April 22, 2025 • 49 mins
Pope Francis, the compassionate, controversial, and deeply consequential leader who reshaped the Catholic Church through humble leadership and unwavering advocacy for the marginalized, has died at 88 from heart failure. His passing marks the end of a remarkable 12-year papacy that challenged the world's conscience on issues ranging from poverty and inequality to climate change and refugee rights.
From the moment he stepped onto the Vatican balcony in 2013 as the first Jesuit pope, the first from Latin America, and the first non-European pontiff in nearly 600 years, Francis signaled a different kind of leadership. He chose to live in the Vatican guesthouse rather than the opulent papal apartments, rode buses instead of luxury vehicles, and maintained the simple lifestyle that defined his years as Cardinal in Buenos Aires. "I want a poor church for the poor," he declared, a vision that would guide his pontificate through controversies, reforms, and global crises.
The "People's Pope" possessed an extraordinary ability to speak to ordinary people while challenging powerful institutions. His famous "Who am I to judge?" response regarding LGBTQ Catholics represented a pastoral shift without changing church doctrine. His environmental encyclical positioned the Catholic Church as a leading voice for ecological justice. And his consistent advocacy for refugees, even bringing Syrian families to live at the Vatican, demonstrated his commitment to seeing Christ in society's most vulnerable members. Though conservative Catholics often criticized him for prioritizing pastoral outreach over doctrinal clarity, and progressives wished for more structural reforms, Francis maintained extraordinary popularity through his authentic communication style and moral clarity.
As Cardinals prepare to elect his successor, Francis's request for a simple burial—breaking with Vatican tradition by choosing St. Mary Magna Moura Church over St. Peter's Basilica—reflects the humility that defined his life and leadership. World leaders from across political divides, from King Charles to former Presidents Trump, Obama, and Biden, have acknowledged his consequential impact. Perhaps his greatest legacy lies in his reminder that true leadership comes not through power and privilege but through humble service to others. In a divided world desperately seeking moral clarity, Pope Francis showed that an ordinary person could fulfill an extraordinary calling by consistently choosing compassion over judgment, simplicity over excess, and bridge-building over division.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Derral McLean Show.
I'm your host, derral McLean,and let's get into our episode.
So today is a special day it'sactually my birthday, but it's
also a day that Pope Francis haspassed away.
(00:20):
Pope Francis died from a strokefollowed by a heart failure,
according to the Vatican.
So the Vatican released astatement saying that he had a
heart failure and revealing thatthe pontiff also requested to
be buried in a simple unadornedtomb.
The 88-year-old Pope recoveredfrom some illnesses earlier but
(00:49):
was kind of in and out of thehospital.
He was revered by billions ofCatholics around the world.
He died at 7.35 am in hisapartment at Casa St Marta.
His death was confirmed througha ECG test.
(01:10):
The Vatican said Francis, who'stwice almost died when the
hospital with severe pneumoniain February, february also
(01:30):
suffered from multiplebronchitis and arterial
hypertension and type 2 diabetes.
The Pope confirmed in his willthat he wished to be buried at
St Mary Magna Moura Church inRome's neighborhood.
Breaking with long-standingVatican tradition, he would pray
at the Basilica before andafter trips overseas and he last
(01:52):
visited on the 12th of April.
The test of his will specifiedthat Francis wanted to be buried
in the ground without aparticular decoration, but with
the encryption of his papal name, in Latin Franciscus.
Popes are usually buried withmuch fanfare in the beneath St
(02:18):
Peter's Basilica in Vatican City.
But Francis, loved by manyCatholics for his humility,
simplified rights for a papal'sfuneral.
For a papal's funeral last year.
In the text of his will hepublished by the Vatican, the
late Pope said the cost ofpreparing the burial will be
(02:41):
covered by a sum provided by abenefactor, which I have
arranged to be transferred tothe papal basilica of St Mary
Major.
Given the necessaryinstructions regarding this to
Cardinal Rollins-Mecrix,extraordinary commissioner of
Liberian Basilica, his body wastransferred into a coffin in the
(03:07):
chapel of Casa St Marta onMonday night.
The coffin will be taken to StPeter's Basilica on Wednesday
morning to allow the public topay their respects.
Cardinals will meet on Tuesdaymorning to decide the date of
the Pope's funeral, which musttake place between the four and
six days after the death.
The funeral will be followed bynine days of official mourning.
(03:31):
Thousands of pilgrims andtourists flocked to St Peter's
Square where prayers for thePope were held on Monday evening
.
Francis, who had a chronic lungdisease part of one of his
lungs had been removed as ayoung man and when he was
admitted to Gemini Hospital inRome on the 14th of February for
(03:53):
a respiratory crisis thatdeveloped into double pneumonia.
He spent 38 days there thelongest hospitalization of his
12 years in the papacyhospitalization of his 12 years
in the papacy.
He was discharged from thehospital on the 23rd and made
his last public appearance onSunday, where he did a tour of
(04:15):
St Peter's Square in thePopemobile and gave a brief
greeting from the centralbalcony of St Peter's Basilica A
mid-intense morning.
Over the coming days and weeks,man over within the Vatican
over who is to succeed Francisand become the 268th head of the
(04:37):
Catholic Church, it is certainto begin.
Cardinals from around the worldwill head to Rome for a
conclave, the secret, complexelection ritual held in the 16th
chapel, involving about 138cardinals who are eligible to
vote.
The conclave must begin itsdeliberations within 20 days of
(04:58):
the Pope's death.
Some of the potential contendersmounted before Francis' death
were Matteo Zuppi, a progressiveItalian, cardinal, pietor
(05:22):
Perlin, who serves as theVatican Secretary of State, and
Cardinal Louis Antonio Taglifrom the Philippines.
King Charles said he and theQueen, who met the Pope in Rome
last week, had a heavy heart atthe news of his death, adding
that Francis would be rememberedfor his compassion and timeless
commitment.
President Trump said he wouldattend Francis' funeral, posting
on social media.
(05:42):
Rest in peace, pope Francis.
May God bless him and all wholoved him.
Former President Joe Biden saysFrancis will be remembered as
one of the most consequentialleaders of our time and Barack
Obama said he was a rare leaderwho made us want to be better
people.
In Italy, giorgio Maloney, theprime minister, said I had the
(06:07):
privilege of enjoying hisfriendship, his advice and his
teachings, which never failed,even in the moments of trial and
suffering.
The prophet's death is likelyto exasperate sharp divisions
within the curia, withconservatives seeking to wrest
control of the church away fromreformers.
(06:28):
During his 12 years as Pope,francis, I, the Jesuit Pope, was
a vocal champion of the world'spoor, dispossessed and
disadvantaged, and a bluntcritic of corporate greed and
social and economic inequality.
Within the Vatican, hecriticized extravagance and
(06:48):
privilege, calling on the churchleaders to show humility.
His views roused significantnumbers of cardinals and
powerful Vatican officials, whooften sought to frustrate
Francis's effort to overhaul theancient institution of the
church his effort to overhaulthe ancient institution of the
church, but his compassion andhumility endured him to millions
(07:09):
around the world.
Francis was born, georgeMerrill Bergalonio, in Argentina
in 1936, and he was electedpope in March of 2013.
He immediately signaled hisstyle of papacy by taking the
(07:32):
bus, rather than the papal car,to his hotel, where he paid his
bills, before moving into theVatican guesthouse, eschewing
the opulent papal apartments.
At his first media appearance,he expressed his wish for a poor
church and a church for thepoor.
(07:53):
He focused papal attention onpoverty and inequality, calling
unfettered capitalism the dungof evil, the dung of the devil.
Two years into his papacy, heissued a 180-page encyclopedia
on the environment, demandingthat the world's richest nations
(08:14):
pay their grave social debt tothe poor.
The climate crisis representedone of the principal challenges
facing humanity in our day, thePope said he called for
compassion and generositytowards refugees, saying that
they should not be treated aspawns on a chessboard of
humanity.
After visiting the Greekislands of Lesbos, he offered 12
(08:40):
Syrian refugees at the Vatican.
During his recent period in thehospital, he kept up his
telephone calls to the HolyFamily Church in Gaza, a nightly
routine since the 9th ofOctober 2023.
