Trusted Catholic voices Fr. Mike Schmitz, Jeff Cavins, Katie McGrady, and more unpack the Biblical roots of the Papacy, the themes from Pope Leo’s first speeches, and encourage Catholics to pray for the new pontiff.
Ascension has released several commemorative products to celebrate the election of Pope Leo XIV. In addition to prayer cards and art prints featuring the new pontiff, Ascension has released When the White Smoke Clears: A Guide to Pope Leo XIV’s Early Days.
With insightful and hopeful commentary from trusted Catholic voices including Fr. Mike Schmitz, Jeff Cavins, Fr. Josh Johnson, Dr. Edward Sri, Katie Prejean McGrady, and more, When the White Smoke Clears accompanies Catholics as they learn how they can faithfully support Pope Leo XIV through included prayers, commentary/reflections on what the Pope’s early actions means, a bio of the pope, and more.
The book features an appendix of traditional and contemporary prayers for the Holy Father, as well as a glossary of common papal terms. When the White Smoke Clears will prepare Catholics to offer ongoing prayers for Pope Leo XIV, while more deeply understanding the papacy.
Fr. Mike Schmitz comments on Catholics’ role in the election of Pope Leo XIV, “We are living through a historic moment. Years from now, Catholics will look back at the papacy of Leo XIV and study its impact on the Church and the world. But we are not just witnesses to this history—we are participants in it. How we receive and respond to our new Holy Father matters. It matters for the Church, for the world, and for our own spiritual growth.”
When the White Smoke Clears is the perfect companion for the Pope Leo XIV Prayer Cards, and the Pope Leo XIV Prints.
When the White Smoke Clears is available at www.AscensionPress.com.
About the Authors
Fr. Mike Schmitz, a Catholic priest and evangelist well known for his social media videos and podcasts, hosted the 2021 breakout podcast The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)™, which became the #1 podcast on the Apple charts after its January 2021 launch, and is the most popular Catholic podcast of all time. The Bible in a Year was Chartable’s #1 global podcast in religion for several years, and was covered by news outlets including CBS, Fox, and The New York Times Magazine. Fr. Mike is the director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Diocese of Duluth as well as the chaplain for the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD). Fr. Mike attended St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, and was ordained for the Diocese of Duluth in 2003.
Over the past several decades, Jeff Cavins has dedicated his life to developing The Bible Timeline®: The Story of Salvation, a practical, interactive program that helps people read the “big picture” of God’s plan of salvation in Sacred Scripture and understand its meaning for their lives. The Great Adventure Bible Timeline presents the entire sweep of the Bible in a way that is easy to understand and genuinely fun to engage. As the foundational element of The Great Adventure Learning System, the Bible Timeline has revolutionized Catholic Bible Study for hundreds of thousands of Catholics. For his contributions to The Bible in a Year podcast, the most successful Catholic podcast of all time, Jeff was recognized as one of Our Sunday Visitors’s 2021 Catholics of the Year for 2021 as well as a recipient of the 2022 Cardinal John P. Foley Award for excellence and innovation in Catholic storytelling.
Dr. Edward Sri is a theologian, well-known Catholic speaker, and author of several best-selling Catholic books and resources. His work with Ascension includes the new Foundations of Faith: A Journey Through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, a groundbreaking Catholic study program filmed in 40 locations across 4 continents. Together with Fr. Mike Schmitz, Jeff Cavins, and Dr. Marcellino D’Ambrosio, Dr. Sri guides viewers on a spiritual pilgrimage through Foundations of Faith that will transform the way participants understand Catholic teachings and live the Catholic Faith. Dr. Sri lives with his wife Beth and their children and grandchildren in Colorado.
Fr. Josh Johnson was ordained for the Diocese of Baton Rouge in 2014, and has dedicated his priesthood to inviting all people to become saints in their walk toward eternity. He travels widely as a speaker at conferences, retreats, and youth events, and was one of 3 MCs at the historic National Eucharistic Congress in 2024. He is well-known for his popular Ascension podcast Ask Father Josh as well as his Q&A videos on Ascension Presents, one of the largest Catholic YouTube channels in English. He has also written several books with Ascension, including the best-selling Pocket Guide to the Sacrament of Reconciliation co-written with Fr. Mike Schmitz and On Earth as It Is in Heaven: Restoring God’s Vision of Race and Discipleship. He appears in many Ascension video programs including Connected: Catholic Social Teaching for This Generation, and his latest book—the Pocket Guide to Overcoming the Seven Deadly Sins—was the topic of the 2025 Lenten program in the Ascension App.
