Consider This from NPR - Looking for clues from Pope Leo XIV's sermons

Episode Date: May 11, 2025

The election of the first American pope is a remarkable moment in the two thousand year history of the Catholic Church. But in choosing his name, it's clear Leo is looking forward. NPR's Scott Detrow and Jason DeRose look at what his selection means for Catholics and non-Catholics alike, in both the U.S. and around the world. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Email us at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Ten American Cardinals went into the Sistine Chapel for a conclave this past week. Nine came out. Where he comes from is certainly now a thing of the past. You know, Robert Francis Pravos is no longer around. It's now Pope Leo. That's the Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, reflecting on the fact that he and 132 other Cardinals selected Chicago-born Robert Prevost as the head of the Roman Catholic Church. On Wednesday morning, the Cardinals sealed themselves off from the rest of the world.

Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the Archbishop of Newark, recalled the moment as he, Dolan, and four other U.S. Cardinals spoke to reporters in Rome. Any device that could transmit was taken from us. The shutters of the guesthouse they all stayed in, the Casa Santa Marta, were closed shut. Cell signals around the building were jammed. The food, Dolan said, wasn't great. And yet, Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the former head of the Washington, D.C. Archdiocese, said,

This was one of the most prayerful moments in my life. After the Cardinals selected Pope Leo, they each approached him, one by one, at the altar in front of Michelangelo's fresco of the Last Judgment. I felt comfortable saying to Pope Leo, from one Southsider of Chicago to another, I promise you my respect, my fidelity, and my love. After one of the ballots, you carry your ballot, you deposit it and just say a few words in Latin to say, I'm standing before God, and Michelangelo reminds you of our ultimate destiny. And as best as I can say, this is the one

that I think is indicated. Tobin has known and worked with Prevost for three decades. Then I walked back and I took a look at Bob and he had his head in his hands. And I was praying for him because I couldn't imagine what happens to a human being when you're facing something like that. But when Bob, as Tobin was calling him, became Pope Leo,

Tobin said everything seemed to change. All of whatever anguish was resolved by the feeling that I think that this wasn't simply his saying yes to a proposal, but God had made something clear and he agreed with it. Speaking in Italian to the Cardinals this weekend, Pope Leo told them he chose his name to honor Pope Leo XIII, who spoke up for workers' rights and social justice during the Industrial Revolution. Pope Leo XIV said the world is at a similar turning point. of social discipline to respond to another industrial revolution. Artificial intelligence, especially, he says, quote, poses new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice, and labor.

Consider this. The election of the first American pope is a remarkable moment in the 2,000 year history of the Catholic Church, but in choosing his name, it's clear Leo is looking forward. Ahead, we'll look at what his selection means for Catholics and non-Catholics alike, in both the U.S. and around the world. From NPR, I'm Scott Detro. Are you like me? Do you love picking the best and worst looks on the red carpet? Well, for the first time ever, The Met is dedicating their annual gala to the history

of black fashion. So from where I'm sitting, the looks could be really good or not. I mean, will someone wear a durag when they shouldn't? Let's get into the backstory of black fashion and rate the best and worst looks together. This week on the It's Been A Minute podcast from NPR. Are you like me suddenly using words like conclave, cardinal, and papa billet in casual conversation? Well, friend, you too may be pope-pilled.

I have a whole list. I was starting with like 25, 30 names and I was like whittling it down. I'm imagining you like Claire Danes in Homeland, like the full board, like some strings connected. For everything you need to know about picking a new pope, listen to the It's Been A Minute podcast today. Imagine if you will, a show from NPR that's not like NPR, a show that focuses not on the important but the stupid, which features stories about

people smuggling animals in their pants and competent criminals in ridiculous science studies and call it Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me because the good names were taken. Listen to NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Yes, that is what it is called wherever you get your podcasts. It's considered this from NPR. Today Pope Leo XIV appeared again on the balcony of St. Peter's Square. Cari fratelli e sorelle, buona domenica. He greeted the crowd of hundreds of thousands and led them in prayer. It happened to be a pre-planned day dedicated specifically to bands.

And the mood was festive as Catholics celebrated a new pope, the first ever from the United States of America. NPR religion correspondent Jason DeRose took it all in with me from NPR's broadcast booth on the edge of the square. Jason, it's our last Pope Chat from this location. It's a sad day. And I should say, I mentioned that it was a special day for bands who could hear them thumping behind us as they make their way out of the square.

But we heard from Pope Leo again today, not just the message that we just heard, but the first few things he said or said in homilies or appearances. What has been striking to you about these statements? What message has been consistent through them? Well, you know, in his first sermon on that first mass, he really talked about sacrifice. He talked about the dangers of secularization or the dangers of the secular world, and really called for a new commitment and the Church's commitment to evangelism. Another big thing that I'm thinking about is that he spoke in English right before he

gave the sermon in Italian, sort of a little preamble in English. And I think it was just remarkable to hear an American pope speaking in English without an accent and then switching into Italian. Yeah. But given the weight of that sermon and what he really talked about, the sacrifice, I think he feels the weight of this election, the weight of the office, and he feels called in the papacy, as he said in that sermon, to bear the cross and the blessing of the papacy.