One of the biggest issues onwhich Francis had to contend
(09:00):
with was the clerical sexualabuse and the church's cover-up
of crimes committed by priestsand bishops In the first few
years of the papacy.
As a wave after wave ofscandals engulfed the church,
francis was accused by survivorsand others of failing to
understand the scale of thecrisis and the urgent need to
proactively root out abuse andits cover-up.
(09:23):
In 2019, francis summonedbishops from around the world to
Rome to discuss the crisis andlater issued an edict requiring
priests and nuns to reportsexual abuse and its cover-ups
to the church authorities andgarnering protection for
whistleblowers.
It was a significant movetoward the church taking
(09:46):
responsibility for the scandalsand went much further than his
predecessors.
Also, during his tenure as thehead of the Catholic Church,
francis was obliged to respondto repeated acts of terrorism
and persecution.
He was at pains to stress thatviolence had no part to play in
(10:08):
the true practice of religionand that people should not
conflate acts of terrorism withtheir religion or acts of
terrorism with Islam.
I think it is not right toidentify Islam with violence, he
said after the murder of aCatholic priest in France in
2016,.
I think that in nearly allreligions there is always a
(10:29):
small fundamental group, he said, adding we Catholics.
I have them.
Francis spoke with compassionon issues of sexuality to sleep?
Famously responding to who am Ifamously responding?
Who am I to judge?
To a question about a gaypriest, the family and the role
of women in society, whileadhering to a traditional
(10:50):
Catholic doctrine on marriage,contraception and abortion.
Although many on the left stroveto claim Francis as one of
their own, he could not easilybe defined as liberal or as
conservative.
On his many trips abroad,francis was greeted like a rock
star, with hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions, waiting
(11:11):
for hours for a glimpse of him,white-robed figure, in an
open-side Popemobile.
His appeal was particularlystrong among young people, whom
he frequently urged to rejectmaterialism and
over-dependentness on technology.
Happiness so um.
(11:40):
I remember this Pope fondlybecause this was when he came to
my attention.
He was talking about theconflict during his time of
Israel and Palestine.
He actually had to speak aboutit in two different occasions.
(12:02):
Had to speak about it in twodifferent occasions, and that's
kind of what I will remember himfor Trying his best to change
the conversation, trying hisbest to never forget the
humanity of people, even whilehe was on such a high perch.
(12:31):
I should say there were many,many good sayings in this Pope
and you will probably be seeinga lot of them online.
I remember one in particular aslong as the problems of the
(12:52):
poor are not radically resolved,by rejecting the absolute
anatomy of markets and financialspeculation and by attacking
the structural causes ofinequality, no solution will be
found for the world's problemsor, for the matter, or, for that
matter, any problems".
End quote.
The last one I'll say is is onequote where the Pope said a
(13:18):
nation can be considered greatwhen it defines liberty, as
Lincoln did, when it fosters aculture which enables people to
dream of full rights for alltheir brothers and sisters, as
Martin Luther King sought to do,when it strives for justice and
the cause of the oppressed, asDorothy Day did by her tireless
(13:40):
work.
Pope Francis died on April 21st2025.
He was born in 1936.
In politics, rep Barbara Lee,the Democrat from California,
was projected to win the specialelection to become the next
(14:02):
mayor of Oakland, according toDecision Desk HQ, in what became
a closer-than-expected race.
Amid growing voterdissatisfaction over the
direction of the city.
Lee won the nonpartisan rankedchoice election over a field of
(14:23):
more than half a dozencandidates, with the most
prominent being a former citycouncil member, lauren Taylor,
who is a runner up to the nowformal mayor Seedong Toy in the
2022 mayoral race and emerged asthis election's dark horse
contender race and emerged asthis election's dark horse
(14:46):
contender.
So Taylor had the initial leadafter the first batch of votes
were tallied Tuesday night, with48.2% of the vote, about 1,200
votes ahead of Lee, who had45.7%.
But after more than 40,000additional mail-in ballots had
to be counted were tallied andannounced by Friday, lee went
(15:09):
ahead of Taylor by about fivepoints, or nearly 5,000 votes.
That was just enough to win amajority in the initial round of
voting to continue, before anyadditional rounds of tallying
the ranked choice system neededto be counted.
Oakland has been without apermanent mayor since November,
(15:32):
when Taub was recalled fromoffice in the first for the city
with more than 60% of voters infavor of his ouster.
She was elected narrowly in2022 to become the first Hmong
American to serve as mayor of amajor American city.
(15:54):
But tensions rose under hermayorship as she faced scrutiny
over her handling of crime, lawenforcement and her personal
conduct.
The crime rate spikedparticularly high in Oakland
during the COVID-19 pandemic andremained higher than most other
(16:14):
cities in years in which manyAmericans had begun to resume
normal activities.
Homicides remained high,robberies and bulgaries
experienced a sharp rise in 2023, the first of the years of
Tao's administration.
Crime appeared to be droppingin 2024, ahead of the election,
(16:34):
but Tao also faced a blackjackover poor relationships with the
police unions and missing adeadline to apply for a grant
that would have given the citymillions to address retail theft
.
A personal controversy alsosurrounded the mayor after the
FBI conducted a raid on her homein June, not committing or not
(17:02):
commenting at the time of whatthe purpose of the raid was.
Months after leaving office,the mayor was then indicted in
January on bribery, conspiracy,mail and wire fraud charges,
accusing her of conspiring withothers to get businesses from
the city to two businesses inexchange for financial benefits.
(17:25):
The mayor pled not guilty anddenied any wrongdoings.
Now, lee's victory was initiallyexpected to be virtually
insured for a longtime formerHouse member who chose not to
run for re-election last yearfor an unsuccessful bid for the
Senate, which she lost in theprimary.
She had also had endorsementsof several notable local and
(17:51):
state political figures,including interim Mayor Kevin
Jenkins, former CaliforniaGovernor Jerry Brown and former
Mayor Libby Scaife, gene Kwanand Edlu Harris.
Brown also previously served asa Oakland mayor, but the race
(18:24):
became increasingly competitiveas the election approached, with
the polls commissioned byTaylor's campaign and groups
supporting his campaign showinga tight race.
Last month, taylor also toutedendorsements from less
high-profile but stillinfluential figures, including
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan andformer City Council President
Pat Kerrigan.
The race became a bit of aproxy battle of sorts within the
Democratic Party, with Lee as alongtime progressive leader and
the choice of manyestablishment leaders and Taylor
(18:46):
running more of a moderateplatform and positioning himself
as an outsider who would bringchange to the city.
Lee's website states that herpriorities as mayor will be
public safety and a plan toensure residents feel safe,
providing unhoused people withhousing and mental health and
addiction services, andimproving the city's ethics and
(19:07):
regulations.
Barbara Lee is an old schoolprogressive, one of the first
people who at one time was theonly lone vote to say no to war.
Lone vote to say no to warWould everybody, not only in the
(19:31):
caucus, every other person inthe Congress said yes.
She was alone.
No vote, and so we got to givepeople like her her flowers
while they're around on the leftside, just like I believe in
giving people like Ron Paul forcalling to attention some of the
(19:52):
excesses of themilitary-industrial complex that
had permeated the thinking ofthe Republican Party.
I remember him, on stage, beingthe lone voice calling truth,
speaking truth to power.
And even though Barbara Leewasn't on stage, she was in the
(20:14):
halls of power when everybodywas blinded by hatred and fear
and wanting to retaliate forwhat had happened to us on 9-11.
And Barbara Lee stood up andsaid no to the war.
And she's not a young person,that's kind of how this works.
(20:40):
She, in my estimation, probablywould have been a decent
senator a decent senator, youknow, but I hope she does a good
job as mayor.
She's 78 years old and she wonthis election and we'll see if
(21:08):
she can fix this city.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
John Roberts owns it all, from Citizens United to
Trump's coup.
John Roberts owns thisnightmare.
Without him and hisco-conspirators against
democracy on the Supreme Court,we never would have had a
reality star neo-fascist ascendto the highest office in the
land.
And it's getting worse daily.