Dr. Marcellino D’Ambrosio (“Dr. Italy”) co-authored the New York Times bestseller A Guide to the Passion: 100 Questions about The Passion of the Christ with Ascension founder Matt Pinto. In 2019, Dr. D’Ambrosio published the groundbreaking Bible study on the life of Jesus Christ filmed in the Holy Land, Jesus: The Way, the Truth, and the Life, presenting alongside Jeff Cavins and Dr. Edward Sri. In 2022, he became the co-author and co-presenter of What We Believe: The Beauty of the Catholic Faith, together with Dr. Andrew Swafford and Sarah Swafford, and in 2025 was announced as a co-presenter of the groundbreaking Foundations of Faith: A Journey Through the Catechism of the Catholic Church with Fr. Mike Schmitz, Jeff Cavins, and Dr. Edward Sri. Dr. D’Ambrosio currently teaches for the Catholic International University (formerly known as Catholic Distance University). He has previously been on faculty at the Loyola College in Maryland as well as the University of Dallas.
Katie Prejean McGrady
Katie Prejean McGrady is an author, sought after speaker, and the host of SiriusXM’s The Katie McGrady Show on The Catholic Channel. She hosts the Ave Explores podcast, the Like a Mother podcast, and co-hosts Family Mass Prep on Hallow. Katie is a Vatican Analyst for CNN and collaborates with the Vatican Dicastery for Communications on Digital Media initiatives. She lives and works in Lake Charles, Louisiana, with her husband, Tommy, and daughters, Rose and Clare.
Michael Dauphinais Ph.D., serves as the Fr. Matthew Lamb Professor of Catholic Theology and the co-director of the Aquinas Center for Theological Renewal at Ave Maria University, Ave Maria, Florida. Dr. Dauphinais hosts The Catholic Theology Show podcast and is co-author of Knowing the Love of Christ: An Introduction to the Theology of Thomas Aquinas and Holy People, Holy Land: A Theological Introduction to the Bible. He enjoys speaking in academic and popular settings to serve the New Evangelization. A grateful revert to the Catholic Church, he has been married to his beloved wife Nancy for more than thirty years.
John and Ashley Noronha are theologians, media personalities, and professors at pontifical universities in Rome, united in their mission to renew faith and culture. They co-founded the Truth & Beauty Project, an organization that offers immersive experiences in the heart of Rome, helping participants encounter beauty, deepen their faith, and live their Christian identity with purpose. Ashley, a journalist and radio host, previously served as a Vatican official and television anchor. She holds degrees in theology, communications, and international marketing and is the Rome Correspondent for Relevant Radio. John, a former global technology executive and papal consultant on Vatican reforms, teaches theology, sacred art, and technology, and is a PhD candidate in bioethics. Married since 2008, the Noronhas were honored with the Springtime Award for Outstanding Service in the New Evangelization.
Rev. Francis J. Caponi, O.S.A., is a native of Philadelphia who met the Augustinians at Msgr. Bonner High School in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Villanova University in 1983, a master’s from Washington Theological Union in 1989, and a doctorate from Harvard Divinity School in 2000. He has spent time in parish ministry and seminary formation, as well as giving retreats for parishes and religious communities throughout the East Coast and in California and Minnesota. An Augustinian priest and theologian, he has taught systematic theology at Villanova for over two decades. Fr. Caponi has published in The Thomist, Dante Studies, Horizons, and the International Journal of Systematic Theology, and contributed a chapter on Karl Rahner in Partakers of the Divine Nature (2007). In addition to teaching courses on Mary and the saints, science and religion, and C.S. Lewis, he serves as a spiritual director for many students at Villanova.
About Ascension
Ascension is a multimedia network and the leader in Catholic faith formation and digital content. Over the past 25 years, Ascension has helped nurture the faith of more than 20 million Catholics through award-winning books, the chart-topping Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)® podcast, more than 50 unique faith formation programs, and Ascension Presents, which hosts one of the largest Catholic YouTube channels in English.
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