A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
All right, let's bring in Kim Daniels. She's the director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University. She's also an adviser to the Vatican's communication team. Kim, what was your reaction to hearing the news?
KIM DANIELS: Well, like Sylvia, I was very, very surprised, stunned. I think, in many ways, though, it's so fitting that, you know, on Easter, on the day after Easter, the holiest day of the year for Catholics, after blessing people in St. Peter's Square and delivering a message that said, Christ has risen, that this is the day that he was called home to the Lord. You know, he really is the world's pastor, and for us Catholics, of course, such an important spiritual leader and figure. And we're all in mourning, and at the same time, he has left us with a hopeful vision for the church going forward.
MARTÍNEZ: You mention Christ has risen. On Pope Francis' official X account, his last post was yesterday, and it read, Christ has risen. These words capture the entire meaning of our existence, for we were not made for death, but for life. You reposted it, Kim. What do you think those two sentences mean about what kind of man Pope Francis was?
DANIELS: I think, obviously, the first thing you have to say about Pope Francis is that he was so dedicated to Jesus Christ, to the Gospel, to our Catholic faith, as a leader, as a model for us all. He energized our faith by orienting us towards action and encounter, and he challenged us. And most of all, though, he kept us focused on the Gospel and that story of the good Samaritan, that we're there to focus most of all, on the poor and vulnerable, to those, as he said, lying wounded by the roadside with a message of mercy and accompaniment and looking at the person right in front of us and seeing how we can bring that love to that person.
MARTÍNEZ: What has Pope Francis meant to Catholics in the United States?
DANIELS: For Catholics in the United States, again, first, I have to say he was our spiritual father. He connected us to the global church, to our traditions, stretching back to St. Peter and Jesus himself. He energized our faith by orienting us, again, towards action, towards encounters, towards a church that is a field hospital that goes out to people, and not just a few people, but as he would say, everybody. Totus, totus, totus, he would say. He challenged us, of course, and I think, in particular, right now, he challenged us to welcome migrants and refugees and to resist division and polarization, and to reject an economy that excludes the vulnerable. But most of all, he just remained a source of hope and renewal amid difficult times, including, you know, just every time we are facing something that's a challenge, whether within the church and the clergy abuse crisis, to externally with division in our political life, he remains a source of hope and renewal and enjoys broad support among American Catholics.
MARTÍNEZ: How was he different than his predecessor, Pope Benedict?
DANIELS: Well, of course, the first thing you have to say is how much they share in common. And that is this deep faith in Jesus Christ, this deep love for the Church, and this understanding of having to respond and being called to respond to the particular moment that each one of them lived in, and how we bring the Gospel best in these times. And I think, for Pope Francis, he saw his mission and his way of bringing the Gospel and the particular moment we're living in to our times as to look for a home with open doors. The church is a home with open doors for everybody, he would say, with a special focus on those most in need of mercy and accompaniment, especially the poor. And for that reason, he really had this program, this plan, this approach of spiritual renewal and structural reform. And in many ways, he has this church, our church, which is so rooted in tradition, but again, is forward-looking for the times that we are in today.
MARTÍNEZ: We heard from Sylvia Poggioli just a few minutes ago that the next pope won't be decided for at least a week, if not longer. What kind of pontiff do you think would be best to lead the Catholic Church now?
DANIELS: Well, I think right now - of course, we're focused on Pope Francis right now, and we're focused on a period of mourning. And it's so wonderful to hear from Sylvia Poggioli, who, of course, is so respected and just such a wonderful figure in journalism, Catholic journalism. I would say that what we're looking for in the future and that someone who would follow in the footsteps of Pope Francis, again, with this effort at spiritual renewal and structural reform, who has the kind of humble approach that defined his leadership, who looks to resolve the kind of false divisions that we too often see in our life, in our political life, in our ecclesial life, but has this renewed vision of what the church can be, right? It's humble, yet bold. It's rooted in tradition, yet forward-looking. But for me, as an American Catholic, I think this idea of a church that is rooted in mercy and that always keeps its doors open. I found that so invigorating. And I think for young people and young Catholics in particular, it's a vision that really brings them close to the church and that I hope we see in our next pontiff.
MARTÍNEZ: Sylvia mentioned how many of the cardinals appointed by Pope Francis really don't know each other. Yet, they're all going to be traveling now to Rome to make a consequential, massive decision for the future of the Catholic Church. How quick do you think Catholics will have another pope, considering if these cardinals really don't know each other quite well?
DANIELS: Well, a couple of things I would say about that. I would say, first of all, that, on the one hand, Sylvia is, of course, right that many of them do not know each other. And on the other hand, we just put in front of Pope Francis major structural reforms that he is engaged in, something called the Synod on Synodality, which is this global listening process. It's really remarkable just listening to Catholics around the world over the past three years and bringing both Catholic laypeople and Catholic leaders, Catholic cardinals and bishops and others to Rome every October or...
MARTÍNEZ: OK.
DANIELS: ...Octobers over the past couple of years, just to talk about what we've heard and what we can look forward to and how we might look forward as a church, again, in this program of spiritual renewal and structural reform.
MARTÍNEZ: That's Kim Daniels, director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University. She's also an adviser to the Vatican's communication team.
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