(21:32):
On the morning of April 12,2025, the North Carolina Supreme
Court tried to quietly nullifythe votes of over 5,000
Americans, many of them activeduty, military and overseas
citizens.
Four Republican justicesattempted to throw out these
ballots after the election,claiming they lacked photo ID,
even though the state's ownvoting portal didn't allow IDs
(21:53):
to be uploaded.
The goal Overturn the narrow734-volt victory of Democrat
Allison Riggs over RepublicanJefferson Griffin.
A federal court has temporarilyblocked certification.
But make no mistake, this iswhat stolen elections look like
in John Roberts, post-citizensUnited, post-shelby County
America.
(22:14):
Justice John Paul Stevens sawit coming.
In his Citizens United dissent,he wrote the court's ruling
threatens to undermine theintegrity of elected
institutions across the nation.
He warned that allowingunlimited and often anonymous
money to flood our politicswould short-circuit the
democratic process and, quote,shatter public faith in
(22:35):
government.
Stevens was right.
But Justice Stevens's direwarnings didn't stop five
Republican appointees threeopenly taking gifts from
billionaires from striking downhundreds of state and federal
laws that had limited thepolitical power of corporations
and the morbidly rich since 1907.
The Citizens United Roberts'court handed the morbidly rich
(22:57):
the keys to our democracy.
And now the reckoning is here.
The richest man in the world,elon Musk, with a social media
empire comprised by right,compromised by Russian influence
and a checkbook that bleedsbillions, bankrolled Trump's
return to power in 2024.
Trump now uses that power tocrush any Republican who steps
(23:18):
out of line.
And make no mistake, thismarriage of oligarchy and
authoritarianism rests squarelyon the shoulders of John Roberts
.
It was Roberts who gutted theVoting Rights Act in Shelby
County, claiming our country haschanged and racism no longer
exists as a problem.
The result 4 million, mostlyblack and brown voters were
purged or disqualified in 2024,handing the election to Donald
(23:41):
Trump.
Now, as you read this, at least10 million more are in the
crosshairs for 2026.
This is the fruit of Robert'sfive' decision.
Then came the big con declaringTrump immune from prosecution
for his official acts.
This grotesque doctrine nowshields him as he dodges court
(24:01):
orders, defames rape survivor EJean Carroll and refuses to pay
her what a jury awarded.
It even allows Pam Bondi'sTrump-hacked DOJ to argue
against his having to pay Carolbecause raping and defaming
women is now apparently part ofa president's job Question.
(24:21):
Roberts watched as Trumpbulldozed the Constitution and
responded with such tepidfinger-waving that Trump's
lawyers mocked the court openly.
This isn't restoring faith inthe judiciary.
This is enabling a dictatorship.
And John Roberts owns it all.
He owns Lisa Murkowski'swhispered fear.
(24:43):
We are all afraid retaliationis real.
He owns the purges of civilservants who tried to do their
jobs while Trump loyalists likethe bigs and Elon Musk fired
anyone not in lockstep.
He owns the dismantling of ournational security infrastructure
, gutting the FBI, neutering theNSA and kneecapping agencies
that track hostile foreignactors.
(25:04):
He owns the future Trumpemergency declaration,
particularly if there's aterrorist attack that will
install him as dictator for life.
He owns the death of Americancredibility on the world stage
and the economic depression histariffs and chaos will provoke.
He owns Trump's lies thatKilmar Garcia has MS-13 tattoos
on his hands, a gaslightingcharacteristic of dictators like
(25:27):
Putin, pinochet and MBS, asRepresentative Maxwell Frost
said of Trump's willingness tolie, to imprison people.
Quote today it's Mr Garcia,tomorrow it can be any one of us
.
He owns the increasing deathsof women in states with near
total abortion bans.
He owns the stolen votes ofmillions who might have stopped
this rolling catastrophe butcouldn't because John Roberts'
(25:50):
court helped rig the systemagainst them.
He owns Doge Musk and Big Balls, destroying America's
diplomatic and scientificprimacy in the world.
And now Roberts faces thedestruction of the very branch
he leads.
If the judiciary can no longercheck power, what's left?
We've seen this movie before,not just in America with the
(26:11):
exception of the Confederacy, asI lay out the hidden history of
American oligarchy but aroundthe world.
Within months of taking power,hitler neutralized judicial
oversight via the Reichstag FireDecree.
Mussolini packed Italy's courtswith fascist loyalists.
Viktor Orban rewrote Hungary'sconstitution to push out
hundreds of judges.
(26:31):
Putin's courts takeinstructions directly from the
Kremlin via what Russians calltelephone law.
And here JD Vance says Trump canignore the Supreme Court
entirely.
And he is.
That's where we are.
The time for pretending is over.
We now live in an early-stagedictatorship.
The court has ordered Trump tobring those men back from El
(26:53):
Salvador and he's telling it togo screw itself.
Early Saturday morning, at 1 am, seven justices briefly found
their voices, blocking Trump'sillegal deportation regime over
the fascist objections of Thomasand Alito.
We'll soon see if that was areal stand or just kabuki
theater to cover their robeswith the scent of legitimacy.
Buses were stopped, but thepeople are still in El Salvador.
(27:17):
Trump is still playing dictator, refusing to recognize the
authority of the court.
If Roberts still refuses tocheck Trump's power and
Republicans in Congress continueto cower before him, it falls
to us not with violence, withtruth, organizing, voting and,
yes, a peaceful revolution, asthey say in the activist
(27:40):
community uh, plot, plan,strategize, organize.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Uh.
This court thing is veryinteresting from from the
political standpoint to thepractical standpoint.
The political standpoint is theRepublicans win on immigration,
and that is just a fact.
Immigration is is somethingthat people vehemently believe
(28:12):
in, even if it comes in the formof mass deportation.
And so the Trump administration, somewhat, has played this one
very smart in the sense of themforcing the Democratic Party to
respond to somebody that theyhave labeled not just an illegal
(28:37):
immigrant, but because theyhave said this person has
connections to MS-13, they'velabeled him as a terrorist.
Now what's interesting is howthat fight is going to play out.
Interesting is how that fightis going to play out because
even people like Joe Rogan havestarted to feel remarkably
uncomfortable with thatassertion and have now started
(29:02):
to say no, it's not aboutwhether somebody is an illegal
immigrant, it's not aboutwhether somebody is an MS-13.
It's actually about due process.
So when you're losing whatpeople kind of laugh at, the
family guy calls the stupid man,king Joe Rogan, you start to
(29:24):
lose the base of the party.
Now the audience knows I am aChristian, not always a great
one, and I'll just say this.
Since evangelicals love toquote Leviticus so much, I have
a Bible verse from Leviticus1933 through 34 that I want them
(29:46):
to ponder If a man from anothercountry is living in your land
with you, do not make life hardfor him.
Let him be to you as one ofyour countrymen and have love
for him as for yourself.
Leviticus 19.33-34.
(30:10):
I'm going to close the show.
Everybody knows that I wasraised an African Methodist
Episcopal and of course I didstart the show talking about
Pope Francis, one of the seniorbishops of the AME Church,
bishop Wilford Jacobs Messiahactually put out a proclamation
(30:35):
or letter expressing hiscondolences on the passing of
His Holiness Pope Francis, headof the Catholic Church and
sovereign of Vatican City State.
It is with deep sorrow andsacred reverence that we, the
African Methodist EpiscopalChurch, join the global
Christian family in mourning thepassing of His Holiness Pope
(30:59):
Francis, servant of God, pilgrimof peace and shepherd whose
heart bore the burdens of theworld.
In this holy season,resurrection, as we proclaim
with faith, is that he is nothere.
He is risen.
We are reminded the death doesnot have the final word for
(31:19):
those who belong to christ, andyet the departure of such a
towering yet tender soul leavesan ache that transcends
denominational lines and borders.
Pope Francis was not merely theBishop of Rome.
He was a global voice ofconscience, a man of the people,
(31:41):
a shepherd for thebrokenhearted and a prophet who
reminded us that true leadershipis not found in those in the
thralls of power.
Leadership is not found inthose in the thralls of power,
but in the acts of humility,mercy and justice.
