LPM's Bill Burton spoke with Archbishop Shelton Fabre now that the Catholic Church has named a new pope.
Bill Burton: Cardinal Robert Prevost was the first American to be named pope, and he's taken the name of Leo XIV and to talk about the impact of an American pope on the world, and here in Louisville, I am joined by Archbishop Shelton Fabre. Archbishop, welcome.
Archbishop Fabre: Thank you. It's wonderful to be here at an exciting time.
BB: Nearly every Pope has been born in Europe, just a small handful were not born in Europe. Pope Francis, of course, who just passed away last month, was born in South America. Now we have another non-European pope and the first American pope. So what does this mean to the Church?
AF: Well, I think it shows the universality of the Church. I think compared to other countries, the United States is still relatively young, and it shows kind of a maturation of the Church here in the United States to say that now we have someone who has taken upon the ministry of St. Peter and the role of the pope. So I think it's very, very exciting, but I believe it speaks to the universality of the Church.
BB: What effect could an American pope have on churches in the country, and specifically here with your Archdiocese of Louisville?
AF: Well, I don't know if you saw Pope Leo's address to the press, where he very much spoke about freedom of the press and the role of the press, the importance of the press, which is certainly in the Constitution, and something that here in the United States we appreciate, and called for, you know, the freedom of those journalists that are being held and held captive, that are imprisoned. And so I think, to the extent possible, he is going to bring some of the gifts here in the United States to the role that he has now assumed. And I think we've seen some of that already in that address to the press.
BB: And now that he has become pope, he has taken that name, Leo XIV. Politics works its way into everything, and people are kind of using it as a political prism to say that he's going to do this, or he's going to do that. What do you believe he will do?
AF: I believe, naturally, his experiences in Peru lead him to appreciate the social teachings of the Church, which is something every Catholic should appreciate the social teachings of the Church, I think that that speaks very loudly to him and Pope Leo XIII, the last pope named Leo, was really the pope that served as an important beginning of social teaching and the in the Church with his encyclical Rerum Novarum, where he stood up for workers. And so I think that that speaks very loudly to Pope Leo, so I know that he will continue to address social concerns in the Church. I also read that Pope Leo XIII really shepherded the Church through the Industrial Revolution, and it said Pope Leo XIV, one of the reasons he picked that name is to shepherd us through technology and particularly artificial intelligence, which he has spoken about. So I do think he will give attention to the social teaching of the Church, but I think he's going to give attention to all the teaching of the Church.
BB: What are your specific hopes for the pope?
AF: My specific hopes for the pope are that, you know, as I've said before, I hope he has the pastoral sensitivity of Pope Francis. I hope he has the theological clarity of Pope Benedict. I hope he has the the the philosophical underpinnings of John Paul II, and I hope he, as only the Pope can do, reminds us of who Jesus Christ calls us to be, not that any of us does it perfectly, but I do think it is the role of the Pope to continue to raise it up for us as this is what we are striving to be. And the final thing that I would say is that I hope he will always lift up for us, that we must be people of hope, that we have to trust in the Lord and know that he is with us. And that is the very definition of hope.
BB: That is the Archbishop of Louisville, Shelton Fabre. Archbishop, a pleasure to speak with you. Thank you so much for your time.
AF: Thank you very much. Thank you for your interest. It's been great.
This transcript was edited for clarity
