life and reforms of Pope Francis. The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope (New York: Henry Holt, 2014) has been translated into many languages. His follow-up volume on the pontificate, Wounded Shepherd: Francis and His Struggle to Convert the Catholic Church, appeared in late 2019.

The Sherlock Lecture will be delivered virtually and take place on Tuesday, May 27, at 7:00 pm (AST) in the Don and Marion McDougall Hall, Room 242 at UPEI. A Zoom option is available if you can’t join the watch party. Sign up below and you will be sent the link.

The Sherlock Lecture is hosted in conjunction with the Canadian Catholic Campus Ministry hosted by the UPEI Chaplaincy Centre in Charlottetown, PEI for the 2025 National Conference.