He was sought by many in timesof crisis, not only for his
(32:13):
wisdom, but for the profoundhumanity which he listed,
embraced and responded.
As the first pope, and electingfrom outside of Europe, pope
Francis affirmed to the worldthat the divine calling is not
confirmed by geography ortradition.
His leadership taught us thatgrace knows no borders and that
the heart of the church mustbeat in the rift with the lives
of the least, the lost and theleft behind.
(32:36):
He lived as a bridge betweenfaith, between nations and, most
deeply, between the wounded andthe healing presence of Jesus
Christ.
And now, as he returns to hisinternal home, we give thanks
because his life became a livingexample of the gospel.
(33:10):
On behalf of the entire AfricanMethodist Episcopal Church and
the leadership and membership ofthe 19th Episcopal District, we
extend our heartfeltcondolences to the family of
Pope Francis, the Holy See, andto our beloved sisters and
brothers in the Roman CatholicChurch.
We grieve with you, we standwith you, we pray with you.
May we honor his memory notonly in word but in witness, by
(33:32):
seeking peace, loving mercy,walking humbly and daring to
believe that if we unite in theessence of who we are called to
be, the world can indeed betransformed.
Rest in God's eternal life.
Holy Father, bishop WilfordJacob Messiah, senior Bishop of
(33:55):
the African Methodist EpiscopalChurch.
Presiding prelate.
19th Episcopal District of theAfrican Methodist Episcopal
Church.
Speaker 4 (34:08):
Francis the pastor gathering excited children on
the popemobile.
Ever the warm and humble priesthe showed the world the day he
was elected in 2013.
Asking for prayers dressed in asimple white cassock and an
iron cross not the traditionalgold no surprise from a man who
(34:29):
was cardinal in Buenos Aires,lived in a small apartment, rode
the subway and cooked his ownmeals.
He could understand regularpeople, an ordinary person, an
ordinary guy with anextraordinary job, and I think
that the message was I am one ofyou.
But then, surprising many asPope, by blindly taking on
(34:50):
controversial causes, speakingout against the invasion of
Ukraine, criticizing those whowouldn't wear masks during the
pandemic, calling couples whohad pets instead of children
selfish.
And as the first Pope toaddress a joint session of
Congress, challenging the US toopen its arms to refugees and
(35:12):
abolish the death penalty.
Even earlier, just months afterhis election, saying something
revolutionary for a Catholicchurch leader that the church
must welcome the LGBTQ communityIf a person is gay and seeks
God and has goodwill, who am Ito judge?
Speaker 1 (35:31):
It's the Pope saying something?
Speaker 3 (35:32):
that no other Pope has said, not only in terms of
the implications of thatstatement, but the very
willingness to speak with suchkind of spontaneity and ease on
a grave matter to reporters atthe back of a plane.
Speaker 4 (35:46):
He was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, in Buenos Aires
, argentina, the eldest of fivechildren of Italian immigrants.
As a young man holding jobs as abouncer, a janitor and studying
chemistry before entering thisseminary.
When Pope Benedict retired,Bergoglio was seen as a cardinal
whose time had passed and, at76, too old.
(36:09):
But after five ballots whitesmoke, the first Jesuit ever
elected Pope, the first fromLatin America and the first in
nearly 600 years to follow aretirement.
He came to the church at a timein which there was tremendous
crisis, both internally andexternally, in terms of its
reputation, and he in a senserebranded the Catholic Church At
(36:31):
a time when the church reallyneeded a facelift.
He provided it.
He expanded roles for women inparishes and at the Vatican, but
didn't budge on making thempriests, Considered allowing
married priests in remote areas,but ultimately didn't, and
reaffirmed many times churchteaching against abortion.
Conservative Catholics argue.
(36:51):
Francis prioritized pastoralopenness and outreach at the
expense of church doctrine.
Speaker 3 (36:58):
Since our main work in the church is preparing
people and calling people toheaven, we need to be able to
tell them no, that's sinfulconduct that will get you barred
from going in the door.
Speaker 4 (37:11):
Other critics question whether his moves to
toughen church laws dealing withsexual abuse by priests went
far enough, but with hisappointment of 21 newly diverse
cardinals in 2022, francisfurther shaped a church
leadership tilting more towardthe developing world and one
that's more inclusive, willingto at least talk about tough
(37:34):
issues.
Speaker 5 (37:35):
I want to bring in my friend, historian John Meacham.
He was the first canonhistorian for the Washington
National Cathedral.
John, what a beautiful life andlegacy, but a very sad night.
Talk to us about Pope Francis'slegacy, specifically as a
reformer.
Speaker 3 (37:55):
Talk to us about Pope Francis's legacy, specifically
as a reformer.
Well, the last three or fourpontiffs have been strikingly
different.
We begin with John XXIII, whowas the force behind Vatican II,
which is popularly seen as theopening up of the church.
It's a complicated story, butthat is certainly.
(38:16):
He was a pastoral figure.
In John Paul II you had thatremarkable stand against
communism, againsttotalitarianism, and a very
conservative theology.
In Benedict, you hadconservative theology, quite
orthodox, and in Francis you hada tonal and in many ways, a
(38:39):
theological shift, in the sensethat he offered something that a
lot of observers inside andoutside the church had been
missing, which was a sense thatthe arms of God are open not
(39:00):
simply to a select few but toall.
And I think of him less as apolitician, less as a policy
reformer and really a remarkablepastor, someone who embodied
the best and noblest parts ofthe gospel message, which is
(39:22):
that the last shall be first andthe first shall be last, and
that, as we went through lastweek, hearing once again Jesus
saying on the night he washanded over to suffering and
death, and the words of the ritehe ordered, commanded us to
love one another as I have lovedyou, and I think that was the
(39:44):
guiding star for this pope.
Speaker 5 (39:46):
Blessed are the meek Juxtapose that, though, john,
with how different that is withwhere we are as a society right
now not just Americans, butEuropeans around the world how
this anti-immigrant movement hasrisen up, while you have a pope
who, over and over, made it hismission to talk about the
(40:07):
importance of protecting thosewho are most vulnerable.
Speaker 3 (40:12):
Well, you have democracy and Christianity, and
this is not to get intoChristian nationalism and the
often unhealthy blending offaith and power politics.
But democracy and Christianityhave a great deal in common.
It requires us to see oneanother as fellow children of
(40:33):
God, and that may sound grand orsoft somehow, but that is in
fact the motive force ofdemocracy.
If I don't respect you and yourdignity before the law and you
don't respect mine, then we fallinto a state of nature, and you
don't respect mine, then wefall into a state of nature.
(40:54):
We fall into a struggle, aconstant battle to get what we
want.
And the message both of theHebrew Bible and the New
Testament is that you can'tsimply take everything you want
when you want it, that there isin fact a hierarchy of
(41:15):
affections, that we have tocontrol our appetites, and in
doing so we all have a betterchance of filling those
appetites.
So it's not just about beinggreat people, but it is about
seeing one another in a way thatenables us to at least, if we
don't love our neighbor, weshould at least try.
Speaker 5 (41:37):
If we do not love our neighbor, we should at least
try.
And if we cannot be decent, andif we cannot show them a
modicum of respect, then what dowe have, john?
The answer is nothing.
We go tonight, the people'sPope.
The world was divided in 2020when the pandemic hit, but Pope
Francis used it as anopportunity to unite.
He said this to an empty StPeter's Square in March of 2020,
(42:01):
at the height of the lockdownsaround the world.
Quote we've realized that we'reon the same boat, all of us
fragile and disoriented, but, atthe same time, important and
needed.
All of us called to rowtogether, each of us in need of
comforting the other.
Speaker 1 (42:24):
So normally we hear terms like somebody spoke truth
to power.
I'm going to end the show withjust ten little quotes from Pope
Francis.
The exploitation of the planethas already exceeded the
acceptance limits and we stillhave not solved the problem of
(42:46):
poverty.
The idea of infinite orunlimited growth, which proves
so attractive to economists,financiers and experts in
technology, is based on the liethat there is an infinite supply
of the earth's goods, and thisleads to the planet being
(43:06):
squeezed dry at every limit.
