What then-Cardinal Prevost told an Illinois parish about his life, Pope Francis, synodality and more

(OSV News) -- Parishioners of St. Jude Parish in the Chicago suburb of New Lenox, Illinois, may have had a moment of shocked recognition as the first American pope stepped out on the balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square May 8.

Pope Leo XIV, then-Cardinal Robert F. Prevost, had just visited their Augustinian parish for "An Evening of Reflection" and Mass in August. During the question-and-answer session, he discussed his history with Pope Francis, a look behind the scenes of his job in Rome, and his thoughts on synodality, the media and more.

Below are some key quotes from that discussion and his homily:

On his relationship with Pope Francis

"I first met Pope Francis when I was prior general and he was an archbishop of Buenos Aires. We had met on several occasions there for different reasons; there were a lot of Augustinians in Argentina."

"On one of the occasions, the archbishop of Buenos Aires was interested in a specific Augustinian doing a specific work and I, as prior general, said, 'I understand, Your Eminence, but he's got to do something else,' and so I transferred him somewhere else and I was told that he wasn't happy about that and I said to myself when he became pope, I said, 'He probably won't remember me,' I thought naively, and secondly he'll never appoint me bishop."

"He was elected on March 13, 2013, that was my last year as prior general and sort of as a whim -- this has never happened in the history of the order -- I said to the General Council, let's write a letter to Pope Francis and see if he will come and celebrate the opening Eucharist for the chapter of the Augustinian order. We've been an order since 1244, and the pope has always sent delegates, the pope has never presided. So I write this letter to him, and he said yes and then it was like 'Oh my God now what do we do? The pope is coming.' So we organized the opening celebration in St. Augustine's in Rome."

"He and I went off to talk a little bit and not only did he remember me, but it's like (he remembered) footnotes ... there was another incident where I intervened sort of in his favor in one of the dicasteries in Rome and he said to me, 'I'll never forget what you did,' and I said, 'That's alright Holy Father, you can forget it if you like,' but he didn't forget obviously so from that eventually … he named me a bishop in Peru. ... Then nine years later he brought me to Rome, so I have known Francis for a long time."

"He has a profound commitment to justice, charity and mercy and his pastoral sense -- which sometimes confuses some people -- is so acute that he really tries to live in a profound way what the Gospel says."

Pope Francis' message of mercy

Then-Cardinal Prevost recalled a time that he and Pope Francis were "dealing with the unfortunate situation of a case of sexual abuse" and "were just sharing some thoughts on that and he said, 'Wait here, I want to show you something.' He went to his room and he brought back a picture of a carving ... it was from a Gothic cathedral in France … of Judas after he had taken his own life and Jesus next to him holding the body of Judas in his arms."

Regarding this image, he said, Pope Francis pondered, "'Is it possible to think that God's mercy can indeed reach out to the worst of sinners?' And that message in Francis' life … some people get terribly upset (by it). They say, 'Well, he should speak stronger on this, and he should condemn that.' Pope Francis says, 'Everybody, there's a lot of people who are condemning things already. We don't need that. We need people, and especially ministers, who can live and express and offer to others the mercy and forgiveness and healing of God.'"

"That's a big part of who Francis is: Justice in terms of seeking true justice for all people, especially for the downtrodden -- reaching out to help the poor and the suffering and the immigrants and those who most need the mercy of God, who most need the church, perhaps -- that's who Francis is. And all the other stuff has to be interpreted and placed in that context because he really believes deeply, and he really struggles to find the best way to express that message of the Gospel."

On Pope Francis 'rocking the boat'

"Francis has a very keen mind and a very keen sense of the vision of where he wants to move the church. And he recognizes that any large institution can become, just as any person, ... very set in our ways. 'We always did it that way. We don't want to change. We've been doing it like this forever.' And one of the risks of that attitude, which is comfortable for us, it's like we create a safety zone or security zone for ourselves, and that's wonderful -- but one of the risks of that is we miss the presence of the Holy Spirit."

"There's so many things in terms of how we understand building up church community that could be new, and so Francis is not afraid to rock the boat a bit, to shake things up and when he does that there are people who are uncomfortable."

"The Holy Spirit was part in some way, shape or form (of Francis' election). I wasn't there, but I truly believe that Pope Francis was elected by that College of Cardinals in 2013 because the church at this time needs Francis. At a different time, we needed Pope Benedict, and at a different time, we needed St. John Paul II, et cetera, et cetera."

