Pope conclave: what happens between now and May 7

Joining us now to talk more about the conclave is Bishop Robert Brennan of the Brooklyn Diocese

Thanks for being with us today. We do appreciate it. Thank you for all the interest and the coverage of everything

Well, I mean, this really is a monumental occasion for Catholics and non-Catholics alike

So the funeral happened this weekend, a beautiful ceremony, and now begins this really secretive process of electing the next pope

First and foremost, you know, we were talking about what happens between now and May 7th

That's a good amount of time. What are they going to be doing? A lot of what they'll be doing is listening to one another

They'll be talking about the needs of the church. They'll be discerning where do we need to be looking for in the years ahead

not just to move on from 2025, but what are we going to be facing ahead of us

And as they talk to one another, they also listen and they learn about each other

This is going to be a different kind of a conflict because there are so many cardinals from all over the world

who come from unusual places. It's not the traditional places. So they don't know each other the same way

So this will be a getting-to-know-you kind of period. You know, you mentioned what they're going to be talking about

And for me, especially as somebody who is Catholic, that's so interesting because I'm curious about where the church is headed

And I wonder, are they looking toward the mission of bringing in new members to the church

or are they just trying to sort of satisfy the faithful that they have

which I think is two very different missions for a lot of these men. That's actually a good question

And I don't know if I used the word satisfied, but I think you're right

There are two different strategies. Obviously, we want to invite more people in

That's a big thing. But we also want to care for the people who are already very much a part of the flock

and really in a sense we want to empower the people who are part of the flock to go out and invite other people in So there are different kinds of strategies and I sure that they have those different viewpoints and strategies

among themselves. But Pope Francis was very clear about who should be allowed to be blessed

who should be welcomed into the church. Many would say he was quite liberal or progressive

in that regard, although he didn't change doctrine. You know, he said, for example, that somebody who's

LGBTQ could be blessed, the person, not the union, but the person could be blessed. But yet when you

look at the gains that the church has made specifically in Asian countries, I would imagine

that stands in stark contrast to some of the things that we think here in the Western world

That's, again, a very good point that we tend to look at things from a Western culture, from the

United States culture, more specifically. And we're dealing with a global church and where the church

is at its strongest way, the church is growing, is in Asia and in Africa and in other parts

of the world that we kind of overlook a little bit. But again, I think there's a continuity

So Pope Francis had us pay more attention to people, maybe you might say, on the edges

on the fringes, you hear that term a lot. And that's a good awakening

We need to do that. But that's always been in there. It's a matter of what you stress and how you stress it

And he made some great gestures. I'm so into the secrecy of it. I'm really excited to see who is going to come forward and how long this is going to last

Before we let you go, if you're a betting man, you think this is a two-day ordeal, a week ordeal

You think they're getting into two weeks. I don't think it'll go that long. I don't think it'll go a week

My guess, and this is the only guess I'm going to make

I'm not going to tell you who. I have no clue on that. But I wouldn't be surprised if they finished by the end of that first week

So maybe by Friday or Saturday. We know the Holy Spirit has his own timeline or her own timeline

That's right. Bishop Brendan, thank you very much. We're so glad. Thank you

Appreciate it