Trending Now
We have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use for Eurasia Group and its affiliates, including GZERO Media, to clarify the types of data we collect, how we collect it, how we use data and with whom we share data. By using our website you consent to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy, including the transfer of your personal data to the United States from your country of residence, and our use of cookies described in our Cookie Policy.
{{ subpage.title }}
Can Pope Leo XIV heal the Church–and his own country?
Ian Bremmer sits down with Jesuit priest and bestselling author Father James Martin to talk about the historic ascendancy of Pope Leo XIV—the first-ever US Pope—and what his papacy means for the Catholic Church, American politics, and a world in search of moral clarity.
Known for his humility and prayerful presence, Martin says Pope Leo has would do well to make his top priority healing internal divisions within the Church. “There’s a lot of division and anger,” Martin says, “but Pope Leo has the opportunity to build bridges between progressives and traditionalists.” And his early comments on war and migration signal that he intends to take moral stances with global relevance—including the Church’s firm position on welcoming the stranger. “When Jesus says, ‘When you welcome the stranger, you welcome me,’ that’s pretty clear,” Martin says.
Martin also speaks about his own public advocacy for LGBTQ Catholics, especially trans people, who he says are “being treated like dirt.” The conversation also turns to the legacy of Pope Francis, whose pastoral outreach—from encyclicals on climate change to nightly calls with Gaza parishioners—inspired many, including his successor.
“Francis showed us that the Church is a field hospitals."
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don't miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔).GZERO World with Ian Bremmer airs on US public television weekly - check local listings.
Pope Leo XIV's historic opportunity, with Father James Martin
Listen: Ian Bremmer sits down with Jesuit priest and bestselling author Father James Martin to talk about the historic ascendancy of Pope Leo XIV—the first-ever US Pope—and what his papacy means for the Catholic Church, American politics, and a world in search of moral clarity.
Known for his humility and prayerful presence, Marin says Pope Leo has would do well to make his top priority healing internal divisions within the Church. “There’s a lot of division and anger,” Martin says, “but Pope Leo has the opportunity to build bridges between progressives and traditionalists.” And his early comments on war and migration signal that he intends to take moral stances with global relevance—including the Church’s firm position on welcoming the stranger. “When Jesus says, ‘When you welcome the stranger, you welcome me,’ that’s pretty clear,” Martin says.
Martin also speaks about his own public advocacy for LGBTQ Catholics, especially trans people, who he says are “being treated like dirt.” The conversation also turns to the legacy of Pope Francis, whose pastoral outreach—from encyclicals on climate change to nightly calls with Gaza parishioners—inspired many, including his successor. “Francis showed us that the Church is a field hospital,” Martin says.
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don't miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔).GZERO World with Ian Bremmer airs on US public television weekly - check local listings.
Why Mark Carney’s victory won’t heal the US-Canada rift
Ian Bremmer shares his insights on global politics this week on World In :60.
Mark Carney leads the Liberals to victory in Canada. So, what's next for the US-Canada relationship?
I think sometimes you have relationship with somebody, and they do something that shocks you, you can't unsee it, I think US-Canada is like that now. I think the damage is permanent. Of course, the interdependence is immense. The dependence on the Canadian side is higher. They're a much smaller country. Their population is right next to the United States. Just a thin strip there. So, it's not like you can suddenly decouple, but there's going to be a lot of de-risking. So, strong efforts, very tough negotiations coming on trade and on security, but also an effort to build infrastructure and ship Canadian resources away from the United States, towards other countries around the world. Medium-term, that's going to be a pretty significant change in how we think about Canada.
The conclave will pick the next pope. How is it relevant for the wider geopolitical landscape?
It's relevant because, increasingly, political leaders do not inspire. So, here you have a population as large as any country, about 1.4 billion Catholics all over the world, just like India, just like China. That's the size of the global population. If the next pope that is picked is someone who is inspirational, is someone that is seen as a 21st century leader that can reflect sensibilities and ideology, values that are not seen from political leaders around the world, in your own countries, then the ability to have an impact on what gets young people out, and motivated, and inspired and engaged in public service or on the streets, and mobilized, and demonstrating becomes significant. So, I do think there's a real opportunity here, but we'll see what it means when we finally see white smoke coming out of the Vatican.
Nuns and faithful attend a rosary for Pope Francis, following the death of the pontiff, in St. Peter's square, at the Vatican, April 21, 2025.
World bids farewell to Pope Francis, awaits conclave’s choice
Preparations for the funeral of Pope Francis are underway after the Holy Father died from a cerebral stroke early Monday – as are those for the secretive election to choose his successor.
The funeral date has been set for Saturday. Tens of thousands attended the funeral of Francis’ predecessor, Benedict XVI, in 2022, who had retired in 2013. When John Paul II died in 2005, some four million people paid their respects. This time, leaders from around the globe are expected to attend, including Donald Trump, who is set to become the first sitting US president to attend a papal funeral since 2005.
Francis will be dressed in red regalia, and his ring of office will be ceremonially destroyed, but much of the proceedings will break from tradition: He ordered that he be laid to rest in a simple coffin and interred in Santa Maria Maggiore, not the Vatican grottoes.
Choosing a successor. Within 20 days, Catholic cardinals under the age of 80 (135 out of 252) will gather in the Sistine Chapel to choose the next pope. The conclave – from a Latin root meaning “with keys” – is shut off from the wider world, a measure deemed necessary after medieval interregna lasted months or years due to secular political meddling.
There are no guarantees, but the electoral math points to a potentially short contest: 108 of the 135 eligible elector cardinals were appointed by Francis and may quickly assemble the necessary two-thirds consensus around a successor with similarly progressive values.