Christopher White: NPR Vatican Correspondent on the Catholic Church's path forward, vote for a new pope

The Catholic Church is at a crossroads as it prepares to vote for a new leader. 

Pope Francis died aged 88 on Easter Monday following a stroke and heart failure.  

His funeral will take place outside St Peter's Basilica on Saturday evening, and then Cardinals will be summoned to Rome to elect his successor.  

NPR Vatican correspondent Christopher White told Mike Hosking it's anyone's guess who the new pope will be. 

He says they have to decide whether to continue on the path of reform initiated by Pope Francis —a more welcoming and inclusive church— or to course correct. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
More details out of Rome on the Pope's funeral. He'll
be late to rest Saturday evening our time. Everyone from trump' Zelenski, Macron,
Prince William of Going the New Zealand contingent, by the way,
taking part in the cong play belief for Italy today
into arfetican correspondent Christopher Whites with us Christopher morning.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Good morning, Good to be with you.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
You traveled extensively with Pope Francis. Your thoughts on the man?

Speaker 2 (00:23):
You know, he's the real deal. He's someone who really
enjoys being first and foremost with people. I think that's
why he captured the imagination of much of the world,
because of his ability to really offer a credible witness
to the message that he taught. And so, you know,
Catholic or non Catholic alike, I think most people that
encountered the Pope saw someone who was interested in them

(00:45):
and walking alongside them and tackling the issues of the
day as a real pastor.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
Do you have a since forty eight hours ish on
what sort of influx Rome is expecting.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
You know, I have to say it's a struggle just
to get an around the Vatican these days. This is
already high season, it's Easter, and add on top of that,
it's a jubilee year, a year that's expected to bring
over thirty million pilgrims to Rome. So Rome was already congested.
And as you just ticked off at the at the beginning,

(01:19):
world leaders as well as just average Catholics alike are
pouring into Rome. We don't have any real estimates, but
we're expecting that number to certainly be in the millions
by the time the funeral takes place on Saturday.

Speaker 1 (01:32):
How does that security operation work? Is that the Vatican
or is that Italy?

Speaker 2 (01:36):
It's a combination of the both, you know, obviously two
separate countries, but they have to work in close collaboration together.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
And will it be tight? Can you breathe and move?

Speaker 2 (01:47):
Oh? I think it will be a very tight security perimeter.
I mean it will have you know, it's very rare
that you have folks like you know, from Trump to
Zelenski to Macron all in the same place. Will have
the feel of a United Nations assembly, and you can
expect security to match that.

Speaker 1 (02:04):
I keep reading there are now favorites to replace him?
Is that your assessment? And literally anything could happen will not.

Speaker 2 (02:13):
Look. I think we have to brace ourselves for anything.
I mean, Pope Francis has diversified the college of cardinals,
the men who will elect among themselves a successor. The
Catholic churches at a crossroads in this moment. They have
to decide, you know, if they want to continue on
the path of reform initiated by Pope Francis, of a
church that's more welcoming and inclusive and reforming its structural

(02:36):
structures accordingly, or if they want a course correction. And
I think, you know, Pote Francis named eighty percent of
the cardinals who will elect his successor, so there's a
strong chance that the next Pope will share his priorities.
But in terms of particular candidates, it's very hard to know.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
Christopher, appreciate your insight very much. Christopher White, who's the
innt betican correspondent with us. For more from the Mic
Hosking Breakfast, Listen live to news Talks at B from
six am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.