Ep 256 | Is the New American Pope Catholic? | Bishop Strickland | The Glenn Beck Podcast

Your sausage mcmuffin with egg didn't change.

Your receipt did.

The sausage mcmuffin with egg extra value meal includes a hash brown and a small coffee for just $5.

Only at McDonald's for a limited time.

Prices and participation may vary.

And now, a Blaze Media Podcast.

Hello, America.

You know we've been fighting every single day.

We push back against the lies, the censorship, the nonsense of the mainstream media that they're trying to feed you.

We work tirelessly to bring you the unfiltered truth because you deserve it.

But to keep this fight going, we need you.

Right now, would you take a moment and rate and review the Glenn Beck podcast?

Give us five stars and lead a comment because every single review helps us break through big tech's algorithm to reach more Americans who need to hear the truth.

This isn't a podcast.

This is a movement, and you're part of it, a big part of it.

So if you believe in what we're doing, you want more people to wake up, help us push this podcast to the top.

Rate, review, share.

Together, we'll make a difference.

And thanks for standing with us.

Now let's get to work.

Well, we have a new pope.

Moments before this recording, in fact, as I began recording, we saw white smoke over the Sistine Chapel, and we now know the name of the man who will lead almost one and a half billion Catholics worldwide.

He's the first American Pope, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost.

He's a native of Chicago.

He took the name of Pope Leo XIV.

Will he continue down the progressive path of Pope Francis, or will we see a return to something more traditional?

Well, my next guest has warned that there are wolves roaming freely in the conclave.

He is also the same man who called on every bishop and cardinal in America to publicly and unequivocally state that Pope Francis is no longer teaching the Catholic faith.

He was removed from his position in Tyler, Texas by the Pope himself for that, but he has not abandoned his faith, and I thank him for that.

To forecast the future of the Catholic Church and why every American should be paying attention to this,

we have Bishop Joseph Strickland

as the Pope was announced in real time at the time of this recording.

Bishop, how are you, sir?

Good, Glenn.

Good to be back with you.

Thank you.

We have white smoke from the chimney.

That's a pretty fat, I mean, historically speaking, I think the fastest or the average is three days, and it's only been a couple of days.

What are you expecting?

Well, I'm not sure what I'm expecting, but I am.

It is amazing to just come on with you.

And you say there, I had, I mean, the last I'd seen, it was still black smoke.

So

as I'm sitting down in my chair, I said, well, we have to say at this point.

And then I saw the white smoke.

I mean, it's amazing.

Well,

it had to have been the last, of course, the Rome is several hours ahead.

So it was the last vote of the day.

But as you said, if, I mean, if that's accurate, I presume all your sources are accurate.

So no, the Vatican has verified it.

Okay.

We just don't have a name yet.

Yeah.

Well, it'll take a bit to

get the new Pope into the white cassock and all of that.

But

it's

amazing times, really.

And I'm amazed that it at the interest, really.

I'm very pleased, really, at the worldwide interest.

I mean, social media has been preoccupied with the conclave.

And I can imagine many non-Catholics and others saying, please, let's get on with something else.

Well, I have to tell you, I think part of it is

it is such an ancient

ancient ritual, an ancient way.

Who is locked into

an area with a bunch of people that have to vote and it's all secret and they take an oath before they close the doors and then they wax seal the doors so they make sure that no one is coming out no information in or out and what do they do when they get in is it do they give speeches do they do they politic how does this happen

well obviously i've never been in there and it's it's all under pontifical secret so oh so you so nobody really knows even how it how it happened like with francis it's just secret we hear different reports but there's certainly no official report from Rome that says this is what happened.

We never get that.

And in different this time as well, we'll hear different stories as things move on and the Pope takes office.

We'll hear stories about how this election came about, as we've heard in the past.

But we always have to somewhat take it with a grain of salt.

Not that they're not telling the truth, but.

it's one person reporting.

It's not an official message of this is how the election unfolded.

So before we go further and closer into what is happening right now, let me go back and kind of sweep up on the last Pope.

Benedict,

he resigned, but he didn't resign.

He

resigned portions of it, correct?

Well, yeah.

Explain that.

Well, I don't know if I can explain it, but I think as you say that, Glenn, it really ushered in 12 years of confusion

right from the get-go, from Pope Benedict's resignation for whatever reasons, and I never read or heard a clear answer to why he did this.

It was

certainly

a controversial step.

and somewhat cloaked in mystery, even though he did make some statements that he did this freely and all.

But I think it really ushered in

the papacy that followed with Pope Francis.

Tremendous confusion, tremendous contradiction, and

that is really troublesome for the church and for the world.

I think that the church needs to be clear.

you know many people have asked me what qualities in the pope and i mean some of the questions that you have i'm sure what what what am i looking for and what really came to mind for me was what we say in the creed of the Catholic faith, one holy Catholic and apostolic.

That's a good outline for who the Pope needs to be.

One in the sense of promoting unity.

That's one of the main jobs of the papacy, to keep the body of Christ that is the church united, holy, to look to the sacred, to have supernatural faith, to know that this world and all its appearances is not the totality of who we are or who the truth is.

One holy Catholic, meaning all over the world uniting that, I mean, every nation, there's really no other entity in the world, never has been.

I mean, I guess the British Empire came close.

The Russian Empire wanted to come close, but no

entity in the world has that worldwide presence that the Catholic Church has.

