Vatican Access with Robert Duncan

Pope Leo XIV received a delegation from Catholic Charities Network in private audience on May 4, as media scrutiny intensified over recent funding cuts by the Trump administration affecting Catholic organizations serving immigrants and refugees.In this conversation, Catholic News Service speaks one-on-one with Kerry Alys Robinson, president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, reflecting on the delegation’s audience with the pope and the broader implications for the Church’s charitable mission. The discussion explores how political polarization is shaping public perception of Catholic aid efforts, the risks facing vulnerable populations, and what is at stake for the Church’s longstanding commitment to serve those most in need.Guest bio:Kerry Robinson is the president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, one of the largest humanitarian networks in the country. She has extensive experience in nonprofit leadership and Catholic philanthropy, with a focus on advancing the Church’s mission of service, particularly among the poor, immigrants, refugees and marginalized communities.

Matthew Sanders is a technologist working at the intersection of artificial intelligence and Catholic evangelization, building digital tools that are shaping how people encounter faith in the modern world.In this conversation, he discusses the rise of AI as a space for spiritual inquiry, the millions of users engaging with Magisterium AI, and the kinds of personal and religious questions being asked through these systems. The discussion explores whether AI can serve as a form of pre-evangelization, the risks of mediating spiritual authority through technology, and what Catholics can expect Pope Leo to say in his forthcoming encyclical on AI.Guest bio:Matthew Sanders is a Catholic technologist who has designed and developed major digital platforms for the Church, including projects for the Vatican Observatory and the Vatican’s Office for Migrants and Refugees. He is the creator of Magisterium AI, an initiative aimed at bringing the Church’s intellectual and spiritual tradition into conversation with users through artificial intelligence.

Curtis Martin, founder of the FOCUS, has spent nearly three decades working on college campuses at the front lines of Catholic evangelization, engaging a generation often assumed to be drifting away from faith.In this conversation, he discusses the surprising rise in conversions alongside continued disaffiliation, the growing interest in Catholicism among young people, and the spiritual forces driving these trends. The discussion explores the meaning of evangelization, the role of friendship and witness, and the internal tensions within the Church about how clearly to propose the faith.Guest bio:Curtis Martin is the founder and longtime leader of the FOCUS, an international Catholic outreach that sends missionaries to college campuses and parishes around the world. Martin has advised bishops, served in consultative roles at the Vatican on evangelization, and is the author of several books on faith, mission, and Christian formation.

Sister Helen Alford, president of the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences, stands at the intersection of faith, economics, and global policy, working to articulate the Church’s social teaching in a rapidly changing world.In this conversation, she reflects on her vocation and intellectual formation, the core principles of Catholic social teaching, and the major crises shaping our time. The discussion explores how the Church engages with global challenges at the highest level—raising a central question: in a world facing crisis after crisis, does the Church’s voice still matter?Guest bio:Sister Helen Alford is a Cambridge-trained engineer and Dominican religious sister serving as president of the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences, a role to which she was appointed by Pope Francis in 2023. She collaborates with leading Catholic and non-Catholic scholars across disciplines—including economics, law, and healthcare—to address pressing global issues.

Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu — a Nigerian prelate serving at the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization — stands at the forefront of the Church’s global missionary efforts, helping guide its growth in some of the places where the Church is expanding most rapidly.In this conversation, he reflects on his vocation and childhood, the key social challenges shaping the African continent, and the significance of Pope Leo’s April 2026 visit to four African nations. Filmed at the Palazzo Propaganda Fide, the discussion situates these themes within a broader shift in global Christianity—raising a central question for the future of the Church: is Africa becoming its new heart, and what, if anything, can the West learn from it?Guest bio:Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu is a Nigerian prelate serving in the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization. A biblical scholar and seasoned diplomat, he has represented the Holy See in various roles across Africa and Europe, including at the United Nations in Geneva and in the Vatican Secretariat of State. His work focuses on the Church’s missionary activity, particularly in regions experiencing rapid growth, placing him at the center of conversations about the future of global Catholicism.

