Three influential American cardinals spoke about the Church under Pope Leo XIV in an interview on “60 Minutes” this week.
In two segments of the show, Cardinal Robert McElroy of Washington, D.C.; Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey; and Cardinal Blaise Cupich of Chicago spoke on the Church in America, from increased conversions and the meaning of patriotism to controversial topics like the Iran ceasefire and immigration enforcement.
Why are young people joining the Church?
Cupich said he does not entirely know what is behind the reported rise in young people entering the Catholic Church as U.S. dioceses report elevated numbers of Easter baptisms and confirmations.
“We are doing some surveys about people who are coming to church to see whatʼs motivating them,” he said. “I do think, though, that research is showing that there really is a deep hunger in the hearts of young people for something that can help them with the meaning of life. But also thereʼs a woundedness on the part of young people that they are seeking healing for.”
“We donʼt have all the answers, but we are going to try to drill down to find out more about that,” Cupich said.
McElroy pointed to a need for “moral leadership in the world” as a partial explanation.
“What a tragedy to have a world in which there are not moral leaders,” he said. “I think young people, and young adults particularly, are looking for a sense of that in their lives — and some of those are coming into the Church for that reason.”
“The number of those joining the Church this year is a record for the archdiocese, which is a wonderful thing,” he said of the Archdiocese of Washington, which had 1,800 converts.
Tobin credited some of the rising interest and attendance in the Catholic Church to Pope Leo.
“Iʼve had the privilege of working closely with four popes: very different people in a lot of ways, but each one in some way was the right one for that moment in time,” Tobin said. “I believe that Pope Leo is the right man at this time.”
When asked about the effect of the sex abuse scandal on people leaving the Church, Cupich noted that it “prompts us to be even more forthright in doing everything possible to protect children, but also to address the harm that was done.”
“That, I think, is something thatʼs always on the front burner for us with regard to the fall off in terms of people practicing,” he said.
Cupich noted, however, that other religions are seeing declines in membership as well.
“Itʼs also part of the secularization thatʼs happening in society today,” he said. “People have a lot more options on Sunday, on the weekend, than they did before. So I think there are a number of factors that contributed to that decline.”
What does patriotism look like for Catholics?
In light of the upcoming 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, the cardinals shared their thoughts on a Catholic understanding of patriotism.
“For us as Catholic Americans, we love our country because of what it aspires to be and has for the past 250 years,” McElroy said.
“We love our country not merely because we were born here, if we were, but rather because of its aspirations of democracy, justice, equality, of freedom that have been lived out with differing levels of success all through our history, and having to change it and readapt it to make it more true to its core,” he continued.
“For me," Cupich said, "patriotism is about being united in the common task of creating the opportunities for everyone to flourish — that they would have the opportunity to be the person God intended them to be."
“That is part of the aspirations that immigrants came here with; an opportunity to have a fresh start,” he said. “So how can we work together to make sure that everybody has an opportunity to flourish? I think thatʼs patriotism.”
Pope Leo and politics: Iran and ICE
When asked if he would like to see the first American pope be more outspoken on controversial issues, Tobin said: “Heʼs the pastor of the world; heʼs not a pundit.”
“The distinction is heʼs not going to pronounce on everything, but heʼs going to pronounce on whatʼs important,” Tobin said.
Recently, Pope Leo has called for an end to the war with Iran, advocating for peace and dialogue.
When asked if the Iran war is a just war according to Catholic teaching, McElroy said it is not.
“Catholic faith teaches us there are certain prerequisites for a just war,“ he said. ”You canʼt go for a variety of different aims. You have to have a focused aim, which is to restore justice and restore peace. Thatʼs it.”
When asked about the destruction of the Iranian regimeʼs nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities as an aim of the war, McElroy agreed that the regime “should be removed.”
“Itʼs an abominable regime and it should be removed,” McElroy said. “But this is a war of choice that we went to and I think itʼs embedded in a wider moment in the United States thatʼs worrying, which is this. Weʼre seeing before us the possibility of war after war after war.”
Cupich criticized the Trump administrationʼs “gamification” of the war through social media posts and edits, calling it “sickening.”
“Weʼre dehumanizing the victims of war by turning the suffering of people and the killing of children and our own soldiers into entertainment,” he said. “It is sickening. To splice together movie cuts with actual bombing and targeting of people for the purposes of entertainment is sickening. This is not who we are. Weʼre better than this.”
The cardinals also shared pastoral concerns amid ongoing deportations, an issue about which Pope Leo has also spoken.
Tobin criticized the tactics used by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, saying that when immigrants “have to hide their identities,” this “can actually violate other guarantees of our Constitution and Bill of Rights.”
“I think somebodyʼs got to call that out,” he said. “And Iʼm not the only one.”
McElroy shared his concern that many immigrants “live under fear.”
He said attendance at Spanish Masses in his archdiocese went down 30% in the past year. “Thirty percent — thatʼs a lot, and itʼs all fear,” he said.
McElroy said there "is a roundup of people throughout the country, people who have been living good, strong lives; [who have] been here a long time." These people "raised their children here; many of their children [were] born here and are citizens,” he said. “Thatʼs what our objection is.”
But the cardinal, who for 10 years served as bishop of San Diego, added that he does believe in strong borders, noting that under Biden, “it got to a point where it was getting out of control.”
Recalling the popeʼs recent words and actions (the pope is currently visiting Africa on his third international journey), Cupich said Leo is “sending a message that his top priority right now is to be with those who are downcast and marginalized.”