It is Catholic in that sense, which just means universal, catholicos, a universal faith that is the one faith of Christ, an apostolic rooted in the apostles.

There were 12 apostles, one betrayed, 11 remained faithful, and ultimately all but one of those 11 died for their faith in Jesus Christ.

So.

You know, the old joke is, is the Pope Catholic?

I mean, I'm not, when it comes to Francis,

I mean, I used to be a Catholic.

I grew up Catholic.

A lot of my family is still Catholic.

My wife's.

You're always welcome.

Yeah, thank you.

My wife's family is Catholic.

So we have lots of Catholic roots.

And I don't think that the last Pope was really Catholic because he wasn't preaching the Catholic faith.

Absolutely.

And in some ways, I mean, Pope Francis never said it clearly, but I think to respect what he did say, he said he wanted a different church, he wanted to change, he wanted to make a mess.

And in those ways,

following the Catholic faith is tradition.

I mean, it is, we believe, and instituted by Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

And so tradition and staying true to tradition, orthodoxy, is

what the Catholic faith is.

So to say we're going to do something different

in many ways in itself isn't Catholic.

Is the, but isn't the Pope

the guy to change it if it's going to change?

Or does it have to be done in a conclave or what are they called synods, right?

Isn't that what they're saying?

Synods and councils, yeah.

Certainly, the Pope has supreme authority.

He's the, there is no law of the church above the pope.

So it has tremendous power.

But ultimately, the pope answers to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

Jesus Christ is really the head of the church.

And interestingly, Pope Francis, and we certainly continue to pray for Pope Francis, as we pray for anyone who's died in recent weeks.

Pope Francis

really early on denied that he was.

He didn't want to accept the title vicar of Christ.

That's who the Pope is.

He's a vicar of Jesus Christ with Christ as the head of the church.

What does he define vicar?

Well, it's basically representative is one word you can use.

It's, you could say, delegate.

It's the one who speaks for Christ.

And when tradition begins to be contradicted by the one speaking for Christ, we've got confusion.

And that's what we had under Pope Francis.

And that's what I pray we move away from with whoever has been elected.

Let me just tell the control room, if there's a way to bring up any of the networks when the new pope actually comes out into the balcony, I'd like to do that.

There are now announcement of a new pope from the Vatican balcony is imminent now.

And the balcony is, I mean, it is the Sistine Chapel is

the altar.

What is the altar piece that was made that kind of looms over you?

Yeah, the Last Judgment.

Yeah, the Last Judgment.

The Pope, when he's selected, he goes through a little door

in that wall just off of the altar, and he goes into a little room which is only made for him where he has the white vestments.

They fit him for the white vestments.

And he is allowed to pray in there.

And doesn't he have to come out and accept it, or does he accept it beforehand?

Yeah, he accepts it before it's announced.

They wouldn't announce it.

Right, right, right.

But I mean, he goes, I know that he goes in for quiet reflection, and that's when he selects his name, right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

And when he puts on, I mean, traditionally, the white cassock,

he is the pope after he accepts.

And so he's presented to the world by tradition.

I mean, in our lifetimes and throughout the church's history, the pope would be presented to,

he's the bishop of Rome by being elected pope.

He's named Bishop of Rome, which is the primal see of the Catholic Church, the Roman Catholic Church.

So he's proclaimed as Bishop of Rome, you know, not that many papacies ago, it would have been announced on that balcony, on the logia, as they call it, there in St.

Peter's Square.

and the people hearing it would have been the people of Rome.

We have a new bishop.

The bishop of, course, he's the pope of the world church as well.

You know,

there is one cardinal that I actually am rooting for.

I don't have a horse in this, but, you know,

but

I would love to see the cardinal.

I think he's from Ghana.

Very, very traditional.

I mean, Africa.

Cardinal Sarah?

Maybe.

Maybe.

He's very traditional.

I mean, Africa is on fire

with Catholicism right now.

It is probably expanding there and in China probably faster than any place else where Europe is really dying and the United States is dying in faith as well.

There is a change with the young people now.

But

to have the next Pope, a black African cardinal, would be remarkable.

Do you know much about him or who are you looking?

Is there somebody you're thinking?

I hope it's not this and I hope it is this.

Well, Cardinal Serra would be at the top of my list.

He hasn't really been mentioned as even really by those who are predicting things.

I haven't even heard his name mentioned as in the running as far as the

but uh I would be, I mean, I think he would be a great blessing.

We have to acknowledge whoever is named the Pope, it's a huge task that they will take on.

And so, as I've encouraged people,

as we wait for the name to be announced, we can't cease praying, even if we are

disappointed or in dismay at the name.

And it could happen that way, we still have to keep praying.

It's Christ church.

We have to remain faithful.

And as I've mentioned to people as we've led up to this conclave, through the church's history, there have been popes elected in past centuries.

I mean, we're talking 2,000 years.

There have been popes elected who are very different men from the way they governed the papacy and the way they lived as popes.

So we can pray for that.

If the change is necessary,

we can pray for that, whoever is named.

The African cardinals said it needs to be a man deeply in Jesus Christ.

And absolutely.

It's Christchurch, and we always have to remember that.

Is there the possibility, because I'm in the political world, and the papacy is a political office in many ways.

And

I was over with Benedict the last time he brought the cardinals together and was appointing new cardinals.

And I was supposed to meet with him

that time and something happened.

But I was with a lot of the cardinals who I think are the good guys,

very, very Christ-like.

