Question of Faith
A weekly question of faith answered by Cleveland Catholics. Fr. Damian Ference, Vicar of Evangelization and Deacon Mike Hayes Director of Young Adult Ministry in the Diocese of Cleveland co-host with frequent guests from the Diocesan Office who join in the conversation. Sponsored by Briefcase Marketing--check them out at https://www.Briefcase.marketing
Question of Faith
What Can We Expect from Pope Leo XIV?
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Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago, becomes the first American pope in Church history, bringing a unique blend of Augustinian spirituality, canon law expertise, and pastoral experience from his years serving the poor in Peru.
• White smoke appeared lunchtime (EST) on Thursday, signaling a relatively quick conclave.
• Pope Leo chose his name after Leo XIII, known for social justice teaching.
• His first words as pope were "Peace be with you," signaling a focus on unity.
• Both traditionalists and progressives have responded positively to his election.
• As an Augustinian, he comes from a religious order and will bring his order's perspective to the papacy.
• His American accent and Midwestern English create a new sound for papal addresses.
• He combines elements of his predecessors: Francis's concern for the poor with Benedict's academic approach.
• His living brothers in Chicago and Florida offer a humanizing glimpse into his family life.
• Early indications suggest he'll be a unifying figure while continuing Francis's mission in a "more buttoned-up" style.
• He's already begun peace initiatives, meeting with Ukraine's president shortly after his election.
Let us pray for Pope Leo XIV as he begins his pontificate, that the Lord will guide him in leading the Church through whatever hardships may come.
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Fr Damian invites you:
Jubilee Year pilgrimages will happen across the Diocese of Cleveland:
June 12th at St. John of the Cross to Lourdes Shrine.
July 19th at St. John Bosco to Shrine of the Queen of the Holy Rosary at Incarnate Word Academy (especially for young adults),
July 26th at St. Anne Shrine (focused on grandparents and families).
Readings for the 5th Sunday of Easter.
Who would you be very surprised to see? I don't think it'll be an American.
Speaker 2:I'll just say that I don't think it'll be an American. Yeah, I was going in the same direction. I said I'd be very surprised if it would be an American.
Speaker 1:There's some other guy I never heard of, but I just heard of him the other day and he was a nuncio in Peru and he's an American that no one talked about. So I guess— Prevost is his name, I think.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he was seen going into Cardinal Burke's apartment the other day apparently. So, who knows what that means. It means maybe it's his friend. It means it might be his friend. That's right. That's what I said to someone too. All right, long conclave short conclave.
Speaker 1:Saturday.
Speaker 3:I think medium, I think probably two or three days. I don't think it'll take them too long.
Speaker 1:So if it's Wednesday, you think by Friday or Saturday, yeah, I think. Friday, but you think, by the end of the day Wednesday.
Speaker 2:They'll have a ballot on Thursday. Well, we were close.
Speaker 1:We at least said his name Did you say his name or did I say his name? You said his name.
Speaker 2:Actually, I said his name. You said that it was an American from Peru. He was living in Peru.
Speaker 1:But I said I thought he was a nuncio. He wasn't a nuncio, he was actually a bishop, but we were on the trail to something.
Speaker 2:I at least had the right day, but had everything else wrong, including the name. But anyway, hi folks, this is Question of Faith. I'm Deacon Mike Hayes. I'm the director of young adult ministry here in the Diocese of Cleveland.
Speaker 1:I'm Father Damian Ferencz, the vicar for evangelization.
Speaker 3:And I am Emily Olin, director of archives for the Diocese of Cleveland.
Speaker 2:So the two of you were together when the papal announcement happened. I was in Akron at a all-day team building exercise with our esteemed colleague Kathy Gohler. Fortunately for us, this happened during lunch.
Speaker 3:I saw like a meme or something that was like nice of the Cardinals to like plan this all so that everybody in North America was at lunch when the announcement went up.