After today's prayers, Pope Leo briefly spoke from the balcony about world events. There's been a big question of how the new pope will use his position of leadership around the globe to weigh in on war and peace, on global politics. What did he say? Well, he weighed in, of course, on the side of peace. He said he was saddened by what's happened in Gaza, called for aid to people suffering there, and for the remaining hostages to be freed. He called for a lasting peace in Ukraine and urged that all prisoners be released and children be returned to their homes. And

he said he was pleased to hear about the ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan. And of course on a much less weighty note, he wished happy Mother's Day to all the moms in the countries celebrating Mother's Day today. So let's back up for a moment. We knew going into this that this would be a big story. That's why we came to Rome. This is an ancient institution with 1.4 billion members choosing a new spiritual leader. But then we heard that announcement from the balcony.

We were both pretty stunned and surprised in that moment. We've now had a few days to reflect on this and the fact that the Pope is an American. What do you think it means? Well, I'm still getting my head around what it means to cover religion in America with an American Pope. He's also, though, the Bishop of Rome and the pontiff to the worldwide Catholic Church. And when you and I heard from Cardinals earlier this week, they really made that clear that he is no longer just an American.

He's really a citizen of the world. American Cardinals really emphasize that over and over again. And as someone who lived in Chicago for many years, myself, I actually lived down the street from the seminary he went to. And I think about him spending time in the libraries or grocery stores or bars that I did. And I'm still him spending time in the libraries or grocery stores or bars that I

did. And, you know, I'm still getting my head around the fact that he wandered around the Hyde Park neighborhood in Chicago, maybe the same way I did. It is surreal to me to see the footage from the Fox broadcast of the 2005 World Series where now Pope Leo is spotted in the crowd. And he's invested in the game. He looks nervous, hanging on that outcome. I lived in Chicago and covered that World Series and I remember being in bars just like

that. I'm pretty sure I wasn't in the same bar he was in. Pope Leo now has a very big job in front of him with a lot of challenges. We could fill the entire show with this question, but top level, what is the state of the Catholic Church that Pope Leo is now in charge of? What are the biggest challenges he's gonna face? Well, you know, he, in an address to Cardinals just the other day, he really focused in two areas. He told them that he chose the name Pope Leo

because of a previous Pope Leo, Leo XIII, and his encyclical Rerum Novarum. Now, that document offers really expansive social teachings on economic justice, human dignity, specifically related to the Industrial Revolution. And what he called for, I think, is a new rarum novarum, a new of new things, to address the digital age and specifically to address artificial intelligence. So I think that he's feeling the weight of what that will mean for Catholicism.

In fact, we talked to a cardinal last week who referred to that as the digital continent, something that the church has to figure out how to be involved in. Jason, sadly we are both leaving Rome after this. Our bosses have told us to come home, but your beat now includes a pope, as we've been saying from the United States. What are the biggest questions you have going forward? What are the storylines you're now thinking of reporting out? Well, I think how he will handle his Americanism. Will he sometimes speak in English if he's trying to get the attention of the American people? Will he speak in English if he's trying to get the attention of President Trump? That's something I'm thinking a lot about.

One of the themes he's already talked about in a couple of sermons is the evangelization of the contemporary world, that the margins are different for Pope Leo than they were for Francis. Francis talked about going to the margins, going to say where the refugees are or to where the impoverished people are. I'm hearing from Leo that the margins are the non-Christian Western world, perhaps, so an evangelization of places that might be nominally Christian. He spoke a bit about places that aren't quite Christian enough, perhaps. I'm really interested to see how people take that.

That's especially interesting in a world, in a country where more and more people are leaving organized religion. Well, exactly. If you look at a lot of research that, say, Pew has done, people switch religions, but they don't leave, say, Christianity and become Muslim. They leave religion. They're moving from, say, nominally Christian family that they're born into to unaffiliated or into being an atheist or agnostic.

That's now in the United States the single largest group of peopleostic. That's now in the United States, the single largest group of people. 28% of people in the United States say they are nothing in particular, which is amazing. That's larger than the percentage of Catholics in America. It'll be interesting to see how he, as an American pope, talks about that and how it's received in the United States.

Lastly, when you become pope, you get a new coat of arms that you can reveal that says a lot about you, choosing what to put on it. What does Pope Leo's coat of arms say? Why does that matter? The motto that has just been revealed is, in the one, we are one, the one being Jesus. And I really think it has to do with how he thinks about his life of ministry and it'll be interesting to see how Catholics around the world Christians around the world embrace that idea in the one we are one

If our religion corresponded Jason DeRose the the marching bands here are playing us off as we wrap up our st Peter's square coverage. Thanks so much. You are welcome as we wrap up our St. Peter's Square coverage. Thanks so much. You are welcome. This episode was produced by Tyler Bartlem. It was edited by Sarah Robbins, Eric McDaniel, and Daniel Burke. Our executive producer is Sammy Yenigan.

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