To the Margins: Francis, Leo, and the Crypto-Religious 1980s
7th Annual Wolfe Lecture on Religion and American Politics
Paul Elie
Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs
Kim Garcia, Respondent
Boston College
Date: Wednesday, April 8, 2026
Time: 6 - 7:30pm
Location: , room 214
Pope Francis urged Catholics to go to the margins of the institutional church. That's what Paul Elie聽sought聽to do with his聽2025聽book聽The Last Supper聽--聽by聽telling the聽stories of writers, artists,聽and musicians who made "crypto-religious" work聽in the 1980s, often at the edges of formal belief. The聽span of time聽the book depicts聽---聽the聽decade聽of聽John Paul II's stadium Masses, Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," and the AIDS pandemic聽---聽shaped many of the Catholics in the Church Pope Leo XIV now leads. (Strange to say,聽our new Pope is only three years older聽than Madonna!) In this lecture, Elie will聽draw on the book and his writing about the papacy for The New Yorker to consider聽the ways the recent past influences our聽tumultuous聽present.
Paul Elie is a senior fellow in Georgetown University鈥檚 Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, and a regular contributor to The New Yorker, which published his Profile of Pope Leo XIV early this year. His third book, The Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex, and Controversy in the 1980s, was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in May 2025, and was chosen as a best book of the year by the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times.
He is the author of two previous books, The Life You Save May Be Your Own: An American Pilgrimage (2003) and Reinventing Bach: The Search for Transcendence in Sound (2012), both National Book Critics Circle Award finalists. He worked for two decades as a senior editor with Farrar, Straus and Giroux. He lives in Brooklyn.
Kim Garcia is the author of three books of poetry and a chapbook. Her most recent book is The Brighter House, from White Pine Press. She has received numerous grants and awards including the Tupelo Broadside Prize, The Dogwood Literary Prize, and the Linda Hull Memorial Prize, and her work has been featured on The Writer鈥檚 Almanac. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Beloit Poetry Journal, AGNI, IMAGE and The Kenyon Review, among others.
From 2014 to 2016 she directed the Clough Center Arts & Democracy series, through which she brought to campus artists and writers such as Edward Hirsch, Jill Lepore, Kevin Young, Liza Lou, Lawrence Weschler, Gish Jen, Ramiro Gomez and Eavan Boland for discussions on the role of the arts in sustaining the culture of democracy. In 2023 she worked with the Boisi Center to organize "The Art of Encounter: Catholic Writers on the Margins," a conference featuring writers Alice McDermott, P谩draig 脫 Tuama, and R/B Mertz.
Garcia teaches creative writing in the English Department at Boston College.
Brown, David. 鈥淧op Music.鈥� In God and Grace of Body: Sacrament in Ordinary. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
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Elie, Paul. 鈥淎ndy Warhol鈥檚 Religious Journey.鈥� New Yorker, December 7, 2021.
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Faggioli, Massimo. 鈥淰atican II and the Church of the Margins.鈥� Theological Studies 74, no. 4 (2013): 808鈥�18. .
Moses, Paul. 鈥淪aints in the City.鈥� Commonweal, November 11, 2025.
Riccardi, Andrea. To the Margins: Pope Francis and the Mission of the Church. Translated by Dinah Livingstone. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2017.