Speaker 1:Well, I had the noon mass at the cathedral across the street and the day before that I had no. The day before I had prayed the prayers for the election of a pope, which is pretty cool. The church thinks of everything. So we still hadn't had a pope by noon on Thursday. So as I began the mass, signed myself the Lord, be with you, with your spirit. I said, folks, there's still no white smoke, we don't have a pope. So we're going to pray these prayers one more time with the hope of having having a pope. And then, you know, let us. We did the whatever the confiteor and then prayed.
Speaker 1:And then, after communion, I was over at the credence table purifying my chalice and Steve Otlowski from the cathedral comes over and he goes Father, I'm like, get out. Who he goes, we don't know. But we have a Pope and the white smoke is coming. So I finished purifying, went back to my chair, let us pray, did the prayer after communion and I said, hey, everybody, our prayers worked. Habemus Papam, we have a Pope, we don't know who it is yet, but there's white smoke. So after the blessing, go home and turn on your TV and see what it is.
Speaker 1:So it was really cool and then eventually I had lunch and I was watching. I think we all were. We thought it would happen a little sooner. Joe Kronauer texts me because Joe runs my Daily Prayers and he asked if I would come over and we could record some new prayers or new intros for Friday and Saturday, since we had a Pope and I said sure, and they were over in this building. What is that building? We're in the hoban room. Hoban room where there's a big tv and it was most of the communications team. Emily was there and a few other people, and that's when we waited together and then the archbishop, or whoever, came out. What is his name?
Speaker 3:he's got, I think, isn't it the Cardinal Deacon? Yes, whatever. Yeah, the Cardinal Deacon, I don't know, I don't know anything. The Habemus Popham guy, that's his new name. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So he came out and then I heard Prevost and I said American and he was like American. And then I heard in whatever it was in Latin or Italian, the 14th. And then I rewound and heard in my memory Leo the 14th. So it was Leo the sorry, leo the 14th. And then that's when we were like Leo the 14th but we went nuts because he was an American and who thought we were going to get an American. We even said last week we didn't think it was possible. We started the show with that little clip.
Speaker 3:John Paul II died when I was in the fourth grade, and so I was like I was like cognizant enough to like ask questions and I remember watching all the coverage and I asked my dad, because I'm pretty sure it was when did dolan become a cardinal? Because I'm pretty sure they threw him up on the screen when, yeah, when that was a while after, was it? There must have been some american papacy. I'm pretty sure there must have been some American.
Speaker 2:It was during the Benedict papacy.
Speaker 3:I'm pretty sure there must have been some American. They threw up on the screen and I was like, oh my gosh, like Dad, could we ever have it?
Speaker 2:And he said, no, no we'll never have an American as a pope.
Speaker 3:So I had the distinct pleasure of texting my family and saying Dad was wrong.
Speaker 1:There was an American who's pope Almost everyone was wrong and most of the time when and even Cardinal Dolan and the other guys said this when the American cardinals would get together, prevost wasn't in that group. No Even though he's born in Chicago. He's a religious order priest and spent most of his ministry in Peru, so that makes sense. But he certainly is American, as we found out all week.
Speaker 2:Oh, here's something really cool. So my friend Nick Stein works for the Bon Secours Sisters and so they have a place in Peru, and so he called them and said, hey do you know the Pope.
Speaker 3:And they were like yes, we know the.
Speaker 2:Pope. He is amazing. He was part of the poorest parish that was here. When he was here, he was so humble and so wonderful. We've been jumping for joy all afternoon. That's great.
Speaker 1:It was for joey all afternoon. That's great. So it was great to hear a little inside there the, the seminarians from his home diocese in peru, when they, when they and not made the announcement, just went nuts.
Speaker 2:So, so fun it was very cool. Yeah, it was, it was. It was nuts joanne. Uh, pietraski and I were together at the uh at the event that we're at and uh, waiting for the announcement, and she looked at me, she, she was insistent that it was going to be on Friday. She was like there's no way we're going to have a Pope today, it's going to be on Saturday. Nope today, it ends today. And she was like no, it's not. And we're going back and forth like two 13-year-olds. Oh, my goodness, you called second. Was that like? I was thinking that, like one ballot is two votes.
Speaker 2:So like there's a session in the morning and a session in the evening, so I thought by the evening session it would be over.
Speaker 1:And they had three on yes, okay, yeah, yeah, okay, because the first day they only had one vote right, correct, yeah.
Speaker 2:And then it's two and two Okay, but yeah. And then it's two and two, okay, but yeah. I mean, similar to the Francis election, the same number balance there, so you know they're getting good at this. If nothing else, wait was Pope Francis five, I believe.
Speaker 3:So yeah, I don't remember, but it was what Katie Prejean McCready kept calling it, cardinal Camp. Right, like they had like a whole week's worth of meetings to, like you know, kind of like go, because Cardinal Dolan even said in the press conference, like people are coming up to me like do you know, do you know Robert Prevost? And he's like who?
Speaker 3:Like he had no idea who he was, and so it helps. You know the Cardinals get to know each other and that sort of thing, so I think that helps too, right, so they can do a lot of. You know all that campaigning can be done the week before, and then you know you get in, get out, get going.
Speaker 1:Yeah, determining the needs of the church, where we need to be led and the kind of person to do it. So it was awesome. You adopted a cardinal, didn't you say that, deacon Mike Pete Sabama yeah, and that we are praying for this. So the whole universal church, like 1.4 billion Catholics, plus people who weren't even Catholic tuning in. It was wonderful. Pr for the church Like this is us at our best. It's good news, joyful, hopeful news, and people were really excited, and one of the great takeaways for me thus far has been the unification that seems to be taking place. At least early reports are that, and my evidence is Cardinal Burke is very happy and Father James Martin SJ is very happy, and usually James Martin SJ is very happy.
Speaker 1:And usually those two guys don't. They're not happy about the same thing. And the fact that they are is pretty good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, one of the things I was taking away from this. I heard somebody say this the other day and I can't remember who it was, so whoever said this, I'm sorry for not giving you credit, but they said think about, we just took 133 guys. Guys, put them in a room with no social media, no access to the news. They just had to sit there and be with each other and they may have just changed the world when you think about it not to mention that how many different languages are spoken?
Speaker 1:and they couldn't all not all of them do speak Italian, so I think they had like 13 different groups and they were trying to find common language and all that. But it's possible. And I loved hearing the accounts from the Cardinals of how serious they took their job, especially when they had to look, and how important art is to the Christian life. Looking at Michelangelo's last judgment and knowing that this weighs heavy on their soul, how they voted and they had to vote about the man that they prayed for most, who thought they would be the best leader I thought it was beautiful, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's got to weigh heavy on everybody. I know a lot of the guys are saying man, I wrote that name down, I went over there and I placed on the patent. I was like, whoa, yeah, this is a big deal.
Speaker 3:Pretty awesome, because you have to say something too, isn't it? Something like you know you swear before God and it's just like if you're doing that, that's some serious stuff right there.
Speaker 1:As you're looking up at Christ the judge and knowing that in the corner there's an image of a Monsignor who's in hell in his casket oh, there are no accidents in the church.
Speaker 3:They painted it like that for a reason.
Speaker 1:Exactly With donkey ears. Yes, I think, yeah, I think that's right. So what do we expect?
Speaker 2:Yeah, what do we expect from this Pope? Well, he's an Augustinian and he's a canon lawyer, so those are two things that we could explore a little bit. So Augustine's thought is going to be in there, and he started out by talking about both peace and a lot of Francis words is what I heard and a lot of Augustine words is what I heard. So I was like that's pretty good.
Speaker 1:And he came out with a prepared text, which is not something we've seen before. So I think he'll be more deliberate One of the words a little more calm and steady in terms of his preparation, and that's the canon lawyer in him, it seems to me that you're very careful with what you're going to say.
Speaker 1:Even his second homily was filled with all sorts of references. But I also think of him so far as a synthesizer, in the same way that when you read Thomas Aquinas, you read every thinker that references Pope Francis and John Paul II. He had Paul VI Crozier out the other day for a mass. He took the name after Leo XIII. He's a successor in terms of lineage and he already referenced Rerum Novarum, so I think a lot of nods to everybody that's come before and he's going to be showing us the tradition of the church and consistency throughout, and I think that's really exciting. I also will say that I'm really happy that he studied at the Angelicum, so that's where I also got my doctorate.
Speaker 1:His was in canon law, not philosophy, but so happy that he's an American and to hear him speak Midwestern English is still like what's going on here.
Speaker 3:I'm thrilled about the whole thing Not to knock Pope Francis at all, because I do still love Pope Francis, but I don't think I realized how much in my heart I needed to hear the Pope speak English. Like you know, in his homily, when he addressed the cardinals first in English, I was like, oh my goodness, like I haven't heard the Holy Father speak my language in so long. Not that I have any memory of Benedict speaking English, because I wasn't really paying attention.
Speaker 3:to be perfectly honest, right, I was still a kid, but I've like looked up like footage of John Paul II speaking English, because I wasn't really paying attention. To be perfectly honest, right, I was still a kid, but I've looked up footage of John Paul II speaking English.
Speaker 2:I heard him speaking English in both Central Park and Toronto.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he struggled with it. He did he would do a little bit, and I remember when he would use Eucharistic Prayer 2, which is what I would do in Italian, because it's shorter, shorter yeah. But we've never heard a bishop or a pope speak English without an accent. So even John Paul would be like. Young people turn to Christ and Benedict's accent his English was great, but it was with a German accent.
Speaker 1:So, it's different. The nice thing about having an accent, though, is if someone has an accent, they know other languages, and a lot of times people will say, oh is, if someone has an accent, they know other languages.
Speaker 2:Yeah, true.
Speaker 1:And a lot of times people will say, oh, they're not American. Yeah, but they know a lot of other languages and there's a lot more to being human than being an American, and I love the United States of America, but this guy has had a worldly experience. So I think he has three citizenships the United States, peru and then Vatican.
Speaker 2:City and then Vatican City.
Speaker 1:yeah, right so not to mention all the travels that he did around the world being the head of the Augustinian order. So seeing all these cultures, seeing how the church works in different countries, is really an important thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and when we talk about continuity, I think you know we talk about all the popes that came before him, you know I mean that includes Pope Francis now, as think you know we talked about all the popes that came before him. You know I mean that includes Pope Francis now as well. You know, and so you know when we think about that whole thing. I heard a lot of Francis' language in his first thing. I don't know if you heard the address he did to journalists, which I thought was really outstanding talking about.
Speaker 2:We can't be, you know, we can't be divided on a lot of unity message. We can't be, you know, screaming at each other. We have to bring people together. He's going to really unify us a little bit more, I think, than maybe some others have. I think what my friend Nick Stein, who's from the National Institute for Ministry for Young Adults. We were talking all afternoon and he said I think he'll be a more buttoned-up Francis, which I thought was a good way to put it, and that doesn't mean stuffy.
Speaker 2:More refined, more refined or more deliberate I think More deliberate in his thoughts will be all thought out before he releases them to the public.
Speaker 1:And that's very much like Benedict. That's where the academic side comes out too, and the canon lawyer side comes out as well.
Speaker 3:Yes, but that's what I've been saying too is that I think he'll be a little bit more of a palatable version of Francis for the people who didn't necessarily enjoy Pope Francis.
Speaker 2:I think that he's going to move forward in the spirit of Francis in a way that isn't going to push as many buttons as Pope Francis pushed and, by the same token, I think it will be similar to the two other, to the last two popes who people didn't, some people didn't like them.
Speaker 3:Right, exactly, Okay. He'll be a more palatable version of Benedict. If everybody likes you and you're the pope, you're doing a bad job. That's right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's interesting again to see how he's like John Paul, how he's like Benedict and how he's like Francis and how he's not. He's his own man. So he's wearing the black pants and the black scuffed shoes. That's very Francis. He's moving back into the Apostolic Palace, which is where Benedict and John Paul lived before and again, I mentioned this last week. It's not ornate, it's in a different place. Pope Francis was very much a community man and liked to be part of that, and so he had his reasons for doing that. But you don't have to do everything that the guy before you did and you can show that here. This was a great thing that Paul VI offered. Here's a great thing John Paul II Like show off the tradition in your own way. That's how it ought to be. You don't want a carbon copy of someone who can't be for it.
