On this week’s episode of “Jesuitical,” Ashley and Zac are joined by America magazine’s editor in chief, Sam Sawyer, S.J., to discuss the results of the 2024 presidential election.

History was made on Nov. 5, when Francis, the first Jesuit pope, visited the Gregorian University, the oldest and largest pontifical university in Rome, founded by St. Ignatius Loyola in 1551.

“We wish him much wisdom,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, said about Donald J. Trump, the day after he was elected as the 47th president of the United States of America.

"Reminders to “be kind,” or the hope for a quiet life with just enough creature comforts and just enough distraction are understandable. But they are simply not enough.”

Joseph Hazboun, CNEWA’s regional director in Jerusalem, described expanding difficulties for the Christian Arab community on the West Bank but added that nothing, of course, compared to the complete humanitarian breakdown being experienced in Gaza.

This election highlights the deep divisions in American society. But perhaps the strange working of mercy and providence is evident even there, keeping us attentive to the need for conversion and reconciliation.