Cardinal DiNardo: Pope Leo is a ‘citizen of the entire world’

Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, Archbishop Emeritus of Galveston-Houston, said that while the cardinals chose a pope who is a U.S. citizen, “he’s really a citizen of the entire world since he has spent so much of his life, ministry, missionary work and zeal for Christ in South America,” mainly in Peru. Pope Leo “is an American” and “he represents the big, big picture of the Church,” he continued.

Cardinal DiNardo was joined by several other U.S.-based cardinals at a May 9 news conference at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, the day after Pope Leo was elected.

Timothy Cardinal Dolan of New York said, “The fact that he was born in the United States of America ... that’s a sense of pride and gratitude for us,” but the new pope is also a citizen of Peru. And he has worked in the Roman Curia as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops for the past two years.

“Where he comes from is now sort of a thing of the past. You know, Robert Francis Prevost is no longer around. It’s now Pope Leo,” Cardinal Dolan said. “He’s the pontiff of the Church universal. Where he came from, (that’s) secondary.”

This was Cardinal DiNardo’s and Cardinal Dolan’s second conclave, the two first participated in the 2013 conclave that saw the election of Pope Francis.

Cardinal DiNardo noted the history and legacy tied to the name Pope Leo chose. Pope Leo XIV is a man aware historically of where all are, he said.

“Pope Leo XIII was an important figure in the history of the most recent Church to actually speak about it in a very concrete way about Rerum Novarum, of the new things. And that was about industry and about the speculation of things that made workers live in difficulties,” Cardinal DiNardo said. 

He recalled the story of St. Leo the Great, the fifth-century pope who led the Church when it “was truly a mess.” 

St. Leo convinced Attila the Hun not to invade Italy and the Eternal City.

Cardinal DiNardo said St. Leo, who convened the largest gathering of bishops in history at that time, “preached Christ crucified and he preached Him as truly Son of God and truly as his phrase is also ‘consubstantial with us,’ Jesus is truly one of us.”

Cardinal DiNardo called the new Pope Leo XIV “a wise, wise man” as his name draws from St. Leo the Great to Leo XIII, “all of whom can speak to us, both on terms of social doctrine and in terms of doctrine of who Jesus is.”

The cardinals were asked to what extent could people interpret the election of Pope Leo “as a reflection of the desire of the cardinals to offer a counterweight to the global influence of President (Donald) Trump.”

Wilton Cardinal Gregory, Archbishop Emeritus of Washington, said, “The cardinals were quite aware of things that have occurred in the United States, statements that have been made, political actions that have been taken.”

“But what the cardinals were concerned about primarily, at least from my conversations with them,” Cardinal Gregory said, “was, ‘Who among us can bring us together; who among us can strengthen the faith and bring the faith to places where it has grown weak, bring the faith to places where there seems to be less enthusiasm or appreciation of the common things that draw us together?’”

Cardinal Dolan responded, “It should not startle us that we would look to Pope Leo as a bridge builder. That’s what the Latin word ‘pontiff’ means. He’s a bridge builder. Will he want to build bridges with Donald Trump? I suppose, but he would want to build bridges with the leader of every nation. So, I don’t think at all that my brother cardinals would have thought of it as a conduit to any one person.”

The cardinals at the news conference all mentioned the cardinals going into the conclave looking for someone who could proclaim the Gospel and strengthen the unity of the Church while also continuing the approach and projects of Pope Francis.

“We are looking for someone to follow the pathway of Francis, but we are not looking for a photocopy,” Robert Cardinal McElroy of Washington said. “I think the impact of him being an American was almost negligible in the deliberations of the conclave and surprisingly so.”

Blase Cardinal Cupich of Chicago, Pope Leo’s hometown, told reporters that the Church does not speak of replacements for a bishop or pope but of successors for them.

“That’s a very important distinction to make, and that is what we were looking for as well,” Cardinal Cupich said. The cardinals asked themselves, “Who could bring forward not only the ministry and life and tradition of Francis but everything that preceded him, especially from that pivotal moment of life in the church (that was) the Second Vatican Council.”

Christophe Cardinal Pierre, the papal nuncio to the U.S., quoted the French poet Charles Peguy: “Everything begins in mysticism and ends in politics.”

The conclave was the opposite, he said. In the days of preparation for the conclave, the media particularly had taken a political view of the election of the new pope.

“What I experienced was that everything begins in politics and ends in mysticism. This is what we lived” in the conclave, Cardinal Pierre said. The conclave began “in this kind of confusion” of languages, cultures and not knowing each other.

The only solution, he said, was to dialogue and listen to one another, setting aside prejudices and entering into a process of prayerful discernment.

Joseph Cardinal Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, said he had known Pope Leo for 30 years; they were in Rome together in the late 1990s and early 2000s when Cardinal Tobin was superior general of the Redemptorists and Pope Leo was superior of the Augustinian friars. More recently, Cardinal Tobin served as a member of the Dicastery for Bishops, where the former Robert Cardinal Prevost was prefect.

Talking about the new pope’s international experience, Cardinal Tobin first referred to him as “Bob” and then corrected himself, “Pope Leo.”

Describing the new pope’s leadership style, Cardinal Tobin said, “I don’t think he’s one that likes to pick fights, but he is not one to back down if the cause is just. And I guess the last thing I’d say about Bob is that he really is a listener, and then he acts.”

Cardinal Tobin said that during the actual election in the Sistine Chapel, when he went up to cast his ballot as the outcome became clearer, he walked by then-Cardinal Prevost, “who had his head in his hands.”

“I was praying for him because I couldn’t imagine what happens to a human being when you’re facing something like that. And then when he accepted it, it was like he was made for it,” the cardinal said. “All of the anguish or whatever was resolved by feeling — I think — that this wasn’t simply his saying yes to a proposal, but that God had made something clear, and he agreed with that.” †