Speaker 2:Exactly and you said this last week too that some folks are, you know, maybe a little more introverted, need some more time alone, or Pope Francis needed to be around, people all the time. That gave him energy and made him relaxed and he saw people all the time in the elevator and at meals and the morning mass and things like that and, being a person who lived in community for most of his life, that was probably important to him.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and there's a prophetic role to well Christian discipleship by our baptism priest, prophet and king. But there's certainly a prophetic role to being pope, and just because you don't like someone doesn't mean they're necessarily doing something wrong or bad, and that's true of all popes. But I think one of the things that Pope Francis did best was he got people to pay attention to the church that didn't pay attention before and he made people feel included who weren't included before. And I'm thinking in particular of the way that when he would plan his visits, he was going to parts of the world where there was not a high population of Catholics and sometimes only 5,000. Why would he spend his time going there? Because these are the people that are often forgotten and I'm bringing them in.
Speaker 1:I was talking with one of my Filipino priest friends yesterday and he was saying, oh my gosh, what that meant to people in these parts of the world was fantastic.
Speaker 1:And I know that in a lot of the work we've done here over the last few years in terms of parish life and evangelization, making sure that we're not just tapping the wealthiest suburban parishes in the diocese there's 184 of them and to get out to Wayne County and to Ashland and all the way out to Lorain and the far end of like Madison in Lake County and in St Patrick's and Thompson and some of these parishes that are forgotten and some of the parishes in the city where it's easy just to tap, the parishes that are big, have huge staffs and have a lot of money, but don't forget about everybody else.
Speaker 1:And I think Pope Francis did that well and now that we have Pope Leo, who's also worked with the poor and those on the margins, he's going to continue that but, as you say, in a more buttoned up or refined way and maybe be able to better articulate what Pope Francis was doing, so that more people can get on board and say that makes sense to me, because what I'm seeing is maybe not the extreme right and the extreme left They'll never be happy but those who are coloring within the lines of the church. Again, when I mentioned Cardinal Burke and I mentioned Father James Martin at SJ, when they're both excited about the new Holy Father, that makes me happy, because now there's like a unification where there ought to be a unification, and both ought to be comforted and both ought to be challenged, because we don't want our religion just to make us feel comfortable all the time and everything's great. It should challenge us to think differently and to have our hearts stretched, which hurts sometimes.
Speaker 2:I think, too, that one of the things he's going to do is empower others. In some ways, he's very good at bringing people together and directing them, like putting people in the right place and so I think he's going to be like okay, I need you to go do this, cardinal. I need this, you know, to be done in this diocese. I need this to be done here. I need everybody to do this. What role can you play here? I think he's going to be really good at putting people in the right places and giving them very intentional direction. You know to say, okay, this is what we're going to need. We're all on the same page. Okay, let's go.
Speaker 2:Let's move now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, a bishop's job is this order of charisms determine what people are good at and get them in the right places so they can flourish.
Speaker 2:Good job for an Augustinian. Yeah, order is order, you know.
Speaker 1:And even our Bishop Molesik. I think people may not know this about him, but one of his greatest gifts is finding people who are and getting them in the right places so that they can flourish, and taking time to discern all that. That's really good. Yeah, that's great, yeah.
Speaker 2:So you know he's at it already and I know he had a meeting with the President of Ukraine the other day, so he's already starting on his peace tour a little bit saying let's get people together. That was very comforting to me, the first words that he came up with. In fact, I meant to ask that question last week. What do you think the first words of the new pope would be? And Christy, I know I'd said before she goes, I have no idea. If you ask me that question, I'm not going to know what to say.
Speaker 1:So peace be to you all. Peace be with you. Peace be with you Peace be with you. And then he talked about the risen Christ and the good shepherd. And I know that because I quoted him in my homily this past weekend and he mentioned peace an awful lot. So I think that may be so early.
