With the recent death of Pope Francis and the election of his successor, Pope Leo XIV—formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost of Chicago—the Vatican is once again in the global spotlight. And so is one of Ralston College’s very own: Daniel B. Gallagher, Lecturer in Philosophy and Literature.
A former papal speechwriter, Latinist, and secretary to two popes, Gallagher has recently garnered national attention for his reflections on what it was really like to work inside the Vatican. His essay, I Worked for Pope Francis: Here’s What He Was Really Like, published on Medium, offers a rare glimpse into the personality and principles of the late pontiff. Gallagher describes Francis as a man of deep prayer, startling frankness, and genuine humility—someone who “never hesitated to call out irreverence” and lived by his motto: miserando atque eligendo—“by taking pity and making choices”.
Before arriving at Ralston in 2023, Gallagher served for a decade in the Vatican, first under Benedict XVI and then Francis, helping craft speeches, translating critical texts, and safeguarding the Latin language at the highest levels of Church diplomacy. His fluency in Latin is legendary—he has translated not only theological works and state documents, but also Diary of a Wimpy Kid (yes, into Latin: Commentarii de Inepto Puero).
Upon retirement from the Holy See in 2016, Gallagher accepted an invitation from Cornell University to serve as the Ralph and Jeanne Kanders Associate Professor of the Practice in Latin, teaching advanced reading, composition, and conversation to undergraduates and graduates while drawing upon the unique pedagogy of his mentor, Fr Reginald Foster, OCD (1939-2020), an early member of Ralston’s distinguished Board of Visitors. Cornell also afforded the opportunity to direct several plays in the original Latin, including Seneca’s Troades and Terence’s Adelphoe.
At Ralston, Gallagher was an instructor in last year’s inaugural Latin Summer Program and now teaches across the humanities in our MA program, inviting students into the delight of rigorous philosophical reasoning, close reading of Greek and Latin texts, and the contemplation of beauty in poetry, music, and art. “The intellectual life is not only possible,” he says, “it is wholly delightful.”
Though his path has taken him from Rome to Ithaca to Savannah, Gallagher says his greatest joy these days comes at home, as he and his wife prepare to welcome their fifth child this fall.
