Meeting the new pope left lasting impressions on Archbishop McGovern

After three brief encounters with the new pope while in Rome over the past week, Archbishop Michael G. McGovern has formed some initial impressions about Pope Leo XIV.

The first encounter was at the end of a general audience with the Holy Father. Archbishop McGovern told the pope his name and that he was from the Archdiocese of Omaha.

“I had a few moments just to greet Pope Leo, and that was very special,” Archbishop McGovern said. “I wanted to encourage him about all the good work he’s done. He’s had a tremendous beginning to his ministry as the bishop of Rome and as the pope.”

The next meeting was when the archbishop received his pallium during Mass for the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul on June 29, and the last conversation took place after the Mass when he and the other 54 new metropolitan archbishops gathered for a photo with the pope.

Here’s what Archbishop McGovern learned from those encounters:

Pope Leo listens.

“I think one of the things that Pope Leo is known for is that he is a good listener,” the archbishop said.

Pope Leo didn’t say much when he met with the archbishops individually, Archbishop McGovern noted, because the Holy Father was intent on listening to them.

“He wants to listen to us, what we have to say to him, what we wanted to express.”

The pope, he said, “speaks Italian, Spanish, English very, very well. And so the different archbishops could express themselves to him, to encourage him or also to mention something that was on their hearts.”

Pope Leo XIV presides over Mass for the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul at St. Peter’s Basilica. At the Mass, the pope bestowed the pallium – a liturgical vestment for metropolitan archbishops – on 54 new archbishops, including Archbishop McGovern. CNS PHOTO/PABLO ESPARZA

He’s there for people.

“The pope had what I would consider a very full week,” Archbishop McGovern said. “He gave talks to priests, talks to seminarians, talks to bishops, talks to us today (when 54 new archbishops received a pallium on June 29). The pope is continually speaking and being present to people.”

“So I’m going to encourage people on the local level in Omaha: Listen to the pope, listen to the Holy Father. I think especially for us, if you speak Spanish or English, he’s very effective as a communicator. Let’s listen in and pay attention to what he’s talking about. I think he can lead us in a good direction.”

He knows the challenges of the times.

The archbishop said he plans to follow the pope’s lead in promoting “the dignity of every human person, the value of life, the need for us to look at the challenges of the times.”

In his first weeks as pope, the Holy Father raised concerns about artificial intelligence.

“That’s something I don’t think we really have developed adequately,” the archbishop said, how to “promote an ethic that will help us to use artificial intelligence well, in a way that builds up society, as opposed to artificial intelligence being used somehow to hurt society or in any way damage society and the common good.”

He’s an American, a Chicagoan, and much more.

Among the eight new U.S. archbishops receiving pallia, three had been priests of the Archdiocese of Chicago, including Archbishop McGovern. He mentioned the Chicago connections to the pope, a Chicago native, after Sunday’s Mass and after all the archbishops gathered for a group picture with the pope.

“My impression is that Pope Leo is very proud of his Chicago roots, but he’s also obviously a pastor for the whole world,” Archbishop McGovern said.

He’s kind.

“After the Holy Father placed the pallium on me, I stood up and he said in Latin … ‘Peace be with you.’ And I responded (also in Latin), ‘And with your spirit.’

“But then I just simply said, ‘Holy Father, may God bless you and give you strength.’ And he said, ‘Thank you.’ And I began to turn away, and he just simply smiled and said, ‘And you, likewise.’

“And that was very kind of him,” Archbishop McGovern said.

He and the other new archbishops “need God’s blessing and strength for their ministries,” the archbishop said. “So I very much appreciated that he added that prayer, that good wish for me, that the blessing of God and the strength of God would be given to me, too, for my ministry as an archbishop today.”

After meeting Pope Leo, Archbishop McGovern said he’ll return to the archdiocese energized and motivated “because I think this Holy Father, he understands the issues, is a good listener, which is the beginning of being a good communicator.”

“So I think he’ll be very helpful for us.”

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