first. he tweeted this morning and said simply diagnose pray for me. this is what he did, and a lot of people were touched by his mu milt. not just his words, but hi actions. so i guess the question becomes this is so much a part of the political discussion that we re having here about how do we address income inequality. what do we do about the poor and working poor, e.j.? is he having an impact on that beyond the church? is this pope making a difference? i do think s affected the debate. first of all there are some conservative catholics resisting him, saying it s all tone but no substantive change, but i m hearing conservatives say we are supposed to care more about the poor and the needy. i think ear seeing some shift in their dialogue. i think a lot of other catholics, including progressives is let s see the
whistle-blowers.org. e.j. dionne is a columnist for the washington post and msnbc contributor. kate charles graham is a columnist for the young reporters series, and good morning to all of you. good morning. you have a magazine that s actually called the fan-zine. this is unbelievable. the viewership on vatican tv is up 40%. what s going on here, father? what a difference a year makes. his wonderful personality, the sense of his jesuit heritage, faith doing justice. this is a momentous time for the church. it s a new springtime. i wasn t born in vanity cal ii, but i feel like when the doors were opened, the windows were opened and the church welcomed and greeted the world. it seems like we re doing that
again. it s an exciting time to be catholic. there are some hard questions too, and i think that was emphasized by cardinal dolan this morning. the message, the way he s delivering his message is different, but the rules of the church don t change. here areas cardinal dolan. the way it s presented and the discipline of the church, as a lot of things catholics do that are doctrinal, that are disciplinary, part of our style, our strategy, part of our methodology. that he can and will change. so as a gay woman, kate, two groups that have felt disenfranchised, what is your take on francis after year one? well, i agree, what a difference a year makes. i agree with father john. you know, a year ago i would tell folks that i m a devout catholic and there would be an awkward silence by, wait, aren t you gale? now folks are like, don t you love this new pope? i dos. i love pope francis.
there is no overwhelmings super power. that was the case immediately after the cold war. and i ve said on several of our broadcasts, i don t think a north american pope is out of the question. you mean the quebec archbishop miegts have a better shot? i think a number of north american cardinals are going to get a look in this conclave. and that s something really quite striking. it shouldn t be that surprising because given the very difficult circumstances of the catholic church in europe, it s really falling through the floor boards in a number of places. catholic church in the united states look like a pretty vibrant place.
the united states was the hyperpower as the french foreign minister once called us, i think that s gone. wow. there is no overwhelming super power of the sort that was the case immediately after the cold war, and i have said on several of our broadcasts during the day and indeed during this previous week, i don t think a north american pope is out of the question. you mean the quebec archbishop may have a better shot? cardinal ouellet. i think a number of north american cardinals are going to get a look in this conclave, and that s something really quite striking. on the other hand, chris, it probably shouldn t be that surprising because given the very difficult circumstances of the catholic church in europe, it s really falling through the floorboards in a number of places. the catholic church in the united states looks like a pretty vital and vibrant place. all sorts of problems, all sorts