One might think that with Pope Leo’s birthday and his name day—a Vatican holiday—both falling this week, it would be a slow week in the Vatican. In reality it was a typical Vatican autumn week, with a stacked roster of events scheduled in the city that hits the ground running after its summer slog.

A diverse set of social justice leaders from North and South America met in the Vatican this week for the fourth in a series of dialogues inspired by Pope Francis’ encyclical “Fratelli Tutti.” They included leaders and representatives of major businesses like Microsoft, labor organizations, grassroots movements and university networks, alongside bishops and cardinals from the two continents.

In an interview with America’s Gerard O’Connell, AFL-CIO head Liz Shuler said it was “incredibly impressive to see the power that the church has to convene. I mean, you would normally not have people in a room like we have [at this event] without the personal intervention of leaders in the church saying, ‘We need you here.’” (Read our full interview with Ms. Shuler here.)

Ms. Shuler’s comments echo something I have heard repeatedly in my reporting this summer and fall, from sources as diverse as a diplomat representing her country to the Holy See to a Zen Buddhist priest in Hawai’i who organized a reading of “Magnifica Humanitas” at Hawai’i Tech Week (that full piece coming soon): The Catholic Church—and particularly Pope Leo—have an impressive ability to bring diverse people together to focus on the things that are most important to humanity.

Of course, diplomats have long regarded the Holy See as a valuable listening post because of its ability to maintain relationships with the 183 countries with whom it has diplomatic relations. The fact that it has no military or economic might, but only soft power and a deep, on-the-ground network of nuncios, also gives it the ability to speak out credibly on many issues of justice and human dignity. On any number of social and moral issues, including the ethical development of A.I., the Vatican has consistently brought leaders and thinkers together to discuss how best to safeguard the dignity of all people.

But that convening power has not been limited to the Vatican: It first expanded in a major way with the Second Vatican Council, which promoted dialogue with other faiths and Christian denominations, a commitment it renewed this week for the 60th anniversary of “Nostra Aetate.” The synodal listening process begun by Pope Francis in 2021 also included a particular emphasis on inviting and listening to those outside the church and on the margins of society, turning local churches into places of increased dialogue.

It seems, though, that with the release of “Magnifica Humanitas” earlier this year, a willingness to listen to what the pope has to say about the crises currently facing our world has extended even to people who would never otherwise have been interested. While working on my story about local “Magnifica Humanitas” reading groups, I’ve talked to a Buddhist, a woman raised Jain and the daughter of a Protestant pastor who all felt compelled to organize local readings.

Ms. Shuler commented on the encyclical’s reach in her interview with Gerry: “‘Magnifica Humanitas’ is to me the most powerful signal that you can send because who has more authority to speak on the dignity of people and making sure that we are creating systems around the world that put people at the center, and if we’re taking on big challenges, that we have to have people at the table who are often voiceless.”

The message of “Magnifica Humanitas” is one the pope has repeatedly emphasized in recent days: He told bishops attending the Vatican’s so-called “baby bishops’ school” (more on that in this week’s podcast) that he hoped the encyclical would provide “a vision and a method” for local pastors on how to take on the challenges facing our world, and immediately followed this with a call for bishops to convene more local dialogue and listening processes. He pressed on the message again at his general audience on Wednesday, at which he warned that technology could not replace human relationships. And at the North-South “Fratelli Tutti” meeting, he stressed the need for a stronger “culture of negotiation.”

There are some who hear talk of “dialogue” and “negotiation” and ask why the Catholic Church has any interest in any of it, if the church already possesses the “fullness of truth.” But “Gaudium et Spes”—the Vatican II document on which Pope Leo has been lecturing the last few Wednesdays—explains that the church has long been enriched by the developments of human society, borrowing “the ideas and terminology of various philosophers,” enriching them with the message of the Gospel, and developing “a living exchange between the Church and the diverse cultures of people” (No. 44).

That exchange, Vatican II envisions, “requires the special help of those who live in the world, are versed in different institutions and specialties, and grasp their innermost significance in the eyes of both believers and unbelievers. With the help of the Holy Spirit, it is the task of the entire People of God…to hear, distinguish and interpret the many voices of our age, and to judge them in the light of the divine word, so that revealed truth can always be more deeply penetrated, better understood and set forth to greater advantage.”

To put it succinctly, Vatican II saw dialogue and discernment as key to the church’s evangelizing mission. The Holy See has for decades done this in a visible way, hosting dialogues and building pontifical academies that bring together experts of various belief systems in order to discern what is good. That invitation to dialogue has spread outward to local churches and even to non-Catholic or non-religious communities, who are hungry for someone who can give voice to our human dignity in a time when technologies (and the profit motives behind them) are expanding at an alarming pace.

The Rome Roundup

On the “Inside the Vatican” podcast this week:

Gerry and I unpack the pope’s decision to end Covid-era salary cuts to Vatican officials and to expand the Vatican Library and archives, both decisions announced on the pope’s birthday.
We also give a primer on “baby bishops’ school,” the annual training course for new bishops at the Vatican that recently concluded, and an analysis of Pope Leo’s address to the new bishops

Can’t-miss Vatican stories in America this week: