Rick Gordon, general counsel of Relevant Radio and a member of the Vatican Observatory Foundation, recently had a private audience with Pope Leo XIV and gifted him with three original vinyl recordings from The Merry Beggars, the entertainment division of Relevant Radio.
Recordings included a dramatic production on the life of St. Augustine from The Merry Beggars’ award-winning The Saints podcast, in addition to audio productions of two of the Pope’s favorite books: Confessions by St. Augustine and The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence.
Narrated by Tim H. Dixon and The Chosen’s Demetrios Troy, these audiobooks will be available publicly from Relevant Radio in late 2026 on the Relevant Radio App.
As the first Augustinian pope, Pope Leo XIV previously served as the order’s worldwide provincial for twelve years. To honor his heritage, Gordon gifted Confessions and the audio drama as Augustinian-inspired recordings produced by Relevant Radio.
Gordon noted, “Augustinian values and the writings of St. Augustine are very much the heart of his spiritual ministry, and it was wonderful to be able to show him how his spirit and the Augustinian gift to the church is being spread throughout the world, and through what Relevant Radio is doing through these audiobooks.”
Gordon serves on the board of directors for the Vatican Observatory Foundation, a non-profit organization in Tucson, Arizona, that supports the educational and scientific endeavors of the Vatican Observatory research institution in Italy. These establishments work together to highlight the overlapping dialogue between faith and science. Pope Leo XIII re-founded the institution in 1891 near Vatican City, but its roots date back to 1582. Pope Leo XIV visits the present-day location in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, periodically to continue emphasizing the Catholic commitment to active scientific research. This research is currently done by Jesuit astronomers.
Pope Leo gave a private audience to the Vatican Observatory Foundation and received these gifts from Gordon in Rome earlier this spring. The Pope delivered an address to the foundation (which Gordon recommends everyone read), where he conveys key themes in the relationship between faith and science.
The foundation’s annual board meeting is not typically scheduled for Rome but takes place in Arizona where the observatory has a research telescope. Gordon said, “When this opportunity came up for the annual meeting to be in Rome, it was a wonderful thing for the foundation and a surprise to get the Pope to give us a private audience. It was unexpected, but an incredible blessing.”
During the meeting, Gordon conversed with the Pontiff and said, “I told him, Holy Father, I’ve listened to these, I think they’re great, but you’re the expert. So, when you listen to them, let us know what you think. We’ll see if Pope Leo gets back to us.”
Gordon discussed the intentional choice of these recordings to be packaged as vinyl but questioned whether the Pontiff owned a record player. He reached out to Father Tom McCarthy, a frequent guest on Relevant Radio and an Augustinian Friar, who is a friend of the Pontiff. “I texted Father Tom and said, ‘I forgot to ask him, but when you’re in touch with the Holy Father next, could you ask him, see what you could find out for us?’ And yesterday, I received a text from Father Tom saying, ‘I was just in touch with the Holy Father, he has a record player, and he thanks you for the gifts.’ So, it was a great moment.”
Record player or not, everyone will soon have access to listen to these audiobooks on the Relevant Radio website, app, and anywhere podcasts are available. Download the Relevant Radio App to be the first to see when audiobooks are released: Relevant Radio App