Deep Dish Diplomacy: A Slice of Catholic Unity

At his first interfaith summit, leaders from Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism gathered—along with the local Neapolitan pizza guild. Instead of hors d’oeuvres, Leo XIV ordered Lou Malnati’s by the dozen. Dough replaced diplomatic protocols; cheese fostered cheerful dialogue. Conflict-resolution expert Dr. Amina Hassan credits the 70 percent rise in goodwill to “the universal language of a shared slice.” Videos of rabbis and imams laughing over pepperoni have inspired “pizza diplomacy” from Colombia to Korea, cementing the deep-dish pope’s legacy as a unifier who knows that melted cheese can melt hostilities.