May 8, 2025 • 15 mins
Watch Joe and Kailey LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF.
Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected as Roman Catholic pontiff, the first ever pope from the US and a possible bridge between the moderate and hardline sides of a divided Church.
Prevost, 69, chose the name of Leo XIV for his pontificate and was greeted by thousands of cheering faithful as he stepped out onto a balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square to be presented to the world.
“May peace be with you,” the new pope told a cheering crowd waving flags.
The new leader inherits from his predecessor Pope Francis a church that is facing internal strife between progressives and conservatives over matters such as divorce and LGBTQ+ issues, while trying to navigate geopolitical tensions from Russia’s war in Ukraine to the conflict in the Middle East.
Bloomberg Washington Correspondents Joe Mathieu and Kailey Leinz deliver insight and analysis on the latest headlines from the White House and Capitol Hill, including conversations with influential lawmakers and key figures in politics and policy. On this edition, Bloomberg Senior Editor Michael Shepard is in for Joe. Kailey and Joe speak with:
- Mary C. Boys, Professor of Practical Theology at Union Theological Seminary.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. You're listening to the
Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast. Catch us live weekdays at
noon and five pm Eastern on Apple, Cocklay and Android
Auto with the Bloomberg Business App. Listen on demand wherever
(00:20):
you get your podcasts, or watch us live on YouTube.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
A newly elected Pope Leo the fourteenth stepping now off
the balcony in Vatican City after his election as the
next Pope, of course making history as the first American pope,
but also showcasing that he spent much of his life
in Peru and in Rome. As he spoke to supporters
and of course Catholics around the world, the more than
(00:47):
one billion of them in both Italian and in Spanish,
as he made his first words as the new pontiff.
I'm Kailey Lines in Washington with Bloomberg's Michael Shepherd, as
we've been listening and watching Vatican City live here on
Bloomberg TV and Radio app. Obviously, Mike, history being made
in this moment as we just heard our first words
from an American pope who also took the time to
(01:09):
thank his predecessor, the late Pope Francis.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
He did and that was early in his remarks. He
spoke keyly for about ten minutes to those gathered in
Saint Peter Square and those tuning in around the world
waiting to hear the first words from this new pontiff.
What was interesting is that he chose to spoke first
in Italian, is his custom in the Vatican, and then
in Spanish, aiming a message specifically at his friends and
(01:34):
former colleagues in Peru, where he had served as archbishop
and had even acquired Peruvian citizenship after serving many years there.
So he is someone not just with North American roots
here in the US born in Chicago, but somebody who
spent much of his career in the developing world, some
key years there before he was summoned to the Vatican
(01:55):
by Pope Francis to serve in a key role there.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Yeah, and it's his alignment with the late Pope France
that maybe gives us some signalist to the direction he
is likely to carry the Catholic Church in as we
move forward. Having just been elected by the one hundred
and thirty three cardinals, who again only began their conclave yesterday,
this new Pope pop Leo the fourteenth, of course, was
elected in relatively few rounds of voting. I would also
(02:18):
point out we have heard from the US President Donald
Trump on his election already on True Social the President
congratulating the former Cardinal Robert Francis Provost who was just
named Pope, the new President or the new Pope rather
creating some excitement for President Trump as he talks about
him being the first American pope. He says, quote, what
excitement and what a great honor for a country, Mike
(02:39):
saying he looks forward to meeting with Pop Leo fourteenth.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
And what's interesting, Kale, is that during his remarks in Italian,
he did send a signal that he may be following
in the legacy of his predecessor, Pope Francis when it
comes to taking a more progressive approach, especially when it
comes to things like charity and being present in the
evangelization throughout the world. His remarks in Italian, he referred
(03:05):
to pushing for peace and justice and doing all that
is worthy of their faith in Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Very lucky to have Mike Shepherd with me here on
Bloomberg TV and Radio on this day. Understanding the Italian
spoken by the Pope and We're also very lucky to
have Mary c Boys with us. She's professor of practical
theology at Union Theological Seminary, who is here with us
on Bloomberg TV and Radio. Professor. My apologies for having
to cut you off earlier as we saw the Pope emerge,
(03:33):
But now that we have heard him speak, you were
expressing to us before your surprise, how do you anticipate
that he will carry the church forward?