Michael J. O'Loughlin wrote an article for The Washington Post titled which highlights the story of a priest鈥檚 advocacy work in New York City amidst the 1980s AIDS epidemic. Father William Hart McNicholas came to New York in the 1980s to study art; however, he quickly redirected his work towards helping in the AIDS crisis. He volunteered to visit patients at St. Vincent Medical Center, spending seven years ministering to the dying. At the same time, he continued his passion for creating art, producing art that helped many living with HIV and AIDS around the world. Many of the patients that he was asked to visit refused to speak to a Catholic priest, as the Vatican had released a statement condemning homosexuality. This prompted Father McNichols to open up about his own gay identity despite being told it would limit his opportunities. McNichols recognized that speaking with patients with AIDS required a high level of trust and sought to be one of the sufferers as opposed to distancing himself from the patients. As a priest in New Mexico, McNichols continues to create art as a form of activism, creating icons that respond to acts of terror and the church鈥檚 sexual abuse crisis. McNichols was one of many artists whose work was responding to the cultural tensions of the 1980s. At the 7th Annual Wolfe Lecture on Religion and American Politics, Paul Elie will discuss his new book entitled The Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex, and Controversy in the 1980s, which explores Catholic 鈥渃rypto-religious鈥� art during the 1980s. He will analyze figures (e.g. Andy Warhol, Sin茅ad O鈥機onnor, and Leonard Cohen) whose art engaged religious imagery and themes in the decade鈥檚 cultural conflicts and rising traditionalism.
On April 8th, 2026, the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life welcomed Paul Elie to deliver the 7th Annual Wolfe Lecture on Religion and American Politics. Paul Elie is a senior fellow at Georgetown University鈥檚 Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. His lecture, entitled 鈥淭o the Margins: Francis, Leo, and the Crypto-Religious 1980s,鈥� discussed the content of his most recent book, The Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex, and Controversy in the 1980s.聽
Elie began his lecture by discussing the process of writing The Last Supper, and specifically, why he selected the topic. He noted that while facing a creative impasse, he reflected on Pope Francis鈥� call for Catholics to go to the margins of society. This inspired him to take seriously people perceived as existing on the 鈥渕argins鈥� of U.S. society to better understand religious life in the period he wished to cover: the tumultuous 1980s. He examined the 鈥渃rypto-religious鈥� work of artists, poets, and musicians that challenged institutionalized faith. This involved analyzing religious imagery used by figures like Bob Dylan, Andy Warhol, and Leonard Cohen. Their works often responded to the ongoing cultural war in the United States in the 1980s. During this time, John Paul II appointed conservative bishops who sought to implement orthodox policies, the sexual abuse crisis began to emerge, and issues such as abortion and IVF began to be debated. Elie notes that artists like Martin Scorsese and Sinead O鈥機onnor sought to engage these controversial areas that church leaders typically avoided.聽
Elie then discussed how this distinct era shaped Pope Leo, who was born in 1955. While the United States faced an ongoing cultural war, Robert Prevost (who would become Pope Leo) opted to serve as a missionary in Peru, during which time he encountered what Elie referred to as 鈥渁ctual war.鈥� Elie highlighted the ways in which Prevost鈥檚 experience in Peru has shaped his leadership during the current global conflicts. Rather than taking an ambiguous position, Pope Leo has spoken with directness and simplicity to world leaders about the need for peace. Elie argued that this is a direct result of his missionary experience, allowing him to express the need for peace rather than being bogged down by polarized rhetoric.聽
Ultimately, Elie highlighted that we are currently in a postsecular age where religion is simultaneously declining and surging. In response, Elie suggests that people look to the 鈥渕argins鈥� to find authentic religious expression. The 鈥渃rypto- religious鈥� artists of the 1980s opened up this new space, using religious motifs to counter conventional beliefs. Understanding these peripheral figures can help us better understand the 1980s, the generation that shaped many adult Catholics today.
After Elie鈥檚 comments, Kim Garcia of Boston College鈥檚 English Department offered a thoughtful response and moderated a lively Q&A. When elaborating on his inspiration for the book, Elie highlighted that we are currently in a postsecular age where religion is simultaneously declining and surging. In light of this, Elie suggests that people look to the 鈥渕argins鈥� to find authentic religious expression. The 鈥渃rypto-religious鈥� artists of the 1980s opened up this new space, using religious motifs to counter conventional beliefs. Understanding these peripheral figures can help us better understand the 1980s, the generation that shaped many adult Catholics today. Overall, Paul Elie offered a thoughtful examination of the 1980s by examining artists on the 鈥渕argins鈥� of religious belief, providing context for both Pope Leo and many of the adult Catholics who form the Church today.