"But the Holy Spirit will never abandon the church. And if we can live placing our trust in that, then we might be shaken up a bit. We might need to ask questions, and there's a lot of people we can ask questions to. But we continue to walk, placing our trust and our confidence in the Lord, whose Spirit is indeed with us."

On being prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops

"He (Pope Francis) called me and specifically because he didn't want someone from the Roman Curia to take on this role. He wanted a missionary. He wanted someone from outside, he wanted someone who would come in with a different perspective and assist him in a very specific ministry."

"I began this job and am still learning but it's certainly fascinating as an education. It's kind of like formation in international affairs of the church as well as sometimes politics."

"As you're doing the study of different candidates for any position, you also have to consider the social dimension, obviously, the ecclesial dimension. What is the economic situation of the country? What are these men like? Who will bring the needed gifts to a given diocese? And obviously, not every diocese is the same, so you may have somebody who's a true saint but to send them to this diocese he may not be a good fit."

On the media

"Media sites, nowadays, we're all familiar with a lot of them. Some of them are very good, and some of them are not. One of the difficulties that's out there is the ordinary person who comes along and starts reading doesn't know which one you can trust. That's a big problem."

"You've got to learn to read with a very critical eye or mind, because it's very easy to distort the truth or to mix the truth with absolute falsehood and to look for ways to do harm."

On the Synod on Synodality

"It really goes back to the early centuries of the church. Pope Francis has, along with others, been looking for a way to help people understand that the church is not Father up here on Sunday with a lot of spectators, but that rather all of us in different ways, and each one according to his or her vocation and ministry and calling, vocation, service -- we're all called to be a part of this church."

"It does not take away at all the authority, if you will, or the ministry of those who are called to specific services in the church, such as a bishop or a priest -- but it does call the best gifts out of each and every one to bring them together."

"There are some places in the church where that's already been going on, but there's other places -- I still am surprised at this every time I hear it -- but where a priest calls the chancery, and he says, 'I'd like to have an appointment with the bishop,' and they say, 'Well you can come in three months,' and there's no contact at all (with) the bishop. The people will see the bishop once in a blue moon, maybe at confirmations, but that's usually the auxiliary."

"There's great separation and great hierarchical structure where people feel like well, what do we count for here and how much actual participation do we have here? And so the concept of the synod is really to try and promote a sense of 'this is all of us together,' not just one man's job or the pastor's job."

"As we look for ways of being church together, it takes time, the church doesn't change overnight, but there's magnificent hope in this experience of bringing people together from around the world, literally, and saying, 'We want to be a part of what the church is and what the mission of the church is in the world today.'"

On the Jubilee of Hope

"We can live jubilee right here, and we can live hope when in our hearts we recognize that everything does not have to be doom and gloom and the pessimism which sometimes comes over us; it can truly color our vision."

"Let's go back to listening to the word of God. Let's go back to understanding what it means to be authentic community, communion, parish community, where we care about one another, and we recognize as the Lord promised, 'Where two or three (are) gathered in my name, there I am in, their midst,' and we say, 'We have a message, as believing Catholics have a magnificent message.'"

On the National Eucharistic Congress

"I was not there, I watched it on the internet, but it was a magnificent experience."

"There are dynamic, life-giving experiences that do fill us with hope, and we have to learn to share that message with others -- it depends on all of us."

"There's a lot of good things going on, a lot of hope-filled things that each and every one of us can take part in."

On the importance of beautiful liturgy

"We all need to see Christ among us and Christ transfigured. We all need that special boost that helps us in our faith. ... I remember one time for me, it was actually in a celebration, maybe one of the first ones for Christmas at St. Peter's Basilica, St. John Paul II celebrating, it was in (the) days when he was still in relatively good health and the magnificence both artistically and musically ... the experience of celebrating our faith together can truly be, liturgy needs to be beautiful so that will help us, strengthen us in our faith."

On immigration

"He (Pope Francis) went to this little community, an island in southern Italy, the town of Lampedusa where all these immigrants continue to come. It's a huge problem and it's a problem worldwide, not only in this country. There's got to be a way both to solve the problem but also to treat people with respect."

"Every one of us whether we were born in the United States of America or on the North Pole, we are all given the gift of being created in the image and likeness of God and the day we forget that is the day we forget who we are. We forget who Christ has called us to be."