And there was a real split in,

you know,

there was a war.

There was a civil war that was

going on at the time.

Is that still like that?

Is that still happening?

Oh, yes.

I think that that clearly,

because There are many of the cardinals that are, that make

Pope Francis look very Catholic.

I mean, honestly, some of them have been very, Cope Francis never was clear about some of the things that concerned me.

He was always, and to me, that was a concern.

The Pope needs to not be ambiguous and confusing.

Correct.

But a lot of these cardinals have been anything but confusing about their stance on moral issues, on all kinds of issues.

So I think that

definitely the fractures have been very real conclave.

Is there a possibility that you look at

what happened with Francis and that this was kind of the first

color revolution?

We're seeing the deep state in all of these countries decide, no, not that person, that person.

And they're taking them out.

Do you think there's a possibility that happened with Francis?

Oh,

I do believe that is a possibility.

I mean, I certainly don't know.

But, I mean, Pope Francis was very much on the

globalism kind of side of things.

And that's very dangerous because, you know, much of the globalist agenda is very far from the doctrine of the Catholic Church.

But you have now you have 80% of those who voted,

80% of the cardinals were appointed by Francis.

Does that mean the same as it would if it was, you know, the

Democrats or the Republicans named, you know, all the people in Congress that were going to vote?

Does it mean the same or

can you marshal that many people?

Yeah, it really is significant.

Has it ever been done before?

I don't think to this degree.

I mean, really, you're probably aware that the number

by

the law said for a conclave a limit of 120.

Right.

That went to 133

because Pope Francis had named so many more.

I mean, I think there were about 180 cardinals gathered, 133 electors, because that's the number that was under 80 years old.

So

is this even legal?

Well,

that question has been raised, but certainly, you know, all the cardinals that gathered didn't

have tests.

Yeah, okay.

So, you know, who knows?

I mean, if the controversy continues, that question may be raised.

Was this legal?

So.

All right, we're going to take a quick break.

With so many people living every day in pain and they think that they're just stuck with it, let me tell you, you don't have to be stuck with it.

Let me tell you about Jenny from Texas and her relief factor story.

Jenny wrote in and she said she was out for a walk.

Unfortunately, she was hit by a car and nothing she tried for her lower back pain worked.

Her husband heard about Relief Factor from the program and Jenny said, I don't, it's worth a shot.

Well, Relief Factor worked for her beautifully.

Her pain decreased, her range of motion increased, and to say she's grateful, I understand, is an understatement.

This is the kind of experience that I had.

And if you're living with aches and pains, see how Relief Factor, a daily drug, a daily drug-free supplement, could help you feel better and live better every day.

Give their three-week quick start a try.

It's only $19.95.

In just a few weeks, even days, you'll might, I mean, 70% of the people go on to order it

every time, every month.

I do because I felt a difference.

You don't have to be stuck living in pain.

ReliefFactor.com, 1-800-4 Relief, 1-800, the number 4 relief.

It's relief factor.com.

This podcast is supported by Progressive, a leader in RV Insurance.

RVs are for sharing sharing adventures with family, friends, and even your pets.

So, if you bring your cats and dogs along for the ride, you'll want Progressive RV Insurance.

They protect your cats and dogs like family by offering up to $1,000 in optional coverage for vet bills in case of an RV accident, making it a great companion for the responsible pet owner who loves to travel.

See Progressive's other benefits and more when you quote RV Insurance at progressive.com today.

Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates, pet injuries, and additional coverage and subject to policy terms.

You wrote

wolves roam freely among the flock these days.

Can you go deeper in that?

Well, and really, Glenn, that isn't something that we should see as startling new revelation.

Christ speaks that way.

When he's bringing the truth to the world,

if you look at the gospel of Jesus Christ, all four gospels, the message that he brings, I think it's very obvious, whether you believe him or not.

I think it's very obvious that he knew there would be tremendous opposition.

There's one passage in the gospel we read recently in one of the daily readings at Mass where he's sending the 72 out in the gospel.

Disciples, while he's still alive doing his public ministry, he sends 72 out to begin to proclaim the message.

And he says there, I'm sending you as lambs amongst wolves.

Christ says that.

And so it's always been sort of that reality.

It turns out, I mean, the first wolf that was part of

the closest number with

Jesus Christ was Jesus

betrayer.

He was right there at the Last Supper.

So the wolves have always been present, and that's just the reality of the world.

There's resistance to the truth, and that's powerful in our time.

When you said that Pope Francis established a counterculture church,

what does that mean?

Well, counterculture in the sense of counter to the culture of the church.

One of the sayings about the Catholic Church is to be in the world, but not of the world.

Correct.

I think a simple way of looking at Pope Francis' papacy,

he was pushing a church that was in the world and of the world, that it was a world church.

And even that expression was used.

I mean, a worldwide community of humanity.

And really, the synod and the synod on synodality.

And then as it's been proclaimed, I mean, we'll see if this next pope is carrying through with that.

Ecclesial assemblies with mostly lay people gathered, that's simply not Catholic.

That's not the hierarchical church that Jesus Christ established.

And so to continue on that path, to me, is very harmful and contradictory to the church that Christ established.

Can you tell me,

you have talked about a scandal involving Archbishop McCarrick.

What is that?

What happened?

Was there a cover-up?

What is that story about?

Well, I mean, that made national news back in 2018 or worldwide news.

And eventually, McCarrick was removed

from

being a cardinal and even being a cleric.