Speaker 4 (03:43):
I thought his first words were significant. He began by
evoking scripture, by evoking the text from the Gospel of
John in which Jesus returns to his side and says,
peace be with you, and then evoking the presence of
(04:07):
Pope Francis at Saint Peter's Basilica with the crowds on
Easter Sunday morning. And I thought that was a certain
linkage over time between the greatest feast of the Christian
liturgical year, which is Easter Sunday, and this message of
peace and that evil will not prevail. It's one of
(04:29):
the things that the new Pope has said in this
probably hastily composed reading that he gave. One of the
other things that he said that I thought also evokedspe
Francis is that dialogue is a bridge that we must
(04:49):
use in bringing people together and in working for peace
and justice. So it seems to me he really sets
himself in the tradition Francis. In particular, the fact that
he has spent most of his priesthood in Peru and
in Rome means that while he is an American from
(05:12):
the great City of Chicago, he is an international person.
This has a global experience. I think the fact that
he was in South America, in Peru for a long time,
that he chose to spoke, to speak in Spanish, and
(05:34):
to refer to the people of his diocese there, I
think these are all signals that this is a man
who has a global vision in a time when there
is so much division in our world, within our nations
but also between our nations. Now that doesn't magically heal
the world, but it's important that he is an international person.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Professor, you're pointing, I was going to say, Professor, you
have pointed to Leo as someone with an international focus
and orientation. Much like his predecessor, Pope Francis had taken
an ecumenical approach, reaching beyond the boundaries of the Christian Church.
(06:21):
To other faiths. Will we expect his successor to continue
that effort.
Speaker 4 (06:28):
I certainly hope so. And I think his notion of
dialogue as a bridge is key here. And he spoke
on more than one occasion in that sharp reading about
all men and women, brothers and sisters, all and just
sort of lovely. Just as I was just about two
minutes ago, I got a text from a Jewish friend saying,
(06:51):
mazel tov on your new selection. I mean, the world
really is looking for people who have this global vision,
who have a sense that we must do everything we
can that evil will not prevail. And I also, I
don't I would have to do some more research, but
(07:12):
it seems to me his choice of the name Leo.
His immediate predecessor would be Leo the thirteenth, who was
cooked for about twenty five years, I think between eighteen
seventy eight and nineteen oh three, so it goes back
more than a century. And among the things that Leo
(07:33):
the thirteenth is best known for is a worldwide letter
known as Ancyclical called in Latin ra room lavarum, and
it was a very important advocacy for the working class,
for working men and women and so I wonder if
that has to do primarily with his choice of the
(07:54):
name Leo. I mean, we're all, you know, we don't
know these things, so we're speculating. But I do think
that would situate him in the tradition of Francis and
in the long tradition of Pope Leo, in advocating for
or peace and justice for the people in the world
who have all too little recognition and who work for
(08:18):
paltry wages and in unjust situations.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Professor you mentioned his outreach to the world, but in
the Church there has been division over the role of women.
What do we expect Pope Leo now to do on
that issue? Has he taken a stance in his previous roles?
Speaker 4 (08:40):
I don't know that. So the church has one point
four billion members in every land, in every tribe and tongue.
So to say that we're divided is also to say.
This is an inordinately complex, ancient institution, the oldest institution,
(09:07):
long continuous institution in the West. So in one of
the complications is that the status and role of women
differs from culture to culture. So I hope that this
pope will be an advocate for more inclusion of women.
I feel very very strongly that until the church is
(09:31):
much more of the church it claims to be a
church that welcomes everyone, that uses the gifts of women
for leadership, that it will be a lesser church. So
but what exactly you know, I think, you know, pup
Francis have have real opposition, I would say enemies, and
(09:51):
I'm not sure he had the political capital, if you will,
to do more for women. I also think he had
some pretty traditional notions of women. I don't know what
our new pope's experience has been so but my guess
is that working in Peru, he would have worked with
(10:13):
many women who probably kept the church going on a
daily basis and who did teaching of the people and
that sort of thing. So, you know, I hope the
first thing that will happen, But in terms of an
ordination will be the ordination of women as deacons. We
know that historically that that is a given in the church.
(10:37):
But you know this has to work by the sort
of the leadership in various nations, and we know that
in many cultures women have a very inferior place. So
you know how this exactly is going to happen I
think it's going to happen with encouragement, and particularly in
(11:00):
certain countries where women are more prepared for leadership.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Well, and as we consider the church's approach to women
in leadership is one thing, but you allude to some
of the resistance Pope Francis ran into on other issues,
other social issues, including the church's approach to LGBTQ individuals.
And I wonder, Professor, if you could elaborate on where
you think that ongoing dialogue might go from here under pop.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
Leo the fourteenth, again, because I don't really know the
thinking of the new pope, or I don't really know.
