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Talk us through the significance, the emotions that are being felt now by the world's 1.4 billion Catholics
0:07
Oh, it's just huge. It's because he's the Vicar of Christ. That's one of his many titles
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He's our Papa. He's our Holy Father. And I thought Pope Francis's departure, his death, couldn't have been better choreographed
0:24
I wasn't sad at all. I thought it was wonderful. He died at Easter. He died on Easter Monday when the churches were still adorned with flowers, which were all to do with the resurrection
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He'd done his Easter blessing the day before, which was probably put such a huge strain on his body
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It probably did trigger his possibly triggered his death the next day
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So I thought that was a wonderful departure for him and for the Catholic Church
0:47
And it was I found it really spiritually uplifting. And I went to a wonderful service at Westminster Cathedral on the same day
0:54
and Cardinal Vince Nicholls presided over that service. And, of course, he is in the Sistine Chapel
1:00
along with two other British cardinals. I don't think we've ever had three British cardinals
1:04
in the conclave before. And they have chosen our Holy Father It like our monarch And they are an important spiritual leader I think the Pope is the most important spiritual leader on the planet As I say he is the vicar of Christ
1:22
He's God's representative on earth. He is a direct successor to St. Peter, who was the first
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Pope. That's why it is not just hugely symbolic. It's absolutely enriched with tradition and history
1:34
and whoever that Pope is, it's a huge, huge burden. And largely in my lifetime, they've done it pretty well
1:43
All sorts of challenges. And I also like the fact, Martin, that our Pope has been chosen on victory in Europe Day
1:49
Vatican City, of course, was neutral during the Second World War. There was some criticism that the Pope at the time
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was too close to the Nazis, but subsequently in history, we now discover that, in fact, the Pope was helping
2:01
helping get people out of the Vatican, out of Italy, doing his bit quietly behind the scenes
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So I think that's quite significant because, of course, Italy had its own very checkered role in the Second World War
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And it means we're never going to forget the day the new pope, the 267th pope, was elected because it was the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day
2:23
What a symbolic day, Martin. So..
