Conclave Watch: An American Pope – CNN One Thing

Oh, yeah. Hi.

What a moment. You look like you’ve really, you know, been excited by it as well.

Oh my God, I mean, I just never seen anything like it. And I have to say, I heard you on TV and I’ve never heard you like that.

Ha ha ha ha!

When we heard those words, Habemus Papam, we have a pope, echo across St. Peter’s Square earlier today, we knew it would be a major moment. But no one was quite prepared for just how major.

The first American pope has been elected, Cardinal Prevost.

‘CNN Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb could barely contain himself when he heard the name Robert Prevost. Neither could the tens of thousands gathered in the square. Because it meant for the first time in the 2,000-plus-year history of the Roman Catholic Church, an American would be pope. And he’ll be known as Pope Leo XIV. His first words as pontiff, peace be with you all.

I was like, what’s going on? And I look at my phone and my friend texts me, and she was like oh my gosh, like the pope went to Villanova. I was, like, oh my god, no way.

Amazing! I’m just, I’m shocked and I’m thrilled and I just hope that he continues to do the wonderful works that Pope Francis did and just makes us all unified.

It’s hard to overstate just how unexpected and seismic a moment this is for all Catholics, and it could have major implications for the rest of the world. So today, Christopher Lamb joins me to break it all down. From CNN, I’m David Rind, and this is Conclave Watch.

Chris, what just happened out there?

Well, David, it is stunning moment with the election of Cardinal Prevost, the first Pope from the U S Chicago born, uh, who spent a lot of time as a missionary in Peru, Pope Leo the 14th, uh it was really unbelievable because we had the white smoke at around 6 PM local time. A lot of people thought that meant, you know, one of the kind of front runners. That have been talked about would be elected. There were rumors that it would be Cardinal Parolin. And just impossible to know what would happen when the Cardinal came out on the balcony to announce the name, but then, you know, I heard the Latin, we have a Pope and then the first name, Robertum or Robertus, I thought, could it be? And then Prevost.

Tell me then, when he came out, what did you make of what he said?

Well, I was struck by the fact that he had taken the time to clearly write out a speech. And that’s why there was sort of an hour between the white smoke and him appearing. Very deliberate in thinking what he was saying. He emphasized the importance of peace.

This is the piece of the Resurrecting Christ. And perseverant peace which comes from God, God who loves us all.

That emphasis on a church that welcomes everyone, which is something that Pope Francis talked about. He, of course, mentioned Francis, praised Francis.

Let us keep. In our ears, the weak voice. Francis, that blesses Rome.

‘And it seemed that he is going to continue in the same vein as the late Pope. He talked about being a member of the Augustinian order. Yeah, what is that? It’s a religious order of friars who live a life according to the rule of St. Augustine. They’re a global religious order all over the world. He led that order internationally. And he’s quoted from St. Augustine who said with you, I am a Christian for you. I am your bishop. So a sense very much of him wanting the church to not be kind of separated into hierarchy and people, but to walk together. This was something that Pope Francis emphasized a lot. So I was very struck by all those things. He also referenced the fact that he’d been bishop in Peru. I think that was quite important to show that yes, he is Chicago born. Yes, he’s the first Pope from the US. But he has spent a lot of his life outside of the U.S. As a missionary in Peru. And I think that’s important. I think it’s one of the reasons why he was taken seriously as a candidate because in the past it was thought that there wouldn’t be an American Pope because of U. S.’s role on the world stage. And I thing with Prevost, you have someone who has been outside of the U S who’s an un-American American in some ways.

So just because he’s from America, the fact that he’s spent so much time out in the world doing the work that he is known for, that might have made him a little more palatable choice.

Yeah, that’s absolutely right. I think there was, you know, from my conversations, there was a sense that an American Pope would be considered. I mean, I spoke to Cardinal Gracious, the retired Archbishop of Bombay, and they ran up to the conclave, and he is a very respected figure. And I asked him, could there be an American pope? And he said, why not? You know, in the past, this was considered impossible, but why not, it could happen. And when he said that, I immediately thought, is he talking about Prevost? Have you met, Provost? Yes, I have. I met him once in the Vatican. I found him a very thoughtful person, a very approachable person, a very good listener.

You said he’s kind of in the mold of Francis in terms of his views on things. So what does this tell us about where the Vatican is at, ideologically?

Well, I think it shows that not just the Vatican, but the whole of the church or the leadership of the Church with the Cardinals wants to continue in the way of Francis, but they haven’t elected a Pope who is a carbon copy of Francis. They haven’t selected someone who is just trying to replicate what Francis did. It was notable that Cardinal Prevost, now Pope Rea XIV, I’ve got to get Mozzetta, which is… Customary for Popes to wear, which Francis didn’t wear. I think he was making a bit of a statement there by saying, look, I’m not going to be like Francis, totally like him in style. I’m going to be my own person. And I think Pope Francis used to speak off the cuff. He used to be quite freewheeling with his speeches and addresses, whereas Cardinal Prevost, clearly he’s a bit more of a someone who likes to prepare, I think a bit methodical. And yeah, so his own style, but That speech he gave was not one that was drafted by the Roman Curia or the Vatican, that was his own speech and that’s important, he’ll be his own.

I’m sure do we know where he stands on some of the thorny or issues like abortion or gay marriage?

