Pope Leo XIV: Houston's Cardinal DiNardo reflects on conclave election

Cardinal DiNardo discusses papal conclave

After last week's election of Pope Leo XIV, Houston's Cardinal DiNardo, who was part of the conclave, is reflecting on the experience.

HOUSTON - Cardinal DiNardo is reflecting on the recently-concluded conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV. Speaking to FOX 26 by phone from Rome, DiNardo allows some surprise that cardinals elected an American to be Pope, but that Cardinal Robert Prevost (now Leo XIV) appeared notably in conversation.

He says this gathering was more challenging than the first one he participated in. He says the hardest work came in conversations and meetings among cardinals, before the conclave even started. So many of them had never met each other before, so there was a lot to learn about who might be well-suited for the job.

Of the Pontiff, DiNardo says he is a completely different personality from Pope Francis, but he expects a compassionate and effective Holy Father to lead the Church.

Cardinal DiNardo

What they're saying:

"For me, it was harder this time, but it was a unique Conclave. Once we got in there, somebody else asked me about coming out of there so soon. I thought to myself, probably, but we had also done so much work before we walked in, that 26 hours later we probably could elect a pope in that timeframe," says Cardinal DiNardo, about the Conclave. 

"He's such a simple and serene man. I have to tell you that, just in meeting him, that he will handle all this with great care and humility and he'll know what he wants to say," says DiNardo, about Pope Leo XIV, "I think people in the United States will truly take to him as a beautiful man of the Lord."