At a press briefing in Rome, Italy, the U.S. Conference Of Catholic Bishops was asked about Pope Leo XIV's possible actions relating to U.S. politics.
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00:00I'd like to call on a print reporter. Joshua.
00:21I'm Joshua McElweith Reuters. Thank you so much.
00:23Something I think many of you saw or we all saw in Pope Francis was that he was a very free man.
00:29He kind of knew who he was and he spoke very plainly and very openly.
00:33I think sometimes in ways that might have caused you all some trouble.
00:37And I wonder how you see...
00:40Pope Francis spoke very freely also about the situation in the U.S. Church and in U.S. politics.
00:46He addressed President Trump pretty directly.
00:50He called the plan to deport millions of migrants a disgrace.
00:54I'm wondering if you think Pope Leo is the same kind of free man,
00:57if he might speak in those kinds of terms about what he sees as problems with the U.S. political system.
01:03And do you hope or want that President Trump might come for the inauguration of the Petrine Ministry here in Rome?
01:09Why not? Why not? Why not?
01:21I would say on the question of is there the same type of freedom in his heart and soul that was in Pope Francis?
01:32I believe yes.
01:34But that's different from asking, is he going to express that freedom in the same exact manner or the same pathways and contours that Pope Francis did?
01:48It was said many times in the general sessions leading up to the conclave.
01:54But I think I could say this much without giving anything away.
01:57We're looking for someone following the pathway of Francis, but we're not looking for a photocopy.
02:07And I believe Pope Leo will not be a photocopy of Pope Francis.
02:18I do believe he'll be just as genuine, but he'll have a different manner in expressing that and bringing the gospel into the church and into the life of the world.
02:31I think it's important to remember that when we have the appointment of a bishop in the church, we don't talk about a replacement.
02:43We talk about a successor.
02:45That's a very important distinction to make.
02:48And that is what we were looking for as well, who could bring forward not only the ministry and life and tradition of Francis, but everything that preceded him, especially in that pivotal moment in the life of the church at Second Vatican Council.
03:07So we were looking for not a replacement, but a successor.
03:12You know, we are unsurprisingly very, very eager to find out about the man, Pope Leo.
03:22Pope Leo, rightly so.
03:24I am, we are, you are.
03:26His personality, his temperament.
03:28Of course, it's the office of the successor of St. Peter that endures.
03:34This wasn't our first rodeo.
03:36We've been through this 268 times, okay?
03:38And the church goes on.
03:40Did you detect yesterday?
03:42You were there.
03:43We bishops were behind the drapes that we could hear.
03:47The most ecstasy from the crowd is when the announcement was made.
03:53I bring you good news.
03:55Habemus Papam.
03:57We have a pope.
03:59Ecstasy.
04:00Enthusiastic applause.
04:02They didn't know who it was.
04:03As a matter of fact, they said, we don't really care.
04:06We have a pope.
04:08The chair is no longer empty.
04:10There will be a man at the window on Sunday.
04:13We have a pope.
04:15Papa is back, all right?
04:17Now, that doesn't eradicate our desire to find out the personality of this current pope.
04:25But it's that office of the successor of Peter that is supreme.
04:32And each one, you got to make gnocchi with the dough you got, as our Italian friends will say.
04:37So, obviously, the personality and the temperament will have a lot to do with it.
04:41But boy, oh boy, it's that office.
04:44It's that charism.
04:46It's that dovere, as the Italians say, that sacred duty and responsibility that is really of the essence.
04:54I also think that it's important in looking at Pope Leo to give him space to grow into the office.
05:06He's never been pope before.
05:09And so, while he comes with a rich heritage, a missionary heritage, a religious heritage, he's going to grow into the office and seize opportunities that perhaps were not ever seen in his life before.
05:29So, there's a tendency for all of us to believe that we can capture tomorrow by looking at yesterday.
05:41And I think that Pope Leo will surprise us as he brings his gifts and confronts the challenges and responds in grace to the needs of the church.
05:57I think that Cardinal Wilton has a very important point.
06:02Within news cycles, you know, we have to know every bit about Pope Leo now.
06:08He's less than 24 hours old as pope.
06:13Give him a chance to reveal his personality.
06:17And you and others who are in the media can do that, just watching his actions and his talks and the way he engages people.
06:25I'd like to see it develop more before we suddenly make judgments.
06:30Joshua, thinking about your question, we all heard, before we started voting, a rather extensive conference that was given by somebody I think you probably remember, Father Cantalemesa.
06:43Now Cardinal Cantalemesa, who's I think around 90 years old, but still a very dynamic and thoughtful speaker.
06:54And towards the end of his conference, he gave advice that all of us heard just in case.
07:01Advice to the one who's going to be elected.
07:05And he said, be yourself.
07:10Now lest that seem to be just simply a life is a selfie attitude, I heard it in terms of a novel that really fascinated me at different times in my life called Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis.
07:32And in it, this wise teacher is tutoring two princesses, this tribe.
07:40And one who is very bright, very rational, is questioning about the gods because it's set in pre-Christian Greece or Macedonia, really.
07:52And the princess says, why won't the gods come to us?
07:56But by this time in the novel, you realize the author's talking about God.
08:00Drop the S and make it a capital G.
08:02And he says, the gods will not come to us until we have a face.
08:11They don't want to waste their time talking to masks.
08:17So I think Pope Leo heard that call as Bob Provost, and he's going to carry it out with the gifts of grace and nature that God's given him.
08:31So I don't think there's a worry about him being a carbon copy of anybody.
08:37So I don't know.
08:38So that's true.
08:39And this time I would be the one where God will be the one who the Angelica for the Red Chges for the fall.
08:43Nobody is a girlfriend.
08:45I won't flip a dogdomously.
08:46And he did this kind of thing.
08:47That's right.
08:48Be cara.
08:49And it's okay.
08:50I bet you were killed .
08:51Go outside from the room.
08:53Good call.
08:54He's going to join him, it's okay.
08:58Okay, I'm so sorry.
08:59Because of his wife's dancing.
09:02So he's the best friend of salleys.