He died recently.

We pray for him as we pray for all who have died.

But McCarrick, the problem with McCarrick, and honestly, Glenn, the last time I was in Rome, I spoke, we were there, the Texas bishops were there on what's called an unlimited.

And I asked, the last time I spoke to Pope Francis, I asked a question.

I said, Holy Father, can you tell us about the McCarrick Report?

It hadn't come out yet.

And so Pope Francis answered that question.

But what the McCarrick report didn't do,

to me, it wasn't really a report.

It was sort of a cataloging of McCarrick's crimes, which were terrible.

But it never got to saying, and this cardinal and this archbishop were complicit in that and need to be dealt with.

There were a lot of the cardinals involved.

I mean, McCarrick was a...

a real mover and checker.

I mean, he was very involved in China and all of that.

He was involved in lots of,

he was a great fundraiser.

He was a very charismatic man.

I don't know that I ever met him.

I may have been there when he was at different meetings.

But McCarrick was powerful and he was a kingmaker.

A lot of the bishops, you can trace the lines back to McCarrick.

That's a problem.

And it hasn't been dealt with.

because they're in power.

So they don't want to, you know, acknowledge that they had some complicity with what McCarrick was proven to have done.

And so the power base has protected that.

And I think really, Glenn, until we get to the bottom of some of that, the divisions and the turmoil in the church is going to continue.

I will tell you that all of our...

all of our governments, if you will, and I think a lot of our churches are going through the same thing.

There is evil inside, and

it is being protected by the power

of each of these organizations.

And until we lance that boil and deal with the ugliness of it on all things, we're not going to be able to heal because

it's allowed to

create fear in others of being exposed and

everything else.

So according to the Daily Mail, The darkest mystery of Francis' 12-year reign was his persistent habit of shielding credibly accused and even convicted sexual predators from justice.

The Pope can twist or ignore canon law, which is supposed to punish sex offenders, and the Vatican State's criminal law without being challenged, but that's precisely what he did again and again.

Is that true?

Yes.

I mean,

that's just reality.

That's documented.

They were, and it's really tragic that so many clerics who, you know, were proven

to have abused and, I mean, financial, all sorts of issues.

And if they were in the favor of Pope Francis, it was overlooked.

It's, there's an artist, the name is slipping me right now, but

Rupnik.

To me, it's not beautiful art anyway.

Bug eyes, kind of.

But that art is all over the place because Pope Francis was promoting this man who has been very clearly, not just alleged or not just whispers, very clearly, he abused

many people in terribly evil ways.

And Pope Francis overlooked it and welcomed his art in places like Lourdes, where the Blessed Mother appeared.

Part of the facade of the beautiful church there is covered with rootnick art.

That kind of duplicity and corruption, it's just deeply harmful.

And like you said, it confuses people.

It causes people to turn their back on the church.

And I've always urged people, don't leave because of the human failings.

They're very real.

We've seen it through the centuries, but we've seen it in our time.

It slaps you in the face, but it's still the church.

of Jesus Christ, the church that he established.

We have to pray for a purification of the church.

And that starts with me.

I'm a sinner.

We all have to be more and more purified in the truth that sets us free.

Well, I will tell you, I think it's Isaiah where the Lord says, I'll clean out my own house first.

So there will be a purifying process in all of our churches, all of our faith.

Back with more in a minute.

Jace Medical is doing their best to stay on top of your medical needs.

Their Jace case is an example of what they have, a pack of antibiotics.

Because what if the medicine you need is on back order order or sitting on a

cargo ship halfway around the world?

That could happen.

You're on vacation.

My wife and I were on vacation.

I got sick and then she got sick.

I'm glad we had the Jace case with us.

They also have their new parasite use case.

It's a 90-day supply of essential medications, including ivermectin and other parasitic,

you know, anti-parasitics that is designed for situations where, you know, waiting is not really an option.

uh so whether you are traveling whether you're facing a supply chain delay you just want to be ready for the unexpected this is peace of mind you can actually hold on to your hands okay it's a it's a medical system uh that is built for you because the real medical system is not built to withstand a whole lot of chaos and that seems to be what's up in the order list every single day Jace, Jace Medical, giving you something most people never get, safety net for your well-being and the well-being of your whole family.

Check them out today at jace, jas.com, jace.com, promo code Beck.

Get it at the checkout, use promo code Beck, checkout and save on your order, jas.com.

At blinds.com, it's not just about window treatments.

It's about you, your style, your space, your way.

Whether you DIY or want the pros to handle it all, you'll have the confidence of knowing it's done right.

From free expert design help to our 100% satisfaction guarantee, everything we do is made to fit your life and your windows.

Because at blinds.com, the only thing we treat better than windows is you.

Visit blinds.com now for up to 45% off with minimum purchase plus a professional measure at no cost.

Rules and restrictions apply.

There is a.

I want to compare American and global Catholic trends because there is a

surge in young people now that are interested in Catholicism and a return to the more

traditional, I mean, the Latin mass.

Is this a uniquely American thing or is this globally?

I think it's global.

You know, we're a very free society.

Thankfully, we have free speech.

People are able to communicate more freely, and they do, but I don't think it's limited to the United States.

I mean, I've heard in France the same thing has happened.

Even in some of the countries in in Europe that are where the church is really being decimated, young people are returning and they're returning to tradition and

formal orthodox faith.

Let's talk about that for a second because

as they're now marching around the square.

and assembling, I don't even know what, but the Swiss Guard and others are marching now.