Speaker 2:Well, the 13th too was a peacemaker, pope in some ways with Rerum Novarum. And you know, at that time, at the world's history, in that time too, you know, there were lots of calls for peace.
Speaker 1:I've decided in September I'm going to do a book study on Rerum Novarum, and I'm also going to end every book study with the Michael the Archangel prayer, because Leo XIII wrote that too. I mean that guy was prolific. The Ligonine Prayer Show. Yeah, it's so exciting.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And we could do this on another show. But even the fact that he has two siblings, one in Chicago and then the other in Florida, and they keep interviewing these guys and they're so human and it's like here's the Pope and this is what siblings look like, and it's hilarious.
Speaker 2:It's so funny, it is, I love it.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you guys know a comedian. Her name is Jen Kirkman. Yes, I do. She used to be on Drunk History and I follow her online.
Speaker 1:She's pretty funny. But she posted something the other day that like she's very into this news of the Pope and I don't think she's an active Catholic but I do think all this good attention and even the way that the Vatican does all its formality and the pomp and circumstance and I'm not a big pomp and circumstance guy, but there are times to do things formally and to look good and we do that really well the tradition is beautiful. Even the Sistine Chapel it's the best outfits, the best art, like Catholicism has the aesthetic vibe going on.
Speaker 2:When you mentioned his brothers. I'm sitting watching the brother in Florida who said that, well, okay, I'm waiting for him to come out. I'm waiting. I'm like, oh, come on, just tell me who the pope is. And then he comes out and he goes and it's Rob. And my reaction was oh God, it's Rob. Am I going to have to change my way of life? I'm like only a brother could make this about him. He goes, and then all of a sudden it hits me. I'm like, yay, it's Rob.
Speaker 1:Then he said he goes, yeah. And when I see him they said what are you going to do? He goes I'll probably just be like you, idiot, what did you do? And then I'll take off his hat and give him a noogie. But I think it's really human and it's healthy, because with John Paul, his family was all dead by the time he was 20. And Benedict had a brother who was a priest. That's right.
Speaker 1:But that was kind of like oh, he has a brother, and I don't know if we was there anything we knew about Francis's family, were they all deceased as well? I think they were all deceased, yeah. So this is fairly unprecedented, at least for a modern papacy and this type of media-driven culture where we're actually able to get to his brothers. Sorry, Emily, I cut you off.
Speaker 3:That's okay. No, I was just going to say I'm still. The thing that I'm laughing about the most is so you know the sibling dynamic. So Pope Leo is the youngest of his brothers, right, and I'm still laughing about when his middle brother called him back on the iPad. First words out of Pope Leo's mouth are why don't you answer your phone? Which is what my younger sister says to me after I've called her back, after she's called me like 20 times, and it just, yeah, it cracks me up.
Speaker 2:And with brothers like these, he's on the air Like there's a camera rolling and he just answers his phone and the Pope's like why don't?
Speaker 3:you answer?
Speaker 2:his phone, he goes. You should know you're on the air right now.
Speaker 3:He just like you can feel how uncomfortable it is and he just like shuts down. He's like right now, you sure yeah.
Speaker 2:Turn that iPad away from the camera, but you know the next conversation is like don't ever do that again. Right, exactly with, with brothers, like this was like when bishop just comes out with a grocery bag of family photos.
Speaker 3:I'm like this guy's totally just like, like. I feel like this is my fit, like this is you know I'm never gonna get elected pope.
Speaker 2:Praise the lord, but like if that were happened, you know, I just picture my grandma pulling out all of the photo albums and like setting them on her kitchen table and it reminds me so much of bishop woos, when he went to tell his brother tom, father tom, that he was, uh, named bishop and his first reaction was does this mean you get to be buried in the cathedral? So I'm like with brothers like these come on. No, not. Congratulations, that's great. Are you going to get buried in the cathedral? Thanks for fast-forwarding to my death, it's just wonderful.
