UPDATES, NIGHT SKY PHOTOGRAPHER, KEVIN KLING IS HERE WITH AN ESSAY.

>> Cathy: WE'RE GOING TO START WITH THIS WEEK'S INTERNATIONAL NEWS WITH MIDWESTERN TIES.

THURSDAY CARDINALS AT THE VATICAN ELECTED THE FIRST EVER AMERICAN-BORN PONTIFF, POPE LEO XIV.

JOINING US FOR A LOOK AT THE HISTORIC ELECTION, BISHOP KEVIN KENNEY WITH THE ARCHDIOCESE OF MINNEAPOLIS AND ST. PAUL.

GOOD TO HAVE YOU HERE.

WHERE WERE YOU WHEN YOU HEARD THE NEWS AND WHAT WERE YOUR FIRST THOUGHTS?

>> WELL, I WAS JUST FINISHING UP A FUNERAL AND SOMEBODY CAME UP AND WHISPERED THERE'S WHITE SMOKE, THERE'S WHITE SMOKE.

WE WENT INTO OUR GATHERING ROOM WHERE WE HAD A TV SET UP AND SO JUST WAITED AND WAITED AND WAITED UNTIL HE WAS PRESENTED.

>> WHAT DID YOU THINK?

>> OH, WE WERE ALL SHOCKED, E WERE ALL AMAZED AND OVERLY EXCITED AND THE EMOTION WAS JUST INCREDIBLE, BUT TO THINK AN AMERICAN, AN AMERICAN POPE.

OH, MY GOODNESS, NOBODY EVER THOUGHT IN THEIR LIFETIME THEY WOULD SEE AN AMERICAN POPE.

>> Eric: WHAT'S BEEN THE HURDLE TO THAT, HAVING AN AMERICAN POPE?

WHY HAS IT TAKEN THIS LONG?

>> WELL, THE AMERICAN CHURCH IS YOUNGER THAN MOST, THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IS YOUNGER THAN MOST OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH WORLDWIDE BUT THERE'S ALWAYS BEEN A LITTLE BIT OF DISTRUST IN THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THEY'VE ALWAYS FELT THAT WE WERE ON THE OUTSIDE OR NOT PARTICIPATING COMPLETELY WITH ROME AND SO THIS IS REALLY AN AFFIRMATION OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

>> Cathy: SO THE POPE CELEBRATED HIS FIRST MASS TODAY.

I NOTICED IN HIS HOMILY HE TALKED ABOUT SOMETHING I HAD TO LOOK IT UP.

SYNODALITY, SO DOES THAT MEAN HE'S GOING TO COMMUNICATE CHURCH ISSUES FROM MORE OF A GRASS ROOTS?

>> AND SO IT'S TO CONTINUE THAT GATHERING PEOPLE TO TALK ABOUT FROM THE GRASSROOTS UP ABOUT ISSUES IN THE CHURCH AND WHERE WE'RE AT TODAY AND HOW WE ANT TO MOVE FORWARD.

>> Eric: LEO XIV, WHAT'S THE SIGNIFICANT OF HIM TAKING THAT NAME?

>> I THINK I HAVEN'T HEARD FOR SURE, BUT I THINK BECAUSE OF HIS WORK IN LATIN AMERICA, AS WELL AS, LEO 13TH WROTE NEROMERVARUM WHICH I REALLY, I WAS A FEW YEARS BEHIND POPE LEO, I REMEMBER THAT IN MY THEOLOGICAL STUDIES BEING BIG NEW CHANGES ARE COMING, AND POPE LEO WORKED WITH WORKER'S RIGHTS AND RIGHT TO WORK AND SAFETY OF WORK AND BRIDGE BUILDER IN SOCIAL JUSTICE.

MY HINT, MY SUSPICION IS HE TOOK, LEO XIV TO CONTINUE TO BE A BRIDGE BULLEDDER IN TODAY'S ROLE AND LOOK AT THE RIGHTS OF HUMAN BEING AND DIGNITY IN EVERY ASPECT.

>> Cathy: I DID NOT KNOW THAT THE POPE, I HAD TO LOOK THIS UP TOO.

HE'S AN AUGUSTINIAN.