Without justice, there is nopeace.
Indeed, if justice is notrespected, conflicts will arise.
Without justice, the law ofprevalence of the strong over
the weak is entrenched.
(43:27):
If we took the planet'stemperature, it will tell us
that the earth has a fever andit is sick.
We must commit ourselves to theprotection of nature, changing
our personal and communityhabits.
We cannot in any way accept thebombing of civilians, that
(43:52):
children are freezing to deathbecause hospitals have been
destroyed.
We are not faced with twoseparate crises on environmental
and the other social, butrather one complex crisis in
which, both social andenvironmental we need to reject
(44:15):
a magical conception of marketswhich would suggest that the
problems can be solved simply byan increase in the profits of
companies or individuals.
The climate is a common goodbelonging to all and meant for
(44:35):
all.
The ones suffering most fromthe consequences of these
disasters are the poor, thosewho are forced to leave their
homes because of floods, heatwaves or drought.
We all must do good.
(44:57):
Ten simple quotes from PopeFrancis.
Rest in peace, pope Francis.
God bless.
Welcome to the Derral McLean Show.
I'm your host, derral McLean,and let's get into our episode.
So today is a special day it'sactually my birthday, but it's
also a day that Pope Francis haspassed away.
(00:20):
Pope Francis died from a strokefollowed by a heart failure,
according to the Vatican.
So the Vatican released astatement saying that he had a
heart failure and revealing thatthe pontiff also requested to
be buried in a simple unadornedtomb.
The 88-year-old Pope recoveredfrom some illnesses earlier but
(00:49):
was kind of in and out of thehospital.
He was revered by billions ofCatholics around the world.
He died at 7.35 am in hisapartment at Casa St Marta.
His death was confirmed througha ECG test.
(01:10):
The Vatican said Francis, who'stwice almost died when the
hospital with severe pneumoniain February, february also
(01:30):
suffered from multiplebronchitis and arterial
hypertension and type 2 diabetes.
The Pope confirmed in his willthat he wished to be buried at
St Mary Magna Moura Church inRome's neighborhood.
Breaking with long-standingVatican tradition, he would pray
at the Basilica before andafter trips overseas and he last
(01:52):
visited on the 12th of April.
The test of his will specifiedthat Francis wanted to be buried
in the ground without aparticular decoration, but with
the encryption of his papal name, in Latin Franciscus.
Popes are usually buried withmuch fanfare in the beneath St
(02:18):
Peter's Basilica in Vatican City.
But Francis, loved by manyCatholics for his humility,
simplified rights for a papal'sfuneral.
For a papal's funeral last year.
In the text of his will hepublished by the Vatican, the
late Pope said the cost ofpreparing the burial will be
(02:41):
covered by a sum provided by abenefactor, which I have
arranged to be transferred tothe papal basilica of St Mary
Major.
Given the necessaryinstructions regarding this to
Cardinal Rollins-Mecrix,extraordinary commissioner of
Liberian Basilica, his body wastransferred into a coffin in the
(03:07):
chapel of Casa St Marta onMonday night.
The coffin will be taken to StPeter's Basilica on Wednesday
morning to allow the public topay their respects.
Cardinals will meet on Tuesdaymorning to decide the date of
the Pope's funeral, which musttake place between the four and
six days after the death.
The funeral will be followed bynine days of official mourning.
(03:31):
Thousands of pilgrims andtourists flocked to St Peter's
Square where prayers for thePope were held on Monday evening
.
Francis, who had a chronic lungdisease part of one of his
lungs had been removed as ayoung man and when he was
admitted to Gemini Hospital inRome on the 14th of February for
(03:53):
a respiratory crisis thatdeveloped into double pneumonia.
He spent 38 days there thelongest hospitalization of his
12 years in the papacyhospitalization of his 12 years
in the papacy.
He was discharged from thehospital on the 23rd and made
his last public appearance onSunday, where he did a tour of
(04:15):
St Peter's Square in thePopemobile and gave a brief
greeting from the centralbalcony of St Peter's Basilica A
mid-intense morning.
Over the coming days and weeks,man over within the Vatican
over who is to succeed Francisand become the 268th head of the
(04:37):
Catholic Church, it is certainto begin.
Cardinals from around the worldwill head to Rome for a
conclave, the secret, complexelection ritual held in the 16th
chapel, involving about 138cardinals who are eligible to
vote.
The conclave must begin itsdeliberations within 20 days of
(04:58):
the Pope's death.
Some of the potential contendersmounted before Francis' death
were Matteo Zuppi, a progressiveItalian, cardinal, pietor
(05:22):
Perlin, who serves as theVatican Secretary of State, and
Cardinal Louis Antonio Taglifrom the Philippines.
King Charles said he and theQueen, who met the Pope in Rome
last week, had a heavy heart atthe news of his death, adding
that Francis would be rememberedfor his compassion and timeless
commitment.
President Trump said he wouldattend Francis' funeral, posting
on social media.
(05:42):
Rest in peace, pope Francis.
May God bless him and all wholoved him.
Former President Joe Biden saysFrancis will be remembered as
one of the most consequentialleaders of our time and Barack
Obama said he was a rare leaderwho made us want to be better
people.
In Italy, giorgio Maloney, theprime minister, said I had the
(06:07):
privilege of enjoying hisfriendship, his advice and his
teachings, which never failed,even in the moments of trial and
suffering.
The prophet's death is likelyto exasperate sharp divisions
within the curia, withconservatives seeking to wrest
control of the church away fromreformers.
(06:28):
During his 12 years as Pope,francis, I, the Jesuit Pope, was
a vocal champion of the world'spoor, dispossessed and
disadvantaged, and a bluntcritic of corporate greed and
social and economic inequality.
Within the Vatican, hecriticized extravagance and
(06:48):
privilege, calling on the churchleaders to show humility.
His views roused significantnumbers of cardinals and
powerful Vatican officials, whooften sought to frustrate
Francis's effort to overhaul theancient institution of the
church his effort to overhaulthe ancient institution of the
church, but his compassion andhumility endured him to millions
(07:09):
around the world.
Francis was born, georgeMerrill Bergalonio, in Argentina
in 1936, and he was electedpope in March of 2013.
He immediately signaled hisstyle of papacy by taking the
(07:32):
bus, rather than the papal car,to his hotel, where he paid his
bills, before moving into theVatican guesthouse, eschewing
the opulent papal apartments.
At his first media appearance,he expressed his wish for a poor
church and a church for thepoor.
(07:53):
He focused papal attention onpoverty and inequality, calling
unfettered capitalism the dungof evil, the dung of the devil.
Two years into his papacy, heissued a 180-page encyclopedia
on the environment, demandingthat the world's richest nations
(08:14):
pay their grave social debt tothe poor.
The climate crisis representedone of the principal challenges
facing humanity in our day, thePope said he called for
compassion and generositytowards refugees, saying that
they should not be treated aspawns on a chessboard of
humanity.
After visiting the Greekislands of Lesbos, he offered 12
(08:40):
Syrian refugees at the Vatican.
During his recent period in thehospital, he kept up his
telephone calls to the HolyFamily Church in Gaza, a nightly
routine since the 9th ofOctober 2023.
One of the biggest issues onwhich Francis had to contend
(09:00):
with was the clerical sexualabuse and the church's cover-up
of crimes committed by priestsand bishops In the first few
years of the papacy.
As a wave after wave ofscandals engulfed the church,
francis was accused by survivorsand others of failing to
understand the scale of thecrisis and the urgent need to
proactively root out abuse andits cover-up.
(09:23):
In 2019, francis summonedbishops from around the world to
Rome to discuss the crisis andlater issued an edict requiring
priests and nuns to reportsexual abuse and its cover-ups
to the church authorities andgarnering protection for
whistleblowers.
It was a significant movetoward the church taking
(09:46):
responsibility for the scandalsand went much further than his
predecessors.
Also, during his tenure as thehead of the Catholic Church,
francis was obliged to respondto repeated acts of terrorism
and persecution.
He was at pains to stress thatviolence had no part to play in
(10:08):
the true practice of religionand that people should not
conflate acts of terrorism withtheir religion or acts of
terrorism with Islam.