He hasn't been one of those that's been talked about
so much as Popopoli, So I hope, I mean because
the fact that he sort of put himself in the
tradition of Francis, it would seem to me that he
(11:50):
would be open much to what is necessary, which is
a more inclusive church. You know, so many of us
live in nations where there are leaders that stoke divisions,
and the role of the pope is to be someone
who calls us together and not necessarily not meaning everybody
(12:13):
should become a Catholic trying to convert people, but who
has a vision for the for how the world could
really be. And I think one of the great things
that Pope Francis was his encyclical Lodato Sea on the Environment,
in which he begins by saying, the earth is our
common home. And I think that, you know, I teach
(12:35):
a historically Protestant seminary that is ecumenical and now inter religious.
And I would say that his encyclical made a profound
effect on many people in our seminary community who are
not Catholic, but could see the wisdom and the really
(12:57):
the prophetic character of Lodato Sea. So you know, the
Pope speaks yes to the to and within the church,
but what the Pope says is heard by many others.
And the Pope has a you know, he has a
he has a microphone, he has you know, uh, yes,
(13:17):
people in the world paying attention. He doesn't just work
as a colonel bureaucrat.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
And he will be trying to send a message to
the world with his first trip outside Rome. Where do
you think he will be putting his greatest stock in
his first investment? We saw, for instance, Pope Francis visiting
an island off the Italian coast to highlight the plight
of migrants. But what would this new pope's priority perhaps be.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
That's an excellent question, and I don't really know. I'd
have to really think about this. I suspect it would
be probably something to do with workers. It might be
(14:09):
among immigrants, because that migrants, these issues have certainly not
gone away. I think that it would be a very
interesting exercise for everybody in the church to talk about
what this should be.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Well, and we understand we are dealing with a lot
of unknown questions here as we are just hours into
knowing this new pope. Professor, we so appreciate you joining
us on this historic day.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
Mary C.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Boyce, Professor of Practical Theology at Union Theological Cemetery. We
appreciate you joining us here on Bloomberg TV and Radio.
After the conclave made its selection. And of course, an
American pope is now in charge of the Catholic Church,
Pope Leo the fourteenth.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
Now, Mike, this is a historic Mommy, Kayley. We'll have
so much more to learn about the direction that he
will be setting for the church and the stamp that
he will be trying to put globally on where his
policy views are and what issues he is going to
highlight his most important yeah and.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Of course referencing or alluding to his global reach and
his initial remarks in Vatican City as he spoke to
Catholics all around the world, the more than one billion
of them in Italian and Spanish, and led a prayer
in Latin Popelio the fourteenth.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Thank you for being with us, Thanks for listening to
the Balance of Power podcast.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
Make sure to subscribe if you haven't already, at Apple,
Spotify
Speaker 3 (15:40):
Or wherever you get your podcasts, and you can find
us live every weekday from Washington, DC at noontime Eastern
at Bloomberg dot com.
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. You're listening to the
Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast. Catch us live weekdays at
noon and five pm Eastern on Apple, Cocklay and Android
Auto with the Bloomberg Business App. Listen on demand wherever
(00:20):
you get your podcasts, or watch us live on YouTube.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
A newly elected Pope Leo the fourteenth stepping now off
the balcony in Vatican City after his election as the
next Pope, of course making history as the first American pope,
but also showcasing that he spent much of his life
in Peru and in Rome. As he spoke to supporters
and of course Catholics around the world, the more than
(00:47):
one billion of them in both Italian and in Spanish,
as he made his first words as the new pontiff.
I'm Kailey Lines in Washington with Bloomberg's Michael Shepherd, as
we've been listening and watching Vatican City live here on
Bloomberg TV and Radio app. Obviously, Mike, history being made
in this moment as we just heard our first words
from an American pope who also took the time to
(01:09):
thank his predecessor, the late Pope Francis.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
He did and that was early in his remarks. He
spoke keyly for about ten minutes to those gathered in
Saint Peter Square and those tuning in around the world
waiting to hear the first words from this new pontiff.
What was interesting is that he chose to spoke first
in Italian, is his custom in the Vatican, and then
in Spanish, aiming a message specifically at his friends and
(01:34):
former colleagues in Peru, where he had served as archbishop
and had even acquired Peruvian citizenship after serving many years there.
