The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/04/21 at 04:00 EDT

Episode Date: April 21, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/04/21 at 04:00 EDT

When they predict we'll fall, we rise to the challenge. When they say we're not a country, we stand on guard. This land taught us to be brave and caring, to protect our values, to leave no one behind. Canada is on the line and it's time to vote as though our country depends on it. Because like never before, it does. I'm Jonathan Pedneau, co-leader of the Green Party of Canada. This election, each vote makes a difference. Authorized by the Registeredleader of the Green Party of Canada. This election, each vote, makes a difference. Authorized by the Registered Agent of the Green Party of Canada.

From CBC News, the world this hour. I'm Neil Hurland. We begin with breaking news from the Vatican. Pope Francis has died. The 88-year-old leader of the Catholic Church had been struggling with health problems lately. As leader of the Catholic Church, Francis was known for his focus on empathy and care for the world's poor and marginalized, including victims of Canada's church-run residential schools.

With one week left in the election campaign, Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet is predicting Mark Carney and the Liberals have sealed the deal. Last night on the Radio-Canada TV show Tout le Monde en Parle, he predicted the outcome of the federal vote. Rafi Boujikhanian has more. Here is the head of the Québécois bloc, Yves-François Blanchet. Everyone is talking about it as an institution in Quebec. Up to a million viewers a week tune in to the popular Radio-Canada talk show.

An audience Québécois leader, Yves-François Blanchet, is still hoping to capture... Mr. Carney will be Prime Minister, that's clear. Even as he tells them, it's pretty clear liberal Mark Carney, his chief rival in the vote rich province, will end up prime minister. As predictions go, it's a lot less bold than the one Blanchet made at the start of the 2021 campaign, that he would send 40 MPs to parliament, more than half the number of seats available in this province. Polls suggest the bloc could lose up to 10 seats in this election.

Blanchet is saying he could still be efficient with fewer MPs, but hopes to make a couple of gains with one last prediction. He very much doubts he will resign after election night. Rafi Bouducan, the NCBC News, Quebec City. Returning now to our top story, Pope Francis has died at the age of 88. Megan Williams has more from the Vatican. He was known as the compassionate progressive pope, prioritizing social justice over doctrine,

advocating for migrants, prisoners, and the poor. Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires in 1936, Francis was elected Pope in 2013 after Benedict XVI became the first Catholic leader in centuries to step down. Francis's papacy was defined by groundbreaking milestones. The first Pope from the Western Hemisphere and the Global South, the first from the Jesuit order, and the first to take the name Francis. Upon election he shunned the opulent Apostolic Palace, opting instead to live in the Vatican guest house. Francis made history with what he called a penitential tour to Canada in 2022, apologizing to Indigenous peoples

for the deplorable conduct of some members of the Catholic Church in the residential school system. He said that system had carried out a genocide, but stopped short of saying the church itself was responsible. Environmental stewardship was central to his papacy, with sharp critiques of the fossil fuel industry and its toll on the planet and the vulnerable.

His response to calls for zero tolerance of sexually abusive clergy fell short, say critics, and he himself admitted to serious errors in judgment. Francis welcomed two S LGBTQ plus people into the church and allowed priests to bless same-sex couples. He was also the first pope to appoint women to top Vatican positions and allow them to vote in global church gatherings. Still, Francis firmly opposed women entering the priesthood, with the all-male College of Cardinals now preparing to vote for the next male leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

Megan Williams, CBC News, The Vatican. And finally in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Toronto Maple Leafs won Game 1 of their first round series against the Ottawa Senators last night, final score 6-2, Game 2 is on Tuesday. And that is your World This Hour. For CBC News, I'm Neal Herland.