I think it is not right toidentify Islam with violence, he
said after the murder of aCatholic priest in France in
2016,.
I think that in nearly allreligions there is always a
(10:29):
small fundamental group, he said, adding we Catholics.
I have them.
Francis spoke with compassionon issues of sexuality to sleep?
Famously responding to who am Ifamously responding?
Who am I to judge?
To a question about a gaypriest, the family and the role
of women in society, whileadhering to a traditional
(10:50):
Catholic doctrine on marriage,contraception and abortion.
Although many on the left stroveto claim Francis as one of
their own, he could not easilybe defined as liberal or as
conservative.
On his many trips abroad,francis was greeted like a rock
star, with hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions, waiting
(11:11):
for hours for a glimpse of him,white-robed figure, in an
open-side Popemobile.
His appeal was particularlystrong among young people, whom
he frequently urged to rejectmaterialism and
over-dependentness on technology.
Happiness so um.
(11:40):
I remember this Pope fondlybecause this was when he came to
my attention.
He was talking about theconflict during his time of
Israel and Palestine.
He actually had to speak aboutit in two different occasions.
(12:02):
Had to speak about it in twodifferent occasions, and that's
kind of what I will remember himfor Trying his best to change
the conversation, trying hisbest to never forget the
humanity of people, even whilehe was on such a high perch.
(12:31):
I should say there were many,many good sayings in this Pope
and you will probably be seeinga lot of them online.
I remember one in particular aslong as the problems of the
(12:52):
poor are not radically resolved,by rejecting the absolute
anatomy of markets and financialspeculation and by attacking
the structural causes ofinequality, no solution will be
found for the world's problemsor, for the matter, or, for that
matter, any problems".
End quote.
The last one I'll say is is onequote where the Pope said a
(13:18):
nation can be considered greatwhen it defines liberty, as
Lincoln did, when it fosters aculture which enables people to
dream of full rights for alltheir brothers and sisters, as
Martin Luther King sought to do,when it strives for justice and
the cause of the oppressed, asDorothy Day did by her tireless
(13:40):
work.
Pope Francis died on April 21st2025.
He was born in 1936.
In politics, rep Barbara Lee,the Democrat from California,
was projected to win the specialelection to become the next
(14:02):
mayor of Oakland, according toDecision Desk HQ, in what became
a closer-than-expected race.
Amid growing voterdissatisfaction over the
direction of the city.
Lee won the nonpartisan rankedchoice election over a field of
(14:23):
more than half a dozencandidates, with the most
prominent being a former citycouncil member, lauren Taylor,
who is a runner up to the nowformal mayor Seedong Toy in the
2022 mayoral race and emerged asthis election's dark horse
contender race and emerged asthis election's dark horse
(14:46):
contender.
So Taylor had the initial leadafter the first batch of votes
were tallied Tuesday night, with48.2% of the vote, about 1,200
votes ahead of Lee, who had45.7%.
But after more than 40,000additional mail-in ballots had
to be counted were tallied andannounced by Friday, lee went
(15:09):
ahead of Taylor by about fivepoints, or nearly 5,000 votes.
That was just enough to win amajority in the initial round of
voting to continue, before anyadditional rounds of tallying
the ranked choice system neededto be counted.
Oakland has been without apermanent mayor since November,
(15:32):
when Taub was recalled fromoffice in the first for the city
with more than 60% of voters infavor of his ouster.
She was elected narrowly in2022 to become the first Hmong
American to serve as mayor of amajor American city.
(15:54):
But tensions rose under hermayorship as she faced scrutiny
over her handling of crime, lawenforcement and her personal
conduct.
The crime rate spikedparticularly high in Oakland
during the COVID-19 pandemic andremained higher than most other
(16:14):
cities in years in which manyAmericans had begun to resume
normal activities.
Homicides remained high,robberies and bulgaries
experienced a sharp rise in 2023, the first of the years of
Tao's administration.
Crime appeared to be droppingin 2024, ahead of the election,
(16:34):
but Tao also faced a blackjackover poor relationships with the
police unions and missing adeadline to apply for a grant
that would have given the citymillions to address retail theft
.
A personal controversy alsosurrounded the mayor after the
FBI conducted a raid on her homein June, not committing or not
(17:02):
commenting at the time of whatthe purpose of the raid was.
Months after leaving office,the mayor was then indicted in
January on bribery, conspiracy,mail and wire fraud charges,
accusing her of conspiring withothers to get businesses from
the city to two businesses inexchange for financial benefits.
(17:25):
The mayor pled not guilty anddenied any wrongdoings.
Now, lee's victory was initiallyexpected to be virtually
insured for a longtime formerHouse member who chose not to
run for re-election last yearfor an unsuccessful bid for the
Senate, which she lost in theprimary.
She had also had endorsementsof several notable local and
(17:51):
state political figures,including interim Mayor Kevin
Jenkins, former CaliforniaGovernor Jerry Brown and former
Mayor Libby Scaife, gene Kwanand Edlu Harris.
Brown also previously served asa Oakland mayor, but the race
(18:24):
became increasingly competitiveas the election approached, with
the polls commissioned byTaylor's campaign and groups
supporting his campaign showinga tight race.
Last month, taylor also toutedendorsements from less
high-profile but stillinfluential figures, including
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan andformer City Council President
Pat Kerrigan.
The race became a bit of aproxy battle of sorts within the
Democratic Party, with Lee as alongtime progressive leader and
the choice of manyestablishment leaders and Taylor
(18:46):
running more of a moderateplatform and positioning himself
as an outsider who would bringchange to the city.
Lee's website states that herpriorities as mayor will be
public safety and a plan toensure residents feel safe,
providing unhoused people withhousing and mental health and
addiction services, andimproving the city's ethics and
(19:07):
regulations.
Barbara Lee is an old schoolprogressive, one of the first
people who at one time was theonly lone vote to say no to war.
Lone vote to say no to warWould everybody, not only in the
(19:31):
caucus, every other person inthe Congress said yes.
She was alone.
No vote, and so we got to givepeople like her her flowers
while they're around on the leftside, just like I believe in
giving people like Ron Paul forcalling to attention some of the
(19:52):
excesses of themilitary-industrial complex that
had permeated the thinking ofthe Republican Party.
I remember him, on stage, beingthe lone voice calling truth,
speaking truth to power.
And even though Barbara Leewasn't on stage, she was in the
(20:14):
halls of power when everybodywas blinded by hatred and fear
and wanting to retaliate forwhat had happened to us on 9-11.
And Barbara Lee stood up andsaid no to the war.
And she's not a young person,that's kind of how this works.
(20:40):
She, in my estimation, probablywould have been a decent
senator a decent senator, youknow, but I hope she does a good
job as mayor.
She's 78 years old and she wonthis election and we'll see if
(21:08):
she can fix this city.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
John Roberts owns it all, from Citizens United to
Trump's coup.
John Roberts owns thisnightmare.
Without him and hisco-conspirators against
democracy on the Supreme Court,we never would have had a
reality star neo-fascist ascendto the highest office in the
land.
And it's getting worse daily.
(21:32):
On the morning of April 12,2025, the North Carolina Supreme
Court tried to quietly nullifythe votes of over 5,000
Americans, many of them activeduty, military and overseas
citizens.
Four Republican justicesattempted to throw out these
ballots after the election,claiming they lacked photo ID,
even though the state's ownvoting portal didn't allow IDs
(21:53):
to be uploaded.
The goal Overturn the narrow734-volt victory of Democrat
Allison Riggs over RepublicanJefferson Griffin.
A federal court has temporarilyblocked certification.
But make no mistake, this iswhat stolen elections look like
in John Roberts, post-citizensUnited, post-shelby County
America.
(22:14):
Justice John Paul Stevens sawit coming.
In his Citizens United dissent,he wrote the court's ruling
threatens to undermine theintegrity of elected
institutions across the nation.
He warned that allowingunlimited and often anonymous
money to flood our politicswould short-circuit the
democratic process and, quote,shatter public faith in
(22:35):
government.
Stevens was right.
