Cardinal John Dew: New Zealand cardinal on his experience in the conclave, voting in pope Leo XIV.

It didn't take long for cardinals to decide on Leo XIV as the new pope. 

One of the cardinals in attendance was New Zealand's very own John Dew. 

He joins the show to discuss what his experience in Rome was like. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
I didn't take cardinals long to choose Leo the fourteenth
as the new pope. One of the cardinals was our
very own John Due, who is with us now?

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Hey? John, Hello, Heather? How are you?

Speaker 1 (00:11):
I'm very well and it's very good to talk to you.
Did you vote for Leo?

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Thank you? Sorry?

Speaker 1 (00:17):
Did you vote for Leo?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
I can't tell you who I voted for. That voting
is highly secretive.

Speaker 1 (00:27):
Yeah, forever. Well, that makes sense. They burn all the
votes at the end, don't they. Have you met him yet?

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yes? I have, yes? And what do you think after
his after his election? We all I had met him
once a few months ago, but after his election we
all had the opportunity to go and have a few
words with him. And then after he had appeared on
the balcony to the thousands of people in the Saint
Peter Square, he had a dinner at the place where

(00:56):
the cardinals are all staying, so he wanted around speaking
to I mean there was a couple of hundred people there,
but he spoke to many of the people. He's a lovely,
lovely man.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
What did you talk to him about? Sorry, what did
you talk to him about?

Speaker 2 (01:15):
Oh? Well, it was just a moment like when we
when we all met him, I just reminded him who
I was and said that I'd had the practice of
every day praying and support for pro Francis, and I
would continue doing it for him. And he said, thank
you very much. You know, I certainly need that. So
just that kind of thing. But then he just wandered

(01:37):
around the tables for a little while last night at
the meal we had and just ask everyone how they were.
We have a mess with him later this morning, so
no doubt he will speak to us a bit more
seriously about what he's expecting of us in the church
and what he hopes to do.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
John, how what do you think about him as the
pope replace? You know, following on from Francis? Is this
do you think an endorsement of Francis? Because we haven't
swung wildly from a liberal to a conservative, but we've
gone from a liberal to a moderate.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
I do believe that he will continue some of the
initiatives that initiated. He will be his own person, of course,
and he will have his own things to think about
and try and steer the church in a particular way.

(02:37):
But very much the meetings that we had for ten days, well,
very much about what's needed in the church and in
the world today. And everyone was saying, we can't have
a copy of post Francis, but we would like to
make sure that many of his initiatives do continue, and

(02:58):
I'm sure that he will look to do I'm sure
he will look to do that.

Speaker 1 (03:02):
John, have you watched the movie Conclave?

Speaker 2 (03:06):
I have not long before I came over.

Speaker 1 (03:10):
How similar was it to the movie?

Speaker 2 (03:15):
There were some parts that are similar in the sense
that the capitals are all together in this place called
Sant de Marta for just for the last for the
time of the conclave, the entrance into the Sistine Chapel,
for the beginning of the voting, you know, being with
near the saints, prayed for the gift of the Holy

(03:37):
Spirit to guide us, those sort of things. The way
the voting was done is sort of similar to what
we saw in the movie.

Speaker 1 (03:44):
The marbled rooms.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
Mar I mean when you go into places like the
Sistine Chapel and the resounts the surrounding chapels and always
marveled and beautiful architecture and at work, etc. So it's
just a privileged to be in a place like that
and to be able to be part of the voting

(04:10):
for a new come.

Speaker 1 (04:12):
John, thank you so much. I really appreciate it and
enjoy your mess. I really appreciate your time. That's John
Cardinal from New Zealand. For more from Hither Duplessy Allen
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