‘Well, I imagine he will follow the Church’s line on those things. I don’t think he’s going to be someone who’ll deviate from the Catholic Church’s teaching. But I thought it was interesting, he emphasized God’s love for everyone. I think he wants to be inclusive and I think that’s similar to Francis. And I think, look, to get the two-thirds majority that he needed, he would have had to have got the support of perhaps more conservative cardinals. And I think, or cardinals who may be. Might’ve been a bit skeptical of Francis. So he’s won their support and that’s, I think, significant. And I think that shows that, you know, he’s not going to be someone who’s going to overturn teaching, but clearly he’s in the same mold and tone as Francis. Leo XIII was a pope who was really a kind of crucial figure in Catholic social teaching, which is a body of thought that… Effectively is about the church’s understanding of how politics can work and how social affairs works. It’s not a kind of political ideology, but it’s how politics can work. Leo XIII was a champion of workers, of the poorest. He emphasized the importance of solidarity with workers. It was at the time of the Industrial Revolution that he was writing. He wrote a very important encyclical, Rerum Novarum, which is considered a kind foundational text for Catholic social thought and teaching. So I think the choice of Leo, the 14th, suggests that, you know, these questions of economic injustices, the plight of the poorest in societies will be a priority for the new pope.

Seems to me like he’s at least somewhat conscious of the idea of the church existing within a wider world and all these other structures that exist rather than vice versa.

Yes, that’s right. And I think the Cardinals wanted a pope who could speak beyond the confines of the Catholic Church. That was something that was said in the discussions. And in Prevost, in his choice of name, there is a reflection of that. And, I think you also be a pope, who works in quite a consultative style. Popes have, you know, sort of ultimate authority. The church, but there is a desire for the popes to be more consultative and that’s something that I think he will do.

So because he’s American, obviously the question is how he kind of sizes up with the American church and even the Trump administration and people have been poring over his old Twitter slash ex account and as recently as a few months ago, he tweeted out an article with the headline, J.D. Vance is wrong. Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others. So I mean, what do you make of possible divides that could kind of form?

Well, you remember Francis was very critical of the Trump administration on immigration. Yeah. I would say that Prevost holds similar view and JD Vance’s theological defense of the, Trump administration’s immigration policy, which I think that tweet from Pope Leo XIV was referencing, was specifically rebutted by Francis. And I imagine. Pope Leo Xiv thinks the same about J.D. Vance’s defense of the immigration policy of the Trump administration. So it could well be that there are some tensions. I think just the approach and the style of Pope Leo the XIV is going to be in some ways a counterweight to Trump and the Trump administration. I know that. The New Pope is a man of dialog, a man who likes to bring people of different views together to try and find solutions to problems through collaboration, through listening to people. So he also emphasized the importance of peace today. I think that was significant. So I think he’s going to be someone who believes in the power of diplomacy, of dialog. All of those things are going to be important to him.

‘I mean, there’s a lot of anti-American sentiment out in the world right now. Does that complicate the mission of the church to kind of grow the faithful, find new places to bring in followers?

I mean, look at that, probably might be a factor, but I think the thing about the new pope is that he is this kind of a figure who isn’t totally defined by where he’s from. You know, he’s spent all that time in Peru. He’s got that strong American experience. So he is someone who can connect with people in different languages. He speaks a number of languages very well. He speaks Spanish, obviously, Italian, and I believe other languages. And of course, he is a pope who speaks English fluently and you know. We haven’t had that.

Yeah, I mean, that’s a huge change right there.

Huge change because I think, you know, it was obviously for Francis didn’t speak English and you know when you’re having to be translated all the times, it does cut sometimes create a bit of a barrier. Like Leo the 14th will be able to communicate with English speaking Catholics and American Catholics in their mother tongue.

And English speaking Vatican journalists like yourself.

Well, let’s hope so. A little advantage for us.

Well, so Chris, what happens next? Like logistically, where does Publio live? Where is he sleep? How does that all work?

Well, tonight, he’s going to be having a sort of celebratory dinner with the fellow cardinals. That’s the tradition and that will take place, I believe, in the Santa Marta, which is where the cardinals have all been staying. We don’t know yet where he’s gonna live. Of course, Pope Francis lived in the Santamarta residence, which was where he lived before the Conglave in 2013. He didn’t live in the Apostolic Palace. I imagine that Pope Leo XIV will… Stay in Santa Marta tonight and perhaps take his time before making a decision. He’s, as I said, quite a thoughtful, reflective person. I imagine he’ll want to kind of weigh up the best options for him. And then probably in the coming days, we’ll see what his decision is.

Well, Chris, really huge moment. And I really appreciate you walking us all through it.

Thank you very much David, good to be with you.

Conclave Watch is a production of CNN Audio. This episode was produced by me, David Rind, and Grace Walker with support from Graelyn Bershear, Jesse Remedios, Kyra Daring, and Sofia Sanchez. Our senior producer is Dan Bloom. Matt Dempsey is our production manager. Dan Dzula is our technical director, and Steve Lictkteig is the executive producer of CNN audio. We get support from Mark Duffy, Alex Manessari, Robert Mathers, John DIanora, Leni Steinhardt, Jamus Andrest, Nicole Pesaru, and Lisa Nammerow. Special thanks to Seb Shukla and Wendy Brundidge. Thanks for listening.