Speaker 1:What do you think his first encyclical is going to be?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a good question. I mean, maybe something on artificial intelligence. He's talked about that. You know, technology with changes in technology. We've done Leo XIII's papacy and now changes in technology in our time, so I think that might be one thing. Have we had one about peace recently Probably.
Speaker 1:Pachamon Terrace wasn't recent, but could be. I was thinking maybe some Augustinian-themed thing like Our Hearts Are Restless, oh yeah, could be good, and then? Show we're restless for God and also for real human interaction and not just online or digital stuff.
Speaker 2:I don't know, you could even use the conclave as a backdrop, in that what we were saying before is that you know, hey, we gather all these people. We had no social media, we had no Internet, and yet we all came together, despite the differences in our languages, and got together and we made this choice. And it's funny, like I think that I remember, like when benedict was elected, when he talked about the conclave, he used to say well, then I saw the guillotine was going to fall on me, you know where. I think francis and and leo both have kind of embraced this a little easier, maybe in some ways that they were kind of like okay, yeah, you know, you know his head falls when he knows it's going to be him.
Speaker 2:but then, all of a sudden a feeling of peace comes over him A vow of obedience.
Speaker 3:Yeah, also that too. Yeah, good point, because they were both religious.
Speaker 1:Yeah, good point, emily yeah, and they were both bishops for a long time. Yeah, true, where Pope Benedict wasn't a bishop of a sea, pastorally he was a theologian and a professor, and I think the administration was very heavy on him.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the other thing that I wanted to mention was I thought it was awesome on Sunday when he sang the Regina Caeli and someone commented like you know how hard that is, you're standing in the square. St Peter's Square probably holds 100,000 people and it was packed. It was packed All the way down the Via Conciliazione, the main road there, and he just starts Regina Chaley le tare and he doesn't have the perfect voice but he holds tune. But he knows this is the hymn we sing during the Easter season to Our Lady and he did it and that was pretty cool.
Speaker 2:Have you ever heard a Pope sing before? I don't think I've ever heard Pope sing. Maybe John Paul II, John Paul he liked to sing Paternos termi.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah he would sing yeah, so it was kind of funny, but maybe not in English he liked singing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's funny. I'd like to hear him sing in English. I know. I think I sent you a video of him singing.
Speaker 3:Feliz Navidad. Yeah, that's in Spanish. That looked like a church Christmas party. Yeah, exactly Like a karaoke-type situation, which is fun. Yeah, it's fun.
Speaker 2:He's a fun guy. He has a good sense of humor. Someone handed him a baseball the other day and asked him to sign it and he looked at.
Speaker 3:I saw a picture of that. I was like no new idea If I ever make it back to the Vatican.
Speaker 1:He said no selfies yet and there's rumor that I read today that he might shut down the Pontifex.
Speaker 2:Twitter account for a little while. Probably smart, yeah, kind of call through things and say, how do I want to do this?
Speaker 1:He was very active on social media as a bishop and maybe it's a calm to figure out how we're going to do this well, and then when we reenter, kind of like the propodutic year for our seminarians.
Speaker 1:You don't say we're not going to use this at all, Because I did watch a video from 2012. It's like discernment and formation and how to use technology well, and maybe, if he takes a break, he'll say hey, catholics, take a break, and then I'll let you know when we get back on. And this is how I want you to act online. Who knows, it's a new day.
Speaker 2:He is clearly a man of great hope, and do you know how I know this? Any fan of the Chicago White Sox has got to have great hope. It's a sure sign that you are not an atheist, if you can be a fan of the Chicago White Sox and get up in the morning.
Speaker 3:It's almost like God gave them a nod. He's like well, your team's not going to get any better anytime soon.
Speaker 2:So here's the Pope.
Speaker 1:When was the last time Chicago White Sox won a World Series?
Speaker 2:2006,.
Speaker 3:I think he was at a game in 05, because they have footage of that, 05 is correct.
Speaker 2:So guess what?
Speaker 1:People who are not from Cleveland originally. We haven't had a World Series since night that we won since 48.
Speaker 3:So yeah, oh man, even the Pirates beat you guys on that Even my Mets in 86.
