Discerning Leadership Program

Pope Leo XIV met with 15 senior Vatican administrators and members of Loyola's Discerning Leadership Program (DLP) at Castel Gandolfo last month, marking the culmination of two years of leadership formation for some of the Church's most senior officials.

The gathering brought together participants known as Secretaries, administrators who oversee the operational work of Vatican departments, with Fr. David McCallum, SJ, executive director of the DLP, and three members of the project team: Daniela Bernardini, Fr. Giacomo Costa, SJ, and Paolo Foglizzo. Held during Pope Leo's day off, the meeting gave the Holy Father an opportunity to hear directly from participants about their experience in the program.

The DLP, recently incorporated as a unit within the School of Continuing and Professional Studies, supports the reform efforts of Pope Francis and now Pope Leo XIV through leadership formation, consulting, and organizational development. These reforms include more effective collaboration among the departments of the Vatican Curia, a  service- and mission-minded approach to accompanying Episcopal conferences and dioceses, and an expansion of leadership by lay women and women religious in senior administrative roles.

Launched as a pilot initiative of the Jesuit Curia in 2019, the DLP has quickly become a resource for supporting these reforms, and for facilitating the movement of the Church in a more “synodal,” that is, more participatory, inclusive, and process-oriented way of living in service to the Church’s mission.

“When people ask whether anything in the Vatican ever changes, they probably haven’t been paying attention recently,” said McCallum.

McCallum described the tone of the meeting as notably candid. “The outspoken joyfulness, energy, and constructive honesty of the group were impressive,” McCallum said. “But of course, our Chicago-born Pope was the first one to make a joke with one of the participants and to set everyone at ease for an open conversation that lasted more than an hour.”

During the meeting, participants shared not only how the program has formed them as leaders but how it has formed relationships between them: “We’ve become friends, and our friendships have transformed the way we work, the way we collaborate, and problem-solve.”

In the fall 2026, the DLP will expand its leadership formation to include newly appointed Vatican Secretaries, and sub-Secretaries, as well as launch a program for the Asia Pacific region, which will run in Chiang Mai, Thailand from September 21-27.