Habemus papam! We have a Pope! And not just any pope, we have an American pope, and an Augustinian one at that. Robert Francis Prevost, a priest of the Augustinian order, born and raised on the south side of Chicago, was elected to the Papacy on May 8, 2025. He took the name Pope Leo XIV, and some have wondered whether he took this name because he was inspired by the work of the last Pope Leo (XIII), who addressed modernism. And indeed, one of Pope Leo XIV’s first public comments introduced his thoughts on the dangers of AI. But the ladies of the Mosaic Ark were more interested in whether he would be influenced by the founder of his order, St. Augustine of Hippo, the most influential teacher of teachers in church history. Will Pope Leo XIV govern his church in an Augustinian way — a way that teaches how to be a Christian? And what does that mean? Watch as the ladies discuss on this week’s episode of the Mosaic Ark.—Streamed May 23, 2025

Augustine of Hippo, “On Catechizing the Uninstructed” https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1303.htm

A killer is stalking Hollywood, and it is up to the hunchback to hunt him down. But where in the Getty’s manuscripts can he find the clue to the killer's identity? In David Angsten’s The Medievalist, a noir style murder mystery set around Hollywood, a Catholic monk’s life has taken a long and winding path to Los Angeles, from farm boy to university professor to Uber driver/ aspiring script writer. While working on a script of Dante’s Divine Comedy, the monk finds himself caught in the middle of a murder investigation and is surrounded by suspects, detectives and bystanders. Everyone looks guilty, including the monk, in this city’s hedonistic atmosphere. In this week’s Mosaic Ark, the ladies welcome the author and speak with him about his inspirations for this story, including his own path to becoming a script writer and novelist. —Streamed May 16, 2025

“I’ve got a jar of dirt! And guess what’s inside it!” Captain Jack Sparrow seemed to think that he had the key to controlling his fate with the contents of a jar of dirt. He wasn’t entirely wrong! The jar was holding the heart of Davy Jones, and he who held it controlled the oceans; he who controlled the oceans controlled the whole earth. This week the ladies of the Mosaic Ark discuss the connections between ocean ports, a trade war with China, and control of the Earth’s trade in literal earth — lithium, cobalt, rare earth minerals and silicon — that may be fueling its current and future wars. They also discuss time and our perception of events that have surrounded us for the past decade. Does history repeatedly repeat itself or are we just noticing more? —Streamed May 2, 2025