Mike Barnicle: ‘It’s Incredible’ That We Have an American Pope!

EXCERPT:

BARNICLE: “And this particular pope, given his roots in Chicago, he is an American — it’s incredible that we have an American pope — but given his roots, and he chooses Leo XIV as his papal name, I don’t think that’s an accident, because Leo XIII, we’ve referenced this yesterday and earlier today, I imagine you’ve talked about it. Leo XIII wrote an encyclical, Rerum novarum, in the late 1890s, right at the turn of the century. And it was dedicated to people who work for a living, people like today, who work for a living, people who come home from work and take a shower instead of taking a shower before they go to work, people with calloused hands and dangerous lives because they make minimum wage, people from other countries who came here looking for liberty, looking for affluence, and affluence to them is food on the table. This particular pope is their champion, and I think the way he behaves, the way he speaks, the way he speaks to the world is going to be a powerful, powerful weapon, a great weapon against what we're confronted with each and every day."