Christopher Hale

He understands how to play the media in the United States.

He understands how it works.

And what I find fascinating is that when Leo speaks

When he wants to say something important, he says it in English.

And for Catholics, we know, we associate the man in the white with being very good at Italian, pretty good at Spanish, and not very good at English.

This is the history of the papacy.

It's remarkable to hear a pope speak fluent, natural, native English.

And when he wants to say something important, he says it in English, and it gets picked up here.

Well, I think the first thing I know is that I'm from Tennessee.

In MAGA country throughout this nation, the Catholic Church is leading the resistance to Donald Trump.

You had nuns who marched in Georgia.

You had a bishop in Arkansas compare Trump's actions to the Holocaust, to Nazi Germany.

You have here in Tennessee, you have the bishops standing up against deportation.

So I think in MAGA country, you have the church being a bulwark.

Remarkably, a bulwark against the Trump administration and the progressives across the country are seeing the church as something to look up to.

I think the final thing I will say is I think that Pope Francis himself was leading on these issues, but he did have resistance among the hierarchy in the United States.

What they often would do is they would reduce Francis to being Argentinian.

They would say, oh, the man from Buenos Aires, he doesn't understand life here in the United States.

And so I think a lot of the bishops thought, the conservative bishops thought, we'll just wait for the next pope.

And then by the grace of God, the next pope is a Chicagoan, an American, a progressive, a man who cares deeply about the poor, the migrants.