Speaker 1:We've been there 95, 97, and 2016.
Speaker 3:Pirates won was the 70s, the original.
Speaker 2:City of Champions. We are family Pirates. That was their theme song.
Speaker 1:I mean, I felt bad for the. Cubs until they beat us when we were up 3-1 in 2016. But anyways, All right.
Speaker 2:So I was at St Noel for graduation this week, so we could do that as our church search. What do you know about St Noel?
Speaker 1:I was there this week too for a wedding rehearsal slash last pre-Cana meeting. So it was built, I don't know, probably in the early 80s. It's pretty minimalistic. Father Terry Gratchanen is the pastor there now. They have a very good choir and I have a wedding there in July. I don't know. What did you think?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was nice, like you said, kind of simplistic.
Speaker 1:It was a nice place, Kind of a ski lodge feel.
Speaker 3:Yeah that's right, yeah, kind of wood.
Speaker 2:It was nice we had graduation there from the seminary the other night, because you couldn't fit yeah, couldn't fit into the seminary. Into the seminary.
Speaker 1:Wow, what a good problem to have.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly. Well, it was the first time that they offered the master's degree in diaconal ministry, so they had a big class of that. So there were 36 of us, I think Gotcha, plus all the MDiv students, plus all the master's in theology students.
Speaker 3:There's a big class of guys getting ordained. This Saturday there is Eight Eight yep and there's a big class of guys getting ordained.
Speaker 2:This Saturday there is Eight Eight yep and congrats to our old friend Miguel Chavez who got his D-Min.
Speaker 1:Oh did he.
Speaker 2:He was the only D-Min candidate, so congrats to him, and you know the seminary. If they ever need some extra marketing, you know who they can call. Who Tell me. You can call Briefcase Marketing and our buddy.
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Speaker 2:Wow, easter's moving really fast.
Speaker 3:I think it's you know, watching all the pope stuff just made it go bam. I can't snap Bam. There we go, exactly.
Speaker 2:First readings from the Acts of the Apostles Paul and Barnabas had proclaimed the good news to that city and made a considerable number of disciples. It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships in order to enter the kingdom of God. Probably a good message for the Pope. You know, being the Pope is not going to be easy, so you might undergo many hardships for the kingdom of God.
Speaker 1:I had the same line underlined, and it's not just for the Pope. Anyone who's a Christian know that it's going to be hard and the cross will come your way. Of course the Lord's going to bear it with you and you're not alone in it. But we shouldn't try to run from suffering, because our Lord didn't run from it, but trust that the Lord's in our suffering, with us and gives a great meaning. And oftentimes, as the bishop says in his pastoral letter, it's after we've gone through tremendous suffering that we realize how much the Lord has grown close to us and strengthened us and matured us and made our love even stronger. So, yeah, don't be afraid of hardships.
Speaker 2:I also like the gospel. This week I give you a new commandment to love one another, which is also hard. Exactly that's exactly what I was going to say is I give you a new commandment to love one another. Going to the margin sometimes is pretty easy for me. I can go and do a service project. I can go to a foreign country even and serve the needs of the people. I know it's going to be difficult, but I'm kind of gearing up to go. But it's hard for me to love those who are close to me sometimes because they drive me nuts right.
Speaker 2:They just drive me up the wall, you know, and it's like okay, I give you a new commandment he says to these disciples who are living together and being with one another for you know, day in and day out, and he knows that they're going to need each other so he says look, I give you a new commandment. Make sure you love one another.
Speaker 1:Amen, emily, any thoughts?
Speaker 3:I think you know not to beat a dead horse, but it's necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God. That's really been like the forefront of my prayer recently, just kind of with you know things I've got going on in my own life, just that reminder that the Lord, the Lord, never abandons us, especially if we like come to prayer and show him our heart and say, lord, I have nothing left to give. And he fills the emptiness.
Speaker 2:He will not leave us orphans, amen, and has given us a new Holy Father. So let's pray for Pope Leo XIV, and we'll have this and a whole lot more next time here on Question of Faith.