But Justice Stevens's direwarnings didn't stop five
Republican appointees threeopenly taking gifts from
billionaires from striking downhundreds of state and federal
laws that had limited thepolitical power of corporations
and the morbidly rich since 1907.
The Citizens United Roberts'court handed the morbidly rich
(22:57):
the keys to our democracy.
And now the reckoning is here.
The richest man in the world,elon Musk, with a social media
empire comprised by right,compromised by Russian influence
and a checkbook that bleedsbillions, bankrolled Trump's
return to power in 2024.
Trump now uses that power tocrush any Republican who steps
(23:18):
out of line.
And make no mistake, thismarriage of oligarchy and
authoritarianism rests squarelyon the shoulders of John Roberts
.
It was Roberts who gutted theVoting Rights Act in Shelby
County, claiming our country haschanged and racism no longer
exists as a problem.
The result 4 million, mostlyblack and brown voters were
purged or disqualified in 2024,handing the election to Donald
(23:41):
Trump.
Now, as you read this, at least10 million more are in the
crosshairs for 2026.
This is the fruit of Robert'sfive' decision.
Then came the big con declaringTrump immune from prosecution
for his official acts.
This grotesque doctrine nowshields him as he dodges court
(24:01):
orders, defames rape survivor EJean Carroll and refuses to pay
her what a jury awarded.
It even allows Pam Bondi'sTrump-hacked DOJ to argue
against his having to pay Carolbecause raping and defaming
women is now apparently part ofa president's job Question.
(24:21):
Roberts watched as Trumpbulldozed the Constitution and
responded with such tepidfinger-waving that Trump's
lawyers mocked the court openly.
This isn't restoring faith inthe judiciary.
This is enabling a dictatorship.
And John Roberts owns it all.
He owns Lisa Murkowski'swhispered fear.
(24:43):
We are all afraid retaliationis real.
He owns the purges of civilservants who tried to do their
jobs while Trump loyalists likethe bigs and Elon Musk fired
anyone not in lockstep.
He owns the dismantling of ournational security infrastructure
, gutting the FBI, neutering theNSA and kneecapping agencies
that track hostile foreignactors.
(25:04):
He owns the future Trumpemergency declaration,
particularly if there's aterrorist attack that will
install him as dictator for life.
He owns the death of Americancredibility on the world stage
and the economic depression histariffs and chaos will provoke.
He owns Trump's lies thatKilmar Garcia has MS-13 tattoos
on his hands, a gaslightingcharacteristic of dictators like
(25:27):
Putin, pinochet and MBS, asRepresentative Maxwell Frost
said of Trump's willingness tolie, to imprison people.
Quote today it's Mr Garcia,tomorrow it can be any one of us
.
He owns the increasing deathsof women in states with near
total abortion bans.
He owns the stolen votes ofmillions who might have stopped
this rolling catastrophe butcouldn't because John Roberts'
(25:50):
court helped rig the systemagainst them.
He owns Doge Musk and Big Balls, destroying America's
diplomatic and scientificprimacy in the world.
And now Roberts faces thedestruction of the very branch
he leads.
If the judiciary can no longercheck power, what's left?
We've seen this movie before,not just in America with the
(26:11):
exception of the Confederacy, asI lay out the hidden history of
American oligarchy but aroundthe world.
Within months of taking power,hitler neutralized judicial
oversight via the Reichstag FireDecree.
Mussolini packed Italy's courtswith fascist loyalists.
Viktor Orban rewrote Hungary'sconstitution to push out
hundreds of judges.
(26:31):
Putin's courts takeinstructions directly from the
Kremlin via what Russians calltelephone law.
And here JD Vance says Trump canignore the Supreme Court
entirely.
And he is.
That's where we are.
The time for pretending is over.
We now live in an early-stagedictatorship.
The court has ordered Trump tobring those men back from El
(26:53):
Salvador and he's telling it togo screw itself.
Early Saturday morning, at 1 am, seven justices briefly found
their voices, blocking Trump'sillegal deportation regime over
the fascist objections of Thomasand Alito.
We'll soon see if that was areal stand or just kabuki
theater to cover their robeswith the scent of legitimacy.
Buses were stopped, but thepeople are still in El Salvador.
(27:17):
Trump is still playing dictator, refusing to recognize the
authority of the court.
If Roberts still refuses tocheck Trump's power and
Republicans in Congress continueto cower before him, it falls
to us not with violence, withtruth, organizing, voting and,
yes, a peaceful revolution, asthey say in the activist
(27:40):
community uh, plot, plan,strategize, organize.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Uh.
This court thing is veryinteresting from from the
political standpoint to thepractical standpoint.
The political standpoint is theRepublicans win on immigration,
and that is just a fact.
Immigration is is somethingthat people vehemently believe
(28:12):
in, even if it comes in the formof mass deportation.
And so the Trump administration, somewhat, has played this one
very smart in the sense of themforcing the Democratic Party to
respond to somebody that theyhave labeled not just an illegal
(28:37):
immigrant, but because theyhave said this person has
connections to MS-13, they'velabeled him as a terrorist.
Now what's interesting is howthat fight is going to play out.
Interesting is how that fightis going to play out because
even people like Joe Rogan havestarted to feel remarkably
uncomfortable with thatassertion and have now started
(29:02):
to say no, it's not aboutwhether somebody is an illegal
immigrant, it's not aboutwhether somebody is an MS-13.
It's actually about due process.
So when you're losing whatpeople kind of laugh at, the
family guy calls the stupid man,king Joe Rogan, you start to
(29:24):
lose the base of the party.
Now the audience knows I am aChristian, not always a great
one, and I'll just say this.
Since evangelicals love toquote Leviticus so much, I have
a Bible verse from Leviticus1933 through 34 that I want them
(29:46):
to ponder If a man from anothercountry is living in your land
with you, do not make life hardfor him.
Let him be to you as one ofyour countrymen and have love
for him as for yourself.
Leviticus 19.33-34.
(30:10):
I'm going to close the show.
Everybody knows that I wasraised an African Methodist
Episcopal and of course I didstart the show talking about
Pope Francis, one of the seniorbishops of the AME Church,
bishop Wilford Jacobs Messiahactually put out a proclamation
(30:35):
or letter expressing hiscondolences on the passing of
His Holiness Pope Francis, headof the Catholic Church and
sovereign of Vatican City State.
It is with deep sorrow andsacred reverence that we, the
African Methodist EpiscopalChurch, join the global
Christian family in mourning thepassing of His Holiness Pope
(30:59):
Francis, servant of God, pilgrimof peace and shepherd whose
heart bore the burdens of theworld.
In this holy season,resurrection, as we proclaim
with faith, is that he is nothere.
He is risen.
We are reminded the death doesnot have the final word for
(31:19):
those who belong to christ, andyet the departure of such a
towering yet tender soul leavesan ache that transcends
denominational lines and borders.
Pope Francis was not merely theBishop of Rome.
He was a global voice ofconscience, a man of the people,
(31:41):
a shepherd for thebrokenhearted and a prophet who
reminded us that true leadershipis not found in those in the
thralls of power.
Leadership is not found inthose in the thralls of power,
but in the acts of humility,mercy and justice.
He was sought by many in timesof crisis, not only for his
(32:13):
wisdom, but for the profoundhumanity which he listed,
embraced and responded.
As the first pope, and electingfrom outside of Europe, pope
Francis affirmed to the worldthat the divine calling is not
confirmed by geography ortradition.
His leadership taught us thatgrace knows no borders and that
the heart of the church mustbeat in the rift with the lives
of the least, the lost and theleft behind.
(32:36):
He lived as a bridge betweenfaith, between nations and, most
deeply, between the wounded andthe healing presence of Jesus
Christ.
And now, as he returns to hisinternal home, we give thanks
because his life became a livingexample of the gospel.
(33:10):
On behalf of the entire AfricanMethodist Episcopal Church and
the leadership and membership ofthe 19th Episcopal District, we
extend our heartfeltcondolences to the family of
Pope Francis, the Holy See, andto our beloved sisters and
brothers in the Roman CatholicChurch.
We grieve with you, we standwith you, we pray with you.