And we're waiting for the Pope to emerge from the Vatican balcony at any minute.

Let me talk about that.

Is what's happening,

the search for traditionalism, the search for,

I think in some ways, ritualism, tradition,

is that because we have just

destroyed all tradition in our life?

You know, just everything is up for grabs.

And there is something to be said

of tradition and order that

brings that peace and understand, deeper understanding of your relationship with the sacred.

I mean, it bothers me.

You go anywhere and everybody dresses the same, no matter you're meeting the president of the United States, the Pope, or

you're at a baseball game.

There is something to be said for decorum and tradition and setting of things apart.

And we don't do that anymore.

Is that what you think people are flocking to when they see things like the Latin Mass?

You have to work for it a little bit.

Yeah.

Well, really, Glenn, I think what you're talking about now goes just about as deep as any issue.

And it fits right into

Catholic theology that I believe is the reality that we live.

I know, you know, 1.5 billion more or less Catholics.

So that means a whole lot of people aren't Catholic in the world.

But I believe Jesus Christ is truth incarnate.

And that,

but it goes back to what you're asking.

If you believe truth is,

if you believe God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the triune God that we believe in, If that, if God is truth, truth by his very existence, and he sent his son, truth incarnate among us, fully God and fully man, a man in all things but sin, but Jesus Christ, truth walking the earth, then

that sets up the real understanding for why are people,

it's part of our DNA.

We come from truth.

We yearn for truth.

When the scripture says the truth, sets you free.

The reason for that is it brings you home.

It brings you to to who you are.

It brings you to balance and meaning in the universe.

And whenever we depart from truth, whether personally and as I sin

or

globally or as nations, when we veer off from the truth, if you look through history,

things trace back ultimately to the truth, to the truth that we are created by truth, by God.

And that, so I think that's the natural instinct, especially of young people.

I mean, if you look at children, they have a natural instinct to smell fake.

And teenagers, especially, they can tell you that's a fake person or that person is real.

They may like it or not.

They may hate what they're saying, but they have a barometer for that that we kind of get.

jaded about as we get older and more experienced.

We don't necessarily grow in wisdom as we get older.

But so all of that, I think, is a natural instinct.

And I think that it's for that reason that you see young people that are entering into the world, entering into their journey through life after leaving home and beginning to set up a career and a family.

And they're gravitating to those pillars of truth that

they long for.

and that they see some stability in instead of everything's up for grabs.

I mean, who are we?

Well, you just identify as whoever you want to be today.

I mean, that's transmitted by the world.

People are rejecting it because it's not the truth.

So if there is a more progressive pope,

wouldn't that hurt the

search

of the youth?

Because

they, they.

I don't know a single person that is in school

and even now in college.

the majority of them that I know

are all saying, this is so ridiculous.

All of this stuff that is being shoveled, where the last generation bought it, this generation is saying, this doesn't make any sense.

And

they haven't directly tied it to suicidal ideation yet, but I have.

I think when we have disconnected from the truth this far, you lose, as you said, the sense of who you are, the sense of meaning, the sense of what is possible in your life,

even forgiveness.

When you start talking about collective salvation,

which is really a political kind of thing now that was introduced into our society, there is no such thing as collective salvation.

The Lord came for each individual one at a time, which then gives you more meaning.

So, if we have a more progressive pope, does that set the church back?

Well, it continues the fracturing that we've been seeing.

Sadly, people walk away, but also, as we've said, and people that are attracted to the truth,

I urge them to stay with the church because it is as flawed as she is in human circumstances, she is divinely founded and divinely led and divinely inspired.

And there's, as my mother used to say, I grew up Catholic,

always been Catholic.

And my mother used to tell us, quoting St.

Peter from the gospel, Lord, to whom shall we go?

And I was a kid of the,

you know, coming of age in the 60s, 70s.

That was a time of turmoil as well.

That was a time of lots of questioning.

And so my mother was dealing with that.

And we lived in a very non-Catholic area where a lot of my classmates, there weren't many Catholics in my school, but a lot of them are no longer Catholic.

They walked away from it.

But my mother always said, Lord, to whom shall we go?

I mean, what other option is there if you're going to leave the font of truth that is the Catholic Church?

I mean, you can, I mean, certainly people do, and they go off to other groups, but it

never really,

I can't see how it fully answers the questions that maybe caused them to leave the

when

you

when you were I don't even know what happened to you with Francis, how you would describe it, you weren't excommunicated, right?

No, no, yeah, you were just removed as the bishop.

Yeah, I was removed from that office, which the pope has full authority to do,

but I'm still a bishop.

I'm still

a

bishop in good standing.

I can celebrate all the sacraments.

I I can do everything a bishop does.

Politically, it's been tricky because some bishops will welcome me into their diocese to have a mass or to give a talk.

Other bishops won't because of the politics.

You know, they don't want to get in trouble with the archbishop or the cardinal or the Vatican for

supporting me or making it look like I'm okay when so many see me as in opposition to the Pope.

i really as a catholic that that's a very serious issue to be

acting in opposition to the pope i always tried to to emphasize for myself and those i spoke with

i'm supporting christ the truth that he proclaimed the gospel that he taught and the church that he established if that puts me in opposition to pope francis or any pope or any cardinal then so be it.

And that's where I found myself.

Was it ever something that you went,

gosh, I don't know if I can do this.

