but more of the outreach to the bishops in this audience and the work they have done in this difficult time. well, ashleigh, some would say that they are surprised that he is even talking about it this early, and they are not sure that he would address it, and if he is going the meet with the victims burk we are hearing that he is going to meet with the victims in philadelphia, and he is saying healing with victims, and ensuring that such crimes never repeat themselves. and he uses the word crime, and it is a strong word, and naming it. as he used that word before? i dont t rerecallt it, but h may v and to the use it here in the united states where it is a issue, it is healing here that he is naming it for what it is. and the recent history has been certainly that it has been a terrible one in the catholic church in the united states in particular. and this pope knows that. so he is addressing it up front to the u.s. bishops, and addressing that terrible
has received difficulty from american bishops and it s more difficult for popes to build bridges internally to the church. so to his own brother bishop that s are so far the most visible group that is not sure that they are getting this pope right. so that s why these three it s about building bridges between himself and america, but especially between himself and the leaders of the catholic church in this country. exactly right. and he knows that and he ll be speaking at live prayer service to a number of those bishops today. for now, professor, thank you very much for joining me. thank you. and very shortly we re all watching, aren t we all glued to these pictures? i ve been all day long, the pope will be riding through these crowds in washington, d.c., in that popemobile. so stay tuned for the pictures. plus, ben carson says the money is pouring in after his controversial remarks about
but how well would he be received by those in charge here in the united states? my next guest is coming straight from the white house, the director ever the institute for catholicism and citizenship and professor of theology at the university of st. thomas in st. paul, minimal minute. welcome. thank you. i know you say the pope s visit comes at a unique time because of what s happening, this great debate within the catholic church. more complex you say than the visits of john paul ii or pope benedi benedict. can you explain what you mean by that? yeah. in church history, there is a 50-year history of the visits of the popes to the united states. but the previous ones up to the visit of pope benedict in 2008, they happened in a church that was quiet or where dissent was marginal in some places. the special thing for pope
all of it is positive. i want to bring delia in here. one of the important things to watch as a journalist is how the holy father balances his duties or his needs of his own flock of his own clergy with the larger political aims that he obviously has given his comments today and certainly what we saw in cuba over the weekend. what do you know about how that balance is trying to be struck? well, in the first instance, when he spoke to the bishops, chris, he went straight to one of the topics which has been so important for the catholic church in the united states in the last 15 years, and that is the topic of clerical sex abuse. and he said in healing we are healed and that he was continuing to support the bishops with their courage, he said, in attempting to heal the victims of these crimes. so it was very important i think for pope francis to come out and to say that publicly, to address the question of the sex abuse
as well. i can hear you, can you hear me? keep going. so what i was saying earlier the residence there that you mentioned, it s the center of the sort of the catholic church in the united states in terms of their diplomatic operations the ambassador lives there, the ambassador from the vatican, the holy see. the digs are spacious uh-oh, what do we have here. not uh-oh, it s a joyous occasion. it seems people are running back towards the door. anyways, that building is about i believe built in 1894. it s been on this plot of land for quite a while and it hosts a lot of formal catholic events. interestingly enough, it doesn t fall under the diocese of washington, it s an international catholic building. so the pope i presume will have nice digs but this is a pope of modest means, kate, as you know.