Cardinal Michael Czerny — a senior Vatican official and longtime collaborator of Pope Francis — has become one of the Catholic Church’s most influential voices on migration, human dignity, and global solidarity.In this conversation, he reflects on his origins, shaped in part by his parents’ experience as immigrants of Jewish and Christian background—a story marked by displacement, survival, and renewal. That inheritance would later inform his priestly vocation, through human rights work in El Salvador and the fight against AIDS in Africa, and eventually in his service in Rome.A close advisor within the Vatican, Cardinal Czerny has played a key role in articulating the Church’s response to migration and environmental challenges through the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. As debates over borders, identity, and national sovereignty intensify across Europe and the United States, his perspective raises a pressing question: is the Church still being heard in the West?Guest bio:Cardinal Michael Czerny is a Jesuit priest and senior official of the Holy See. He has served extensively in human rights work in Latin America and Africa and has been a leading figure in the Vatican’s engagement with migration, social justice, and integral human development.

John Studzinski — a leading investment banker and philanthropist — has spent his life at the intersection of global finance and the Catholic Church.In this conversation, he reflects on his rise on Wall Street, his commitment to serving others, and the spiritual vision behind his philanthropic work. A trusted advisor to popes and cardinals, he has supported initiatives in human rights, charitable outreach, and the arts.His work with the Genesis Foundation includes commissioning Angels Unawares, a sacred composition by Sir James MacMillan performed in the Sistine Chapel. The title points to a central theme of his life: an awareness of the unseen—and a call to generosity rooted in faith.Guest bio:John Studzinski is an international investment banker and philanthropist. Through his Genesis Foundation, he supports projects in the arts, education, and humanitarian work, often in collaboration with Vatican institutions.

Elizabeth Lev — an American art historian who has spent decades guiding visitors through the Vatican Museums and the churches of Rome — has made it her life’s work to help people see beyond the surface of one of the most visited places in the world.In this conversation, she reflects on what most visitors miss, the difference between approaching Rome as a tourist or a pilgrim, and how art, architecture, and history can open a deeper encounter with the city’s spiritual meaning. Drawing on decades of experience teaching in the streets, churches, and museums of Rome, as well as consulting for major film productions, she offers practical insight into how to approach a once-in-a-lifetime visit—and why preparation of the heart may matter more than any itinerary. Having lived through historic moments such as the deaths of three popes, papal conclaves, and Jubilee years, she has seen both the best and worst of how Rome is presented to the world—and makes the case for rediscovering it with intention.Guest bio:Elizabeth Lev is an American art historian based in Rome, known for her work teaching the history, symbolism, and theology of Christian art. A graduate of the University of Chicago and the University of Bologna, she has spent decades guiding students and visitors through the Vatican and the historic sites of Rome. She is also a consultant for film and television productions and a frequent speaker on the intersection of art, faith, and culture.

Cardinal Edwin O’Brien — a former Vietnam War chaplain who later served as Archbishop for the Military Services and as a Vatican cardinal charged with a mission to the Holy Land — spent decades ministering to American soldiers and to Catholic communities around the world.In this conversation, recorded at Catholic News Service in Rome, he reflects on jumping from helicopters to reach troops in Vietnam, the discipline and faith forged in war, his role helping reform seminaries after the 2002 clerical sex abuse crisis, and the Church’s mission amid global conflict.Recorded just days before the United States entered a new war with Iran, the cardinal offers a perspective shaped by a lifetime on the front lines of pastoral ministry: that suffering endured with faith can become a powerful witness beyond the Church’s walls.Guest bio:Cardinal Edwin O’Brien is a retired American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop for the Military Services and later as Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. He previously served as archbishop of Baltimore and participated in the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis.

Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel — one of the principal architects of modern American healthcare policy — was recently invited to the Vatican to address the Pontifical Academy for Life. In this conversation, recorded at Catholic News Service in Rome, he reflects on his childhood in Chicago, his role advising U.S. presidents, his views on euthanasia and end-of-life care, and why his central message — especially fitting for Lent — is disarmingly simple: remember that you are going to die. His invitation to the Vatican underscores a larger dynamic — how the Church navigates its engagement with secular expertise, and how encounters between belief and unbelief can deepen moral discernment in a fragmented age.