I mean,

because of your loyalty to the faith, did it ever occur to you to not do what you were doing?

Absolutely.

I mean, I really prayerfully struggled with and grappled with because, you know, we're supposed to be obedient to our superiors in the Catholic faith.

I mean, the priests that I worked with made a promise of obedience to me as their bishop, but it's a hierarchical obedience.

I looked at Thomas Aquinas to get some guidance, and he helped with a couple of brief paragraphs.

Obedience is ultimately, again, going back to if God is truth and we want to be obedient to the truth, obedience ultimately is obedience to God.

I like the image of a ladder.

And the Catholic Church is hierarchical with God at the top of that ladder.

The Pope, the vicar of Christ, is the man on earth guiding us to the top of the ladder, which is the truth of God.

If the Pope is shaky there, then you still go to God for the truth.

I mean, that's St.

Thomas Aquinas really helped me.

He said, also, be respectful to whoever the authority is.

And I think we do need to do that.

I tried to do that.

I mean, frankly, when Pope Francis said, you're removed, I didn't argue.

I didn't rebel.

I just said, yes, Holy Father, I'm gone.

Because he had that full authority as Pope.

Pope Benedict named me Bishop of Tyler.

Pope Francis had absolute full authority.

to remove me as bishop of Tyler.

And I acknowledge that.

And so I did respect that, but I had to be obedient truth-wise to God.

And there were too many instances since then and before that where Pope Francis was at least hedging on the truth, if not clearly denying it.

I mean, one thing that I've said to people often is, you know, I'm sure you're very aware of it with all of your work, personnel is policy.

Yes.

And if you look at the personnel that Pope Francis either shielded or welcomed into his inner circle, that the policy that that illustrates is not the Catholic faith.

Can you give me some examples?

Well, this Rubnik, I mean, shielding this artist and welcoming his art with this man

who's not just abusive, which is horrible, but also sacrilegious to the sacraments of the faith and just a bad guy.

And Pope Francis welcomes him.

And I mean, you have pictures of him, you know, meeting with this Rubnik and welcoming his art and all over the Vatican and all over the church throughout the world.

That's one instance.

Frankly, Pope Francis,

you know, wrote notes and made phone calls to

Father James Martin, who clearly is

playing loose with what the church teaches with homosexuality and sexual morality.

I mean, that's a huge issue that's been in the world in this time and in the church.

The church's teaching is very clear.

It's very challenging, especially in today's

free sex society.

But it's still, if it's the truth, it hasn't changed.

Well,

if the family is the basic building, which I believe it is, it is the basic building block of the entire universe, the family.

Without the family, there is no life.

It's the basis of humanity.

It is the basis of humanity.

And And God would be there to say

family has to be ordered between a man and a woman because otherwise we die out.

Now, where you go from there on compassion and everything else,

but the truth is that

if God

made man,

he wanted man to, I mean, be fruitful and multiply.

You have to have a man and a woman.

That is just the truth.

And as a church,

you have to say that.

It doesn't mean you hate anybody or what you do beyond that, but that's the truth.

The compassion is for those who are confused about the truth.

Certainly you're compassionate.

You encourage them to come to the truth, but it's not compassion to deny the truth.

And that's too much of what's been happening.

Can you talk about just that with the

compassion of, because we're right now saying that if you were born in the wrong body, which I don't think is even possible,

it's compassionate to

coddle you in that, to confirm that truth that you believe is the truth,

and even mutilate your body as a child.

Speak to

misguided compassion.

Really, Glenn, that's a perfect way to put it.

It's really devastation dressed up as compassion because it's not the truth.

And I mean, DNA tells us

even the composition of a man's body and a woman's body.

I mean, you can look at the pelvic structure.

All of it says, this is a man, this is a woman.

If people are in the

gender dysphoria,

it really is,

to me,

it is one of the areas where things are so broken because,

I mean, what does it mean to be a man or a woman?

I mean,

the question has been right.

What is a woman?

What is a man?

And that is insidious as it...

as the individual who maybe has some struggles to sort of confirm them in the struggle.

I mean, that's where we are.

It's like, oh, well, just support them in this identity.

I mean, one, and we've both, I'm sure, seen ridiculous extremes of this.

But one example that to me just illustrates how harmful it is and how distorted it is.

There was a report, I presume it was a true report, you know, these days, you know, AI and everything, but supposedly a young man identified as a deer and got shot by a hunter thinking it was a deer.

I mean,

that's the extreme of the lunacy of saying, oh, I identify.

And really that

illustrates, I mean, you can say, oh, well, that's just bizarre or whatever, but it's the playing out of self-identifying.

and saying, okay, how God made me.

I don't have to understand that.

And if there are conflicts to come to a peace about who I am.

For one thing, Glenn, I think a big part of the problems that we see,

young people,

a lot of people

don't believe they are deeply loved by God.

Yes.

And when you don't believe that, it starts to erode your self-love.

I mean, there's an appropriate love of self.

We should treasure our life.

Like you were talking about suicide.

That's sort of a final iteration of self-loathing that happens.

But when you lose touch with who you are, I think it also starts, though, you know, with the idea that God makes mistakes.

And

let me, I'm not, I don't want to compare this to sexuality or any of that.

I just want to speak from my experiences.

I am riddled with ADD.

I've had three suicides in my family.

It runs in the family.

I have been suicidal myself at times.

I am an alcoholic.

That also runs in my family.

All of those things

are not who I am, and they are not curses given to me by God.