May we honor his memory notonly in word but in witness, by
(33:32):
seeking peace, loving mercy,walking humbly and daring to
believe that if we unite in theessence of who we are called to
be, the world can indeed betransformed.
Rest in God's eternal life.
Holy Father, bishop WilfordJacob Messiah, senior Bishop of
(33:55):
the African Methodist EpiscopalChurch.
Presiding prelate.
19th Episcopal District of theAfrican Methodist Episcopal
Church.
Speaker 4 (34:08):
Francis the pastor gathering excited children on
the popemobile.
Ever the warm and humble priesthe showed the world the day he
was elected in 2013.
Asking for prayers dressed in asimple white cassock and an
iron cross not the traditionalgold no surprise from a man who
(34:29):
was cardinal in Buenos Aires,lived in a small apartment, rode
the subway and cooked his ownmeals.
He could understand regularpeople, an ordinary person, an
ordinary guy with anextraordinary job, and I think
that the message was I am one ofyou.
But then, surprising many asPope, by blindly taking on
(34:50):
controversial causes, speakingout against the invasion of
Ukraine, criticizing those whowouldn't wear masks during the
pandemic, calling couples whohad pets instead of children
selfish.
And as the first Pope toaddress a joint session of
Congress, challenging the US toopen its arms to refugees and
(35:12):
abolish the death penalty.
Even earlier, just months afterhis election, saying something
revolutionary for a Catholicchurch leader that the church
must welcome the LGBTQ communityIf a person is gay and seeks
God and has goodwill, who am Ito judge?
Speaker 1 (35:31):
It's the Pope saying something?
Speaker 3 (35:32):
that no other Pope has said, not only in terms of
the implications of thatstatement, but the very
willingness to speak with suchkind of spontaneity and ease on
a grave matter to reporters atthe back of a plane.
Speaker 4 (35:46):
He was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, in Buenos Aires
, argentina, the eldest of fivechildren of Italian immigrants.
As a young man holding jobs as abouncer, a janitor and studying
chemistry before entering thisseminary.
When Pope Benedict retired,Bergoglio was seen as a cardinal
whose time had passed and, at76, too old.
(36:09):
But after five ballots whitesmoke, the first Jesuit ever
elected Pope, the first fromLatin America and the first in
nearly 600 years to follow aretirement.
He came to the church at a timein which there was tremendous
crisis, both internally andexternally, in terms of its
reputation, and he in a senserebranded the Catholic Church At
(36:31):
a time when the church reallyneeded a facelift.
He provided it.
He expanded roles for women inparishes and at the Vatican, but
didn't budge on making thempriests, Considered allowing
married priests in remote areas,but ultimately didn't, and
reaffirmed many times churchteaching against abortion.
Conservative Catholics argue.
(36:51):
Francis prioritized pastoralopenness and outreach at the
expense of church doctrine.
Speaker 3 (36:58):
Since our main work in the church is preparing
people and calling people toheaven, we need to be able to
tell them no, that's sinfulconduct that will get you barred
from going in the door.
Speaker 4 (37:11):
Other critics question whether his moves to
toughen church laws dealing withsexual abuse by priests went
far enough, but with hisappointment of 21 newly diverse
cardinals in 2022, francisfurther shaped a church
leadership tilting more towardthe developing world and one
that's more inclusive, willingto at least talk about tough
(37:34):
issues.
Speaker 5 (37:35):
I want to bring in my friend, historian John Meacham.
He was the first canonhistorian for the Washington
National Cathedral.
John, what a beautiful life andlegacy, but a very sad night.
Talk to us about Pope Francis'slegacy, specifically as a
reformer.
Speaker 3 (37:55):
Talk to us about Pope Francis's legacy, specifically
as a reformer.
Well, the last three or fourpontiffs have been strikingly
different.
We begin with John XXIII, whowas the force behind Vatican II,
which is popularly seen as theopening up of the church.
It's a complicated story, butthat is certainly.
(38:16):
He was a pastoral figure.
In John Paul II you had thatremarkable stand against
communism, againsttotalitarianism, and a very
conservative theology.
In Benedict, you hadconservative theology, quite
orthodox, and in Francis you hada tonal and in many ways, a
(38:39):
theological shift, in the sensethat he offered something that a
lot of observers inside andoutside the church had been
missing, which was a sense thatthe arms of God are open not
(39:00):
simply to a select few but toall.
And I think of him less as apolitician, less as a policy
reformer and really a remarkablepastor, someone who embodied
the best and noblest parts ofthe gospel message, which is
(39:22):
that the last shall be first andthe first shall be last, and
that, as we went through lastweek, hearing once again Jesus
saying on the night he washanded over to suffering and
death, and the words of the ritehe ordered, commanded us to
love one another as I have lovedyou, and I think that was the
(39:44):
guiding star for this pope.
Speaker 5 (39:46):
Blessed are the meek Juxtapose that, though, john,
with how different that is withwhere we are as a society right
now not just Americans, butEuropeans around the world how
this anti-immigrant movement hasrisen up, while you have a pope
who, over and over, made it hismission to talk about the
(40:07):
importance of protecting thosewho are most vulnerable.
Speaker 3 (40:12):
Well, you have democracy and Christianity, and
this is not to get intoChristian nationalism and the
often unhealthy blending offaith and power politics.
But democracy and Christianityhave a great deal in common.
It requires us to see oneanother as fellow children of
(40:33):
God, and that may sound grand orsoft somehow, but that is in
fact the motive force ofdemocracy.
If I don't respect you and yourdignity before the law and you
don't respect mine, then we fallinto a state of nature, and you
don't respect mine, then wefall into a state of nature.
(40:54):
We fall into a struggle, aconstant battle to get what we
want.
And the message both of theHebrew Bible and the New
Testament is that you can'tsimply take everything you want
when you want it, that there isin fact a hierarchy of
(41:15):
affections, that we have tocontrol our appetites, and in
doing so we all have a betterchance of filling those
appetites.
So it's not just about beinggreat people, but it is about
seeing one another in a way thatenables us to at least, if we
don't love our neighbor, weshould at least try.
Speaker 5 (41:37):
If we do not love our neighbor, we should at least
try.
And if we cannot be decent, andif we cannot show them a
modicum of respect, then what dowe have, john?
The answer is nothing.
We go tonight, the people'sPope.
The world was divided in 2020when the pandemic hit, but Pope
Francis used it as anopportunity to unite.
He said this to an empty StPeter's Square in March of 2020,
(42:01):
at the height of the lockdownsaround the world.
Quote we've realized that we'reon the same boat, all of us
fragile and disoriented, but, atthe same time, important and
needed.
All of us called to rowtogether, each of us in need of
comforting the other.
Speaker 1 (42:24):
So normally we hear terms like somebody spoke truth
to power.
I'm going to end the show withjust ten little quotes from Pope
Francis.
The exploitation of the planethas already exceeded the
acceptance limits and we stillhave not solved the problem of
(42:46):
poverty.
The idea of infinite orunlimited growth, which proves
so attractive to economists,financiers and experts in
technology, is based on the liethat there is an infinite supply
of the earth's goods, and thisleads to the planet being
(43:06):
squeezed dry at every limit.
Without justice, there is nopeace.
Indeed, if justice is notrespected, conflicts will arise.
Without justice, the law ofprevalence of the strong over
the weak is entrenched.
(43:27):
If we took the planet'stemperature, it will tell us
that the earth has a fever andit is sick.
We must commit ourselves to theprotection of nature, changing
our personal and communityhabits.
We cannot in any way accept thebombing of civilians, that
(43:52):
children are freezing to deathbecause hospitals have been
destroyed.
We are not faced with twoseparate crises on environmental
and the other social, butrather one complex crisis in
which, both social andenvironmental we need to reject
(44:15):
a magical conception of marketswhich would suggest that the
problems can be solved simply byan increase in the profits of
companies or individuals.
The climate is a common goodbelonging to all and meant for
(44:35):
all.
The ones suffering most fromthe consequences of these
disasters are the poor, thosewho are forced to leave their
homes because of floods, heatwaves or drought.
We all must do good.
(44:57):
Ten simple quotes from PopeFrancis.
Rest in peace, pope Francis.
God bless.
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