As thousands gather in Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis Saturday, Archbishop of Santa Fe Rev. John Wester talked with New Mexico in Focus Senior Producer Lou DiVizio about his memories of the pope, and his hopes for the successor to Francis.
REV. JOHN WESTER: I had the opportunity to be with him different times. And I just really was drawn to him by his gentleness, his humor, his humility. I still remember standing the brother bishops in Washington, at St Matthew's Cathedral. And you expect him to be one of his big black SUVs, you know? And he was in a Fiat, a little teeny Fiat. And so I said to the security there, 鈥淲ell, I guess it鈥檚 one of the specially appointed Fiats with bulletproof glass?鈥�
He said 鈥淣o, it's just a Fiat and it's a very difficult. Pope Francis just wants to be with the people. He doesn't like a lot of pomp and circumstance. He wants to live simply." And I just really admire that.
NEW MEXICO IN FOCUS: How is his approach to the papacy also unique?
WESTER: Pope Francis really raised up the importance of pastoral ministry as a pope, he cares about people, and he wants to be with the people and bring Christ's love and mercy and compassion to them. And so he did that in any way that he could, whether it be hugging that gentleman with that disease where he had tumors all over his skin, or whether it be rushing to Lampedusa to pray for the immigrants who were drowning in the Mediterranean Sea, no matter what it was, he was constantly trying to communicate to people that the church cares about you.
NMIF: What are some other stories that you have about the moments with him, and what do you remember about your agreement on key issues?
WESTER: He was a unifier, but he was not tepid, you know, he wasn't timid. He was able to take steps he thought that needed to be taken. So reaching out to the LGBTQ community, for example, that famous line that gets quoted a lot, although it's not often put in context, but he said, you know, 鈥渨ho am I to judge?鈥� He would say ambiguous things from time to time, and I think he was not only okay with that, but he thought that was a good thing. In other words, let's probe this a bit. One of his quotes I've used a lot is, you know, part of our role as bishops is to teach. We're teachers in the church. The Pope said, 鈥淵es, the bishop must teach, but a good teacher listens first.鈥� I think Pope Francis demonstrated that he listened to people and let me hear what you have to say. 鈥淵ou know, what's your experience? What is it like to be a single mom? What's it like to be unemployed? What's it like to be living in Gaza right now?鈥� He called that one parish, the one Catholic parish in Gaza, and he called them -- even in the hospital when he was so sick with double pneumonia -- pretty much every day, he still called them and let them know he was praying for them. So he was somebody who listened to people and encountered -- he believed in encountering people and journeying with them, and then in the midst of that journey, he can proclaim the gospel, and if people were open to it, then that was good. His style, I think his approach was very human, very compassionate, and I really admire that.
NMIF: With the process of selecting a new Pope on the horizon, are you concerned at all about the possibility of a new leader who doesn't share your opinions on some of the social and humanitarian issues, the compassion, perhaps. What are you hoping for in the selection process?
WESTER: I really do believe that the Holy Spirit guides the process. Remember, Francis was elected by Cardinals, most of whom were appointed by Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict. On the other hand, it's a divine and human church, and so politics has its place. You know, I know for some people, politics is a dirty word, but reality it's political. They're going to be thinking about, 鈥淲here have we been, where we are, where we're going to go?鈥� and try to get the best person for that. So my hope would be that it would be someone very much like Francis Pope -- Francis II. I see the Pope standing against a lot of what we're seeing today in the world, dictators, authoritarianism, disregard for the poor people in developing countries, a disregard for climate disruption and climate change, disregard for the dignity of the worker, a disregard for immigrants, people who are on the move, who are fleeing persecution, a disregard for the dignity of the human person. A lot of the political leaders we see in the world today are very much, in my view, anyway, tuned to the rich. Money seems to be the driving force, and the Pope, I think, stands against all that, says, 鈥淣o, it's not about money. It's the worker. It's the person.鈥� We can transfer across borders, money and goods, but not people. People are expendable. That's the message I get from a lot of the governments around the world today. More and more, I think that the Catholic Church and certainly other churches as well, need to stand up against that and need to proclaim the gospel that this is just not right.
Watch the full interview Friday night at 7 p.m. on New Mexico PBS.