They may run in my family.

Whether that's genetic or not, I don't know.

I don't care.

What I do know is

that God gives us things, not that he's assigning those things to me, but

he is giving things to me to cope with those,

so I can conquer those things and become truly who I am.

And we don't preach that.

You don't hear that.

You hear, oh, poor you,

I'm sorry that happened.

And I am sorry that things have happened to people and into my own family, etc.

But

this is a chance to celebrate because it pushes you to figure out who you are, that you do have a divine spark in you that can conquer even the hardest things that are known to man.

Absolutely.

And

what you're speaking of in Catholic terms, we would call it grace.

Grace is what God offers.

Grace is God's life.

The sacraments give us sanctifying grace.

That's the language of our Catholic faith.

And that grace allows you to overcome whatever obstacles.

We're in a broken world.

I mean, we speak of original sin, a disordered, broken world.

that God's grace, I mean, he loved the world so much, he sent his own son, Jesus Christ, to bring healing to bring grace if we follow him i mean christ says you you must take up your cross to follow me right that's been that's been left out of the picture as well everyone follow jesus but don't take up the cross of repenting of your sins so but as you're saying glenn god's grace gives us the strength And I mean, I can say in my own life, I'm sure, I mean, you've overcome alcoholism.

That's huge.

And

I'm a better man

and a better friend to people who are struggling because of that.

It's a strength.

You overcome.

There's a beautiful image that I read about recently

that in Japanese pottery, I forget the name of it, but they'll take broken pottery

and lacquer it back together and they put gold or silver dust in the seams to beautify.

And that's what God does.

We're all broken vessels.

But through that, I mean, and, you know, I mean, I understand, I don't know if it's biologically true, but that when you have a broken bone, it heals back stronger.

And I think that's another image of that same reality.

Through enduring the challenges and growing through them, not altering yourself, but just continuing to deal with it, you become a better person.

You become wiser.

You become stronger.

You become more compassionate

that God calls you to be and compassionate, recognizing others are walking that same path.

And

I had a brother that died young, and it was not certified as a suicide, but I mean, it was definitely he had attempted before and it was officially ruled an accident, which was helpful to my parents.

But God has used that.

And it was a deeply broken time for our family, as you can imagine.

I mean, you've said it's happened in your family.

It's devastating.

But God has used that.

For me,

when I, as a priest, could say

that

I know

how hard this is, people can tell that you really do know.

Yeah.

Rather than just sort of saying the pastoral thing you're supposed to say.

So let me change subjects here.

The Pope is about to, they keep saying, emerge

to the balcony.

And we're supposed to learn his name here soon.

I just got back from Italy.

I was with some scholars on the Shroud of Turin.

And we were supposed to see the actual Shroud of Turin.

They were going to open it up for these scholars, but it is actually the property of the Pope.

And with the Pope dead, nobody can give them permission to open it up.

So we didn't get the opportunity to see the real thing.

But,

you know, I have spent a couple of months now talking to these scholars, and I am absolutely convinced that that is the shroud of Christ.

I mean, it is, as one of the, I think he was the physicist, the physicist and the

chemist both said the same thing to me in separate occasions.

It's more

ridiculous and harder to believe that it wasn't

the burial shroud.

You might not be able to explain it, but all of the facts that are now starting to compile underneath, for you to dismiss the hard facts, it doesn't prove it to be real, but it is

more

you're denying so much reality to be able to say, no, it's not.

You know, not saying it is, but to say, no, it's something else.

There's nothing in that other category that is saying it's something else.

And really, Glenn, I'm glad you brought that up because I think there are real world, tangible.

examples like that that are yes I believe God is giving us in this time of where faith is ridiculed and so many people are leaving faith of whatever kind and not believing in him.

God is giving us things like the shroud.

Another example to me is the Tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

I would encourage you to study that also.

So, Our Lady of Guadalupe, I wanted to ask them about that because

I had an experience

down at the Basilica for Our Lady of Guadalupe when I was very young.

I've never really investigated that or anything.

Do you believe that's real?

Absolutely.

And it's very similar.

What you're saying about the shroud,

they will say the same thing about this tilma from 500 years ago,

that

it's a pigment that doesn't exist.

It's put on that cloth in a way that we can't duplicate.

I mean, there are amazing things about the Tilma that are, to me, it's another gift that God has given us through the Blessed Virgin Mary 500 years ago, converted a continent in so many ways to Catholicism.

I mean, we've lost ground there to some extent, but

that image of the Tilma,

they're just amazing things that he said.

This can't be explained.

I mean, it literally has the temperature of a living human body.

The tilma, I mean, as it's there hanging in the basilica, it's been scientifically measured.

It has the temperature of about 98.6.

I mean, it's just one thing after another of amazing that kind of like you're saying with the shroud, people still scoff at it.

There's no, I mean, God's going to require faith one way or another.

So you can, you can believe in it or not believe in it.

It doesn't merely matter to me,

but I do believe that he is showing us things because things are getting tougher and tougher.

And

it's amazing how the shroud technology is now, just now, catching up to be able to tell us things about it.

So Pope Francis called that an icon instead of a relic.

What is the difference and does that matter?

Well, yeah, I think it does matter.

An icon is an image that doesn't claim that it's actually connected to the, I mean, for

the

Tilma,

to say it's a relic of the Blessed Virgin Mary says this is of her.

It's not just an image of her.

Back with more and hopefully the Pope, the new Pope in just a minute.

