Jo McKenna: Italy Correspondent on the election of Robert Prevost as Pope Leo XIV

The new Pope's experience around the globe has hoisted him above front-runners for the papacy.  

69-year-old Robert Prevost, who will be known as Pope Leo XIV, is the first Pope to come from the United States.  

While he was born in Chicago, he's also a naturalised Peruvian having lived there for about 20 years, and speaks English, Spanish, and Italian. 

Newstalk ZB's Jo McKenna is at the Vatican and told Mike Hosking his history in Peru would've drawn support from South American cardinals. 

She says he’s strongly pushing messages of connection, talking in his speech about peace and maintaining the message of Pope Francis of reaching out to all corners of the earth and creating an inclusive church. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
When smoke went up in about a little bit after
for this morning, our time Catholic Church had elected a
new pope, his Leo.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
I should also like to thank.

Speaker 3 (00:11):
All my.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Cardinal brethren who have chosen me to be the successor
of Peter and to walk with you as a united church,
always seeking peace and justice, seeking to work with men

(00:34):
and women who are faithful to Jesus Christ without fear,
to proclaim the Gospel, to be missionaries.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
So they like that. The bloken he is American, of course,
the bloke the other American who thought he could be
pope there for a while. He's pretty stoked.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
From the United States, America.

Speaker 1 (00:58):
Great day, Great day for America. Joemic in his back
from Vatican City. Morning Joe, good morning. Make I mean
that's not your first rodeo. When the smoke came out,
What was the vibe? What was the buzz?

Speaker 3 (01:09):
Oh? I have to say, it was absolutely exciting and
riveting and spectacular at the same time. There were huge
cheers in the crowd. The bells that Saint Peter's started ringing.
People started running from across the city, and it was
an incredible atmosphere. People from all over the world, lots
of different flags. I saw Brazilian flags, Australian flags, German flags.

(01:33):
It was just an incredible atmosphere because we knew that
there was a pope, but we didn't know who he was.
We had to wait an hour for him to step
out onto the balcony.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
Exactly the fact they got there in three That could
have been worse. With your sleeping bag, you could have
been there for days, but it wasn't too bad.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
Yes, I think that's a surprise in some ways that
this is a candidate, this new Pope, Leo the fourteenth,
is a candidate that appealed to both the progressives and
the conservatives, and from what I'm reading, he seems to
have drawn the Latin Americans on side because he spent
so much time as a missionary in Peru, and that

(02:09):
block of voters I think really made a difference. Also,
of course, he's an English speaker. Many of these cardinals
from Africa and other parts of the world don't feel
that comfortable in Italian. I think he was probably able
to communicate to them and that probably made a difference
as well. So it looks like from his message on
the balcony today, he's really talking about peace and maintaining

(02:32):
that message of Pope Francis reaching out to all corners
of the earth and trying to include create this inclusive church.
But at the same time he did say a prayer
in Latin. I think that also sends a message to
the conservatives. And it was interesting to see what he
was wearing. He was looking very elegant in very traditional robes,

(02:53):
and I think that's all sending a message that this
pope might look a little bit different to Pope Francis.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
As regards that balcony, does he have a little Jennet
saquire about him or not?

Speaker 3 (03:03):
Look? I thought he looked very emotional on the balcony tonight.
We could see his eyes and he was sniffling a
little bit. I don't know if that was analogy. There's
a bit of analogy around Rome at the moment.

Speaker 2 (03:12):
No.

Speaker 3 (03:12):
I think he looked quite emotional on the balcony and
really nervous about facing the world for the first time.

Speaker 1 (03:21):
Not surprised, and at sixty nine, you'd back him for
a long haul, wouldn't you.

Speaker 3 (03:26):
That's right, And I think it's also significant that they've
chosen someone who is perhaps going to galvanize American Catholics
in particular, who've seen the impact of those sex abuse scandals.
In fact, one of the clerical abuse defense groups today
put out a statement saying he's unacceptable because he failed
to take action in Chicago against allegations against a priest there.

(03:50):
So we might hear more about that in the coming days.

Speaker 1 (03:53):
I suspect we will Joe go well, but after nine
in Betican City in the Simpeter Squeers Joe mckinnat.

Speaker 2 (04:00):
For more from the Mic Asking Breakfast.

Speaker 1 (04:02):
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