Patrick Leonard is a freelance videographer from Carney in Sligo and is making a name for himself across the globe.
EWTN, which stands for Eternal Word Television Network, a Catholic channel, is one of his biggest clients. He says that with this network, he makes documentaries based on where the Pope travels to. His job has allowed him to bring his work worldwide to places such as Mongolia, South Sudan and most recently a trip to the continent of Africa as he followed the Pope’s footsteps, documenting his movements in a range of African countries.
He describes how his network would hear of a trip that the Pope would be undergoing, and Leonard would go to this country beforehand to document about the life there, find out why the Pope is going, what he hopes to bring to the people of that particular place and what the Church is like on the ground there.
This time, ETWN asked him if he could go to Africa alongside the Pope, tracking his movements around the continent and reporting live.
“It was a once in a lifetime opportunity so I said I would go for it”, he said.
He has been working with the network for over six years. He explains how he got involved with the channel in an unusual circumstance.
“I was chatting to this Irish guy called Colm Flynn in a coffee shop in Brooklyn, New York as I was working as a designer there at the time. We ended up working together and he introduced me to working with RTÉ, BBC and EWTN too”.
He continued, “I then lost my job during Covid as a designer. So we ended up doing video production all the time together documenting coronavirus in New York. Then for EWTN, our relationship kept growing and they offered me a full time gig in Rome and I took that up and moved to Rome for three years”.
He said he didn’t have a particularly strong interest in Vatican affairs before taking up the role, but is a practicing Catholic. However, through his posting in Rome he was able to learn on the job. He laughed as he highlighted a full circle moment that the very first video he ever made was of a First Holy Communion in Rathcormac Church here in Sligo when he was around 12 years old.
He is now based in Sligo as he is a freelancer, but leaves the country quite often to carry out his documentary works for his various clients. He made quite a few trips to Rome last year with EWTN, as the death of Pope Francis occurred and indeed the conclave and the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV occurred too.
In April 2025, Leonard was making a documentary on the life of Pope Francis, as he and his team had gotten word that the Pope was ill and he was expected to pass very soon.They were shooting content in Buenos Aires, Argentina – the home of Pope Francis, for this to air if this were to happen.
When he touched down in Dublin after returning from this trip, he said “my phone exploded because Pope Francis had just died. It was unexpected in a way because he was seen speaking to the crowd in St. Peter’s square the day before”.
“It was huge news. Every media station from all over the world is rushing to the Vatican. I went straight there from when I touched down in Dublin after Buenos Aires. I covered the funeral and the conclave then for EWTN”.
He continued that “the conclave particularly stands out as you don’t know when it’s going to happen – you’re so on edge waiting for the smoke to come out – is it going to be white or is it going to be black?”.
Leonard speaks about his recent trip to Africa with current Pope Leo XIV. The flight from Rome was a chartered flight for 11 days with ITA Airways. The airline works very closely with the Vatican to plan trips like this, as Leonard says they bring every meal that they will eat on the plane pre-prepared. He says the logistics were thorough for the 18 flights in 11 days across the continent.
The first trip from the Vatican was to Algiers, Algeria, where Leonard had the opportunity alongside other media to speak to Pope Leo.
“I had been a few metres away from him right after his election but this was the first time that I actually got the handshake and to speak directly to him”.
Despite a short window of time that Leonard got the opportunity to speak with the Pope, he says that he made him feel completely at ease.
“He’s not in a rush, it’s not like another celebrity where you might just get a nod or something. He really seemed interested in what I was saying”.
He continued, “I told him I’m from Ireland and he acknowledged the connection there as he spent some time here in the mid 2000s when he was the head of the Augustinians. I also got to tell him about filming a documentary in Algeria right after his election. As he is an Augustinian, he has a connection to Algeria where St.Augustin comes from”.
The trip for Leonard was busy, as he describes how each country is very different to the next.
“You are going through different climates, cultures and languages in each place. The response in each country to the Pope is very varied too”.
Asked about how he initially got into such a profession, he said he originally started making home videos at the age of 11 and he “never stopped”.
“Some locals decided to pay me to make a video of a Sean nós festival in Rathcormac and I just kept doing it and enjoying it more and more”.
He studied Industrial and product design in college, worked as a designer for sometime and went back to videography after Covid, as he says he is glad he made this career move.
He hopes to get the opportunity again to travel alongside the Pope, but says that for now the next trip is already planned for documentary making of the work of the Church on the ground in the Baltic countries – covering Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia at the end of this month.
