Vatican Reporter and Loyola Alum Colleen Dulle to Discuss the Ascension of Pope Leo XIV and His Connection to New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS – Vatican journalist and Loyola alum Colleen Dulle ’17 will speak to students about Pope Leo XIV’s first four months and his ties to New Orleans on Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 12:30 p.m. in the J. Michael Early Studio in the Communications/Music Complex.

Dulle also will be discussing and signing her new book, “Struck Down, Not Destroyed: Keeping the Faith as a Vatican Reporter,” during a conversion with Lisa Collins, Professor of Practice in Journalism at Loyola. Dulle is the Vatican correspondent for “America” magazine and co-hosts the “Inside the Vatican” podcast.

The book, published last month by Penguin Random House, is described as “a bold, inspiring call not to lose spiritual hope from a Vatican reporter who has seen the Catholic Church’s darkness – and has learned that it cannot overpower the light.”

Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago, is the first American-born pope, elected in May during a conclave following the death of Pope Francis. Pope Leo’s mother, Mildred Agnes Martinez, was born in Chicago to a mixed-race, Black Creole family that had moved from the 7th Ward of New Orleans.

Dulle served as an ABC News correspondent in Rome from April until June, providing on-air analysis about the 2025 Papal Conclave. She was named the Multimedia Journalist of the Year by the Catholic Media Association in 2024.