This week on “Jesuitical,” Zac and Ashley sit down with Luke Burgis, the director of the Cluny Institute at The Catholic University of America and the author of The One and the Ninety-Nine: Forging Identity in the Age of Social Contagion. They discuss why we join and leave tribes, how to form a “solid” self and what healthy group identity looks like.

In Signs of the Times, Zac and Ashley discuss Vice President JD Vance’s new memoir on converting to Catholicism, the consecration of the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and new statutes for the Vatican’s commission for the protection of minors. Plus, Pope Leo wraps up his successful trip to Spain on the Canary Islands—but has some trouble getting off them.

And in As One Friend Speaks to Another, Zac shares what he’s thinking about going into his very first Father’s Day.

0:00 Intro
3:30 J.D. Vance’s new book “Communion”
9:36 U.S. bishops meet for annual meeting in Orlando
19:44 Pope Leo finishes Spain trip
21:39 Papal plane trouble
24:25 Interview with Luke Burgis
25:52 The parable of the lost sheep
31:16 The age of social contagion
33:56 What Luke learned in seminary
38:05 Is your community good for you?
42:27 People respond to aesthetics
46:30 The importance of distance
48:46 The Catholic Church is unique as a community
57:20 What is the Cluny Institute?
1:02:25 What about AI?
1:05:24 Canonization
1:08:07 As One Friend Speaks to Another

Links from the show:
The One and the Ninety-Nine: Forging Identity in the Age of Social Contagion https://www.amazon.com/One-Ninety-Nine-Forging-Identity-Contagion/dp/1250373034
Learn more about the Cluny Institute https://www.cluny.org/
JD Vance writes about his journey to Catholicism in his new book, ‘Communion’ https://www.americamagazine.org/news/2026/06/15/jd-vance-writes-about-his-journey-to-catholicism-in-his-new-book-communion/
Consecration 101: What the bishops’ upcoming consecration of the US to the Sacred Heart means https://www.americamagazine.org/news/2026/06/08/consecration-101-bishops-us-sacred-heart/
Pope Leo XIV approves new statutes for child protection commission https://www.americamagazine.org/news/2026/06/15/pope-approves-statutes-child-protection/
Pope Leo ends visit to Spain with a call to repent https://www.americamagazine.org/vatican-dispatch/2026/06/12/pope-leo-ends-visit-to-spain-with-a-call-to-repent/

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