I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THERE WAS AN ORDER OF ST. AUGUSTINE, IS THAT RIGHT?

>> CORRECT, YEP.

>> AND WHAT IS THEIR FOCUS?

>> YOU KNOW, THAT'S A VERY GOOD QUESTION.

I'M NOT ACTUALLY SURE.

>> Cathy: THAT'S KAY, I'LL HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION FOR YOU.

GOING BACK TO HIS HOMILY TODAY, HE WAS TALKING ABOUT HOW HE THINKS THERE SHOULD BE MISSIONARY OUTREACH TO REBUILD FAITH IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.

WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE TO YOU?

IS WHAT ARE YOU HOPING IT LOOKS LIKE?

>> I'M HOPING IT LOOKS LIKE TRUE MISSIONARY SPIRIT.

THAT'S PART OF THE AUGISTINAN MOVEMENT.

I STUDIED CATHOLIC THEOLOGICAL UNION WHERE HE STUDIED AT THEOLOGICAL UNION IN CHICAGO AS WELL.

BUT IT'S A MISSION ASPECT OF LOOKING AT THE CHURCH FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A WORLDWIDE CHURCH, NOT JUST A ROME-CENTERED CHURCH, BUT TO BE ABLE TO BE MISSIONARIES OUT IN THE WORLD TODAY AND THAT'S WHAT POPE FRANCIS WAS, HIS IDEA WAS AS WELL THAT WE'RE ALL MISSIONARIES IN THE WORLD TO BRING THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS CHRIST TO THE WORLD AND HELP LIFT PEOPLE UP.

>> Eric: IS THERE A MAJOR CHALLENGE FACING THE NEW POPE?

>> THE WORLD.

AS IT IS TODAY.

BUT THE MAJOR CHALLENGE IS TO UNITE -- THE CHURCH IS DIVIDED IN MANY MANY DIFFERENT AREAS, IT'S REALLY GROWING IN AFRICA AND ASIA, THE UNITED STATES, WE'VE HAD OUR STRUGGLES HERE BUT I'M HOPING THIS WILL BE A REVIVAL WITHIN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

>> Cathy: I WAS WONDERING ABOUT THAT BECAUSE I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW MANY CATHOLICS, EVEN THOSE HO YOU MIGHT SAY LAPSED, ARE VERY EXCITED ABOUT HIM.

>> YEAH.

YEAH.

>> Cathy: SO DO YOU THINK THAT MIGHT EQUATE TO MORE PEOPLE IN THE PEWS?

>> WELL, I HOPE SO.

AND WE'LL SEE HOW THIS GOES, BUT IT'S GOING TO BRING BACK THE JOY OF WHAT THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS TRULY ABOUT, RATHER WE'VE BEEN THROUGH SCANDALS AND BANKRUPTCIES AND ALL KINDS OF OTHER STUFF OVER THE PAST YEARS BUT TO SEE THIS JOY THAT POPE FRANCIS BEGAN BUT NOW POPE LEO XIV IS BRINGING IN HIS LIFE IN THESE FIRST FEW DAYS AND KIND OF AN UNKNOWN PERSON IN THE UNITED STATES AND IN THE GENERAL CHURCH CAN BUT TO SEE HIS PRESENCE YOU JUST FEEL THAT, OKAY, THINGS ARE GOING TO BE OKAY AND THE MISSIONARY ASPECT AND THE LOVE, YOU KNOW, THAT HE'S GOING TO BRING THAT JESUS BROUGHT TO US IS GOING TO BE HERE.

>> Cathy: THERE IS GOING TO BE A NEWS CONFERENCE MONDAY AND I'M CURIOUS, WHAT DO YOU WANT TO HEAR FROM HIM?

>> I JUST WANT TO HEAR WHO HE IS AND WHAT HIS VISION IS FOR THE CHURCH AND HOW THE HOLY SPIRIT'S GOING TO MOVE HIM REALLY TO BRING US TOGETHER AND TO UNITE THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD IN A WAY THAT RESPECTS THE DIFFERENCES BUT YET WE CAN WORSHIP AND BE TOGETHER.

>> Eric: SO GLAD YOU COULD COME OVER AND SHARE YOUR