I have

years warning you about the cultural rot creeping into every American institution and our schools and our media, our government.

But there is another front in this battle that most people don't see, their own retirement accounts.

You think you're investing for your future, but in reality, the dollars may be propping up corporations that are pushing radical ideologies, ESG mandates.

boardroom activism that completely has detached itself from American values.

The stuff is happening right now.

It's getting better, but boy, if you're invested, do you know where your money is going and what your money is being used for?

If you have a mutual fund, a 401k, a Roth IRA, anything managed by a big institutional firm, you need to ask yourself, who's deciding how that money is getting used?

Okay, because they're using it to promote things that you would never promote.

That's why I want you to consider running your money through Constitution Wealth.

They understand that every investment is a statement from you, and they help patriots just like you and me use that influence of our retirement funds to build something better, not just for ourselves, but for the whole country that we love.

You know, we fight for a lot of things, and

it's hard to not lose your shirts.

But this one is a way to not lose your shirt and take control of the future of America.

Let's not get complacent.

Visit

constitutionwealth.com/slash blaze.

Constitutionwealth.com/slash blaze.

Get a free consultation now.

Constitutionwealth.com/slash blaze.

Constitution Wealth is a registered investment advisor.

Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training.

Before considering their services, you should carefully review Constitution Wealth disclosures at constitutionwealth.com to understand all material risks, conflicts of interest, and fees.

All investing involves risk, including the risk of loss.

This is a paid endorsement, and Glenn is not a client of the firm.

Say hello to the next generation of Zendesk AI agents.

Built to deliver resolutions for everyone.

Zendesk AI agents easily deploy in minutes, not months, to resolve 30% of customer and employee interactions on day one, quickly turning monotonous tasks into autonomous solutions.

Loved by over 10,000 companies, Zendesk AI makes service teams more efficient, businesses run better, and your customers happier.

That's the Zendesk AI effect.

Find out more at zendesk.com.

Here we go.

The doors are opening.

The Cardinal Proto-Deacon.

Let's see.

His new name should be popping up.

Do we have anything on a name yet?

They haven't announced his name or his new name.

I would like to take what he's going to say, if possible.

Now, the name of the new Pope announced to the world from the balcony.

Annuncio vobis

gaudium manium.

Abebus papaman.

Wait, this is Dominique Mumberti, the Cardinal

Proto-Deacon.

So this is not the Pope.

He's announcing we have a new Pope.

Leo the 14th, I think he said.

Don't know anything about Leo the 13th?

Yeah, he was good.

Was he?

Yeah, he's the one that started what are called the League Nine Prayers after Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost

who's taken the name of Leo XIV.

Okay, Leo XIV.

What is his first what is the name please?

Prevost is an American and he spent most of his

time in Latin America and in Peru and also in

real quick

Robert Francis Prevost.

An American.

An American.

An American.

An American.

I think

that's historical.

Do you know who that is?

Prevost.

Let me see if I have him in here.

Yeah, he was, if it's Prevost, he was head of the Congregation for Bishops.

So tell me about him.

What do you know about him?

Not much.

He's a relatively new cardinal.

It's not good that he's an American.

Robert Prevost, here we have, age 69, Chicago-born.

Two years ago, Pope Francis chose him to replace Mark Olette.

as Prefect of the Vatican's bishops, handling him the task of selecting the next generation of bishops.

He worked many years as a missionary in Peru.

He is not just considered an American, but someone who headed the Commission for Latin America, seen as a reformer, but might be viewed too young for his papacy.

Blah, blah, blah.

He was also the Archbishop in Peru.

Also clouded by allegations of covering up sexual abuse claims, which were denied by his diocese.

What do you know, good guy, bad guy?

Any clue?

We don't have any clue on which direction he leans, except he was selected two years ago by Francis.

And he was as head of the Congregation for Bishops.

Frankly, in my opinion, he made some really bad choices there.

Or at least, I mean, of course, it was Pope Francis, but he was involved in naming bishops that I find very troubling.

So

we'll have to keep praying.

Okay.

Well, there you have it.

Pope Leo XIV.

That's an interesting name, Leo XIV.

Why?

Well, because of the, you know, the connection of the predecessor, Leo XIII,

he had visions of evil

taking the church.

And the St.

Michael prayer, the St.

Michael, the Archangel Prayer came from Leo XIII.

He was in the

mid to

probably something like 1870-ish around there was when he was Pope.

Good Pope?

Yeah, he was good.

And

he was strong in a lot of ways.

I don't, I'm no scholar of Leo XIII, but definitely

some good signals there.

So it's very interesting to choose that name.

And, you know, I'm sure they'll ask ask him why he chose that name but uh leo 14th um there's significance there um

so okay uh bishop thank you so much for sharing this moment with me it's well it's definitely a memorable uh yeah

talk with you because in the midst of all this i mean you started off by saying white smoke i know for me a catholic kid i mean My heart's been in my throat the whole time.

I know, I know, I know.

Now that we know who it is, an America Pope, I mean, I really never predicted that because, you know, America is so vilified in so many countries.

But

I think the South America connection probably assisted him in that part of it.

Yeah.

Well, maybe they got the idea from the meme from Trump.

Yeah.

Bishop, thank you so much.

God bless you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

There it is, the new pope, Pope Leo XIV.

Just a reminder, I'd love you to rate and subscribe to the podcast and pass this on to a friend so it can be discovered by other people.