So he is someone not just with North American roots
here in the US born in Chicago, but somebody who
spent much of his career in the developing world, some
key years there before he was summoned to the Vatican
(01:55):
by Pope Francis to serve in a key role there.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Yeah, and it's his alignment with the late Pope France
that maybe gives us some signalist to the direction he
is likely to carry the Catholic Church in as we
move forward. Having just been elected by the one hundred
and thirty three cardinals, who again only began their conclave yesterday,
this new Pope pop Leo the fourteenth, of course, was
elected in relatively few rounds of voting. I would also
(02:18):
point out we have heard from the US President Donald
Trump on his election already on True Social the President
congratulating the former Cardinal Robert Francis Provost who was just
named Pope, the new President or the new Pope rather
creating some excitement for President Trump as he talks about
him being the first American pope. He says, quote, what
excitement and what a great honor for a country, Mike
(02:39):
saying he looks forward to meeting with Pop Leo fourteenth.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
And what's interesting, Kale, is that during his remarks in Italian,
he did send a signal that he may be following
in the legacy of his predecessor, Pope Francis when it
comes to taking a more progressive approach, especially when it
comes to things like charity and being present in the
evangelization throughout the world. His remarks in Italian, he referred
(03:05):
to pushing for peace and justice and doing all that
is worthy of their faith in Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Very lucky to have Mike Shepherd with me here on
Bloomberg TV and Radio on this day. Understanding the Italian
spoken by the Pope and We're also very lucky to
have Mary c Boys with us. She's professor of practical
theology at Union Theological Seminary, who is here with us
on Bloomberg TV and Radio. Professor. My apologies for having
to cut you off earlier as we saw the Pope emerge,
(03:33):
But now that we have heard him speak, you were
expressing to us before your surprise, how do you anticipate
that he will carry the church forward?
Speaker 4 (03:43):
I thought his first words were significant. He began by
evoking scripture, by evoking the text from the Gospel of
John in which Jesus returns to his side and says,
peace be with you, and then evoking the presence of
(04:07):
Pope Francis at Saint Peter's Basilica with the crowds on
Easter Sunday morning. And I thought that was a certain
linkage over time between the greatest feast of the Christian
liturgical year, which is Easter Sunday, and this message of
peace and that evil will not prevail. It's one of
(04:29):
the things that the new Pope has said in this
probably hastily composed reading that he gave. One of the
other things that he said that I thought also evokedspe
Francis is that dialogue is a bridge that we must
(04:49):
use in bringing people together and in working for peace
and justice. So it seems to me he really sets
himself in the tradition Francis. In particular, the fact that
he has spent most of his priesthood in Peru and
in Rome means that while he is an American from
(05:12):
the great City of Chicago, he is an international person.
This has a global experience. I think the fact that
he was in South America, in Peru for a long time,
that he chose to spoke, to speak in Spanish, and
(05:34):
to refer to the people of his diocese there, I
think these are all signals that this is a man
who has a global vision in a time when there
is so much division in our world, within our nations
but also between our nations. Now that doesn't magically heal
the world, but it's important that he is an international person.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Professor, you're pointing, I was going to say, Professor, you
have pointed to Leo as someone with an international focus
and orientation. Much like his predecessor, Pope Francis had taken
an ecumenical approach, reaching beyond the boundaries of the Christian Church.
(06:21):
To other faiths. Will we expect his successor to continue
that effort.
Speaker 4 (06:28):
I certainly hope so. And I think his notion of
dialogue as a bridge is key here. And he spoke
on more than one occasion in that sharp reading about
all men and women, brothers and sisters, all and just
sort of lovely. Just as I was just about two
minutes ago, I got a text from a Jewish friend saying,
(06:51):
mazel tov on your new selection. I mean, the world
really is looking for people who have this global vision,
who have a sense that we must do everything we
can that evil will not prevail. And I also, I
don't I would have to do some more research, but
(07:12):
it seems to me his choice of the name Leo.
His immediate predecessor would be Leo the thirteenth, who was
cooked for about twenty five years, I think between eighteen
seventy eight and nineteen oh three, so it goes back
more than a century. And among the things that Leo
(07:33):
the thirteenth is best known for is a worldwide letter
known as Ancyclical called in Latin ra room lavarum, and
it was a very important advocacy for the working class,
for working men and women and so I wonder if
that has to do primarily with his choice of the
(07:54):
name Leo. I mean, we're all, you know, we don't
know these things, so we're speculating. But I do think
that would situate him in the tradition of Francis and
in the long tradition of Pope Leo, in advocating for
or peace and justice for the people in the world
who have all too little recognition and who work for
(08:18):
paltry wages and in unjust situations.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Professor you mentioned his outreach to the world, but in
the Church there has been division over the role of women.
What do we expect Pope Leo now to do on
that issue? Has he taken a stance in his previous roles?
Speaker 4 (08:40):
I don't know that. So the church has one point
four billion members in every land, in every tribe and tongue.
