Last April 16, Acton’s Rome office co-sponsored a seminar in London on “The Morality of Work, Commerce and Finance: Lessons from Catholic Social Teaching” with St. Mary Moorfields, the only Roman Catholic parish in the Square Mile and located in the very heart of London’s investment banking district.

With several astute financiers, bankers, and business executives in attendance, the seminar’s expert speakers helped them articulate and ponder the moral and vocational aspects of the financial world in which they work. The seminar’s speakers also addressed the political and legal frameworks that regulate their sectors in light of traditional free market economic philosophy and the particular Catholic social teachings that both challenge and sustain modern practices in the sector.

Participants listen attentively to Philip Booth’s technical and moral-theological assessments.

Msgr. Martin Schlag, a moral theology professor at Rome’s Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, led off discussion with his talk “Personal Virtues in the Workplace”. Schlag spoke about the interplay of the classical virtues before raising a discussion on the uniquely Christian “theological” or supernatural virtues of faith, hope, and charity.
Read more on London’s Financial Leaders Challenged, Inspired at Acton Seminar…

Kishore Jayabalan, Director of Instituto Acton in Rome, joined host Michael Patrick Shiels on Michigan’s Big Show to discuss the mood in Rome on the day of Pope Francis’ Installation Mass. The theme of the day, according to Jayabalan, was one of “quiet, faithful, obedient service.” The Vatican estimates that between 150,000 and 200,000 people turned out for the event.

Read more on Audio: Kishore Jayabalan on Pope Francis’ Installation…

Kishore Jayabalan, Director of Instituto Acton in Rome, Italy, joined France 24 News today to discuss the pontificate of Pope Francis I as he assumes his new office of leadership.

Read more on Video: Kishore Jayabalan discusses Pope Francis on France 24…

Director of the Istituto Acton in Rome, Kishore Jayabalan, and Acton Director of Research, Samuel Gregg, were recently featured on Ave Maria’s Al Kresta in the Afternoon to discuss the selection of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires as Pope Francis.

Read more on Audio: First reactions to Pope Francis on ‘Al Kresta in the Afternoon’…

The conclave to elect the new pope is scheduled to begin tomorrow afternoon after the public Missa pro Eligendo Pontifice (Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff) which is scheduled at 10am Rome time.   It was at this mass in 2005 after the death of John Paul II that the then Cardinal Ratizinger famously spoke of the “dictatorship of relativism.”   At 4:30 pm Rome time, the cardinals wearing full choir dress will enter the Sistine Chapel singing the hymn Veni Creator Spiritus (Come Holy Spirit).  Cardinals will enter into conclave (from the Latin cum clave, meaning “with key”) and they will be locked away from the world with no access to television, newspapers, or mobile phones until they have elected the new pope.

As the Conclave gets underway and the world waits to see who will be the next pope, here are some helpful hints for making your way through the media storm that is already underway.

1. The papal election is not a U.S.- or European-style political event.

In our hyper politicized world where almost everything is reduced to politics it is hard for our imagination to process a public event like the election of a new pope outside of the structures of politics.  That’s not to say there’s no politics in the Church.  There’s too much of it.  Way too much. And it’s always a factor.  Nevertheless trying to understand the papal election if the light of the American political system or interest and lobbying groups will not be of much help. Read more on A Guide to the Conclave…

Late last week, director of the Acton Institute’s Rome office spoke on Ave Maria’s Al Kresta in the Afternoon. Since the conclave to elect a new pope is set to start on Tues.  March 12, Jayabalan and Al Kresta discuss the potential candidates for pope and the mood in Rome. Jayabalan lists some of the qualifications the new pope should possess then suggests Cardinals from around the world who possess the best experience and skills.

Read more on Audio: Kishore Jayabalan and Al Kresta Discuss Papal Candidates…

Update: Video Interview with Kishore from Rome.

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith

As the world awaits the beginning of the conclave, many are looking at non European Cardinals as potentials for the next pope.  Channel News Asia points out that “68 per cent of the world’s Catholics currently from Latin America, Africa and Asia, there are increased calls for the next pope to be a non-European.”

Read more on Jayabalan: Possibility of a Non European Pope…

Detroit News reporter Oralandar Brand-Williams interviewed Kishore Jayabalan, director of Acton’s Rome office, about preparations at the Vatican to elect a successor to Pope Benedict XVI. A date for the conclave, the assembly of cardinals that will elect the next pope, has not yet been set. Jayabalan said that there is no cause for concern. “They need to wait for all the voting cardinals to arrive before deciding on the date,” he told The News. “There’s a sense it’s better to take some time rather than rush it.”

Read more on Jayabalan: No Rush on Papal Conclave…

This week, Istituto Acton Director Kishore Jayabalan joined Al Kresta of Ave Maria Radio to discuss the historic resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. The special broadcast featured Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J., founder of Ignatius Press, who did his doctoral dissertation under then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

Read more on Putting the Resignation of Benedict XVI in Perspective: Kresta in the Afternoon…

Seize the Day with Gus Lloyd on SiriusXM’s the Catholic Channel interviewed Kishore Jayabalan, director of the Acton Institute in Rome, regarding Pope Benedict XVI’s unexpected resignation.

Jayabalan discussed the mood in the Rome, the shock of the timing, and Pope Benedict XVI’s legacy.

Read more on Audio: Kishore Jayabalan discusses Pope Benedict XVI’s Resignation…