So to say that we're divided is also to say.
This is an inordinately complex, ancient institution, the oldest institution,
(09:07):
long continuous institution in the West. So in one of
the complications is that the status and role of women
differs from culture to culture. So I hope that this
pope will be an advocate for more inclusion of women.
I feel very very strongly that until the church is
(09:31):
much more of the church it claims to be a
church that welcomes everyone, that uses the gifts of women
for leadership, that it will be a lesser church. So
but what exactly you know, I think, you know, pup
Francis have have real opposition, I would say enemies, and
(09:51):
I'm not sure he had the political capital, if you will,
to do more for women. I also think he had
some pretty traditional notions of women. I don't know what
our new pope's experience has been so but my guess
is that working in Peru, he would have worked with
(10:13):
many women who probably kept the church going on a
daily basis and who did teaching of the people and
that sort of thing. So, you know, I hope the
first thing that will happen, But in terms of an
ordination will be the ordination of women as deacons. We
know that historically that that is a given in the church.
(10:37):
But you know this has to work by the sort
of the leadership in various nations, and we know that
in many cultures women have a very inferior place. So
you know how this exactly is going to happen I
think it's going to happen with encouragement, and particularly in
(11:00):
certain countries where women are more prepared for leadership.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Well, and as we consider the church's approach to women
in leadership is one thing, but you allude to some
of the resistance Pope Francis ran into on other issues,
other social issues, including the church's approach to LGBTQ individuals.
And I wonder, Professor, if you could elaborate on where
you think that ongoing dialogue might go from here under pop.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
Leo the fourteenth, again, because I don't really know the
thinking of the new pope, or I don't really know.
He hasn't been one of those that's been talked about
so much as Popopoli, So I hope, I mean because
the fact that he sort of put himself in the
tradition of Francis, it would seem to me that he
(11:50):
would be open much to what is necessary, which is
a more inclusive church. You know, so many of us
live in nations where there are leaders that stoke divisions,
and the role of the pope is to be someone
who calls us together and not necessarily not meaning everybody
(12:13):
should become a Catholic trying to convert people, but who
has a vision for the for how the world could
really be. And I think one of the great things
that Pope Francis was his encyclical Lodato Sea on the Environment,
in which he begins by saying, the earth is our
common home. And I think that, you know, I teach
(12:35):
a historically Protestant seminary that is ecumenical and now inter religious.
And I would say that his encyclical made a profound
effect on many people in our seminary community who are
not Catholic, but could see the wisdom and the really
(12:57):
the prophetic character of Lodato Sea. So you know, the
Pope speaks yes to the to and within the church,
but what the Pope says is heard by many others.
And the Pope has a you know, he has a
he has a microphone, he has you know, uh, yes,
(13:17):
people in the world paying attention. He doesn't just work
as a colonel bureaucrat.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
And he will be trying to send a message to
the world with his first trip outside Rome. Where do
you think he will be putting his greatest stock in
his first investment? We saw, for instance, Pope Francis visiting
an island off the Italian coast to highlight the plight
of migrants. But what would this new pope's priority perhaps be.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
That's an excellent question, and I don't really know. I'd
have to really think about this. I suspect it would
be probably something to do with workers. It might be
(14:09):
among immigrants, because that migrants, these issues have certainly not
gone away. I think that it would be a very
interesting exercise for everybody in the church to talk about
what this should be.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Well, and we understand we are dealing with a lot
of unknown questions here as we are just hours into
knowing this new pope. Professor, we so appreciate you joining
us on this historic day.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
Mary C.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Boyce, Professor of Practical Theology at Union Theological Cemetery. We
appreciate you joining us here on Bloomberg TV and Radio.
After the conclave made its selection. And of course, an
American pope is now in charge of the Catholic Church,
Pope Leo the fourteenth.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
Now, Mike, this is a historic Mommy, Kayley. We'll have
so much more to learn about the direction that he
will be setting for the church and the stamp that
he will be trying to put globally on where his
policy views are and what issues he is going to
highlight his most important yeah and.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Of course referencing or alluding to his global reach and
his initial remarks in Vatican City as he spoke to
Catholics all around the world, the more than one billion
of them in Italian and Spanish, and led a prayer
in Latin Popelio the fourteenth.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Thank you for being with us, Thanks for listening to
the Balance of Power podcast.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
Make sure to subscribe if you haven't already, at Apple,
Spotify
Speaker 3 (15:40):
Or wherever you get your podcasts, and you can find
us live every weekday from Washington, DC at noontime Eastern
at Bloomberg dot com.
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