April 21, 2025 • 5 mins
Rob Astorino talks to Mendte in the Morning about the passing of Pope Francis and what he is experiencing while on vacation in Spain after the breaking news.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, Rob as Areno, as you know, is the Hope
of As the host of rob ast Areno's show on
WOR Saturdays from four to five pm. He's the host
of Saturday Agenda from one to three pm on Newsmax.
He's also, of course, the former Westchester County executive and
right now he is traveling in Spain, so he has
(00:21):
a unique perspective at the passing of Pope Francis. Rob
thanks for joining us this morning from Spain. I'm sorry
to interrupt your vacation.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Larry, aren't you. So it was interesting, you know, we're
a six hour difference. And I woke up in Seville
this morning and so at like around ten o'clock is
when they released the information from the Vatican. He died
at around seven thirty and so I saw immediately and
called right to Newspash, like everyone wake up at four am.
(00:56):
The Pope died, and you know, so it was because
I was here for Holy Week, and it's amazing in
Sevil and Spain, they have processions all the time during
Holy Week and it's very religious, very Catholic country, sure,
And I was kind of dipping in and out of
the churches this morning before we were leaving on our
way to Madrid, and you know, people are praying for
(01:18):
the pope and crying, and obviously there's going to be
some major changes in the Catholic Church coming up within
about two or three weeks. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
No, there's absolutely going to be some major changes. But
you can see and feel this right now in the
streets of Spain.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yeah, oh yeah, no, Look, this is I mean, they
here in Spain and when I get to Italy in
a couple of days probably it'll be very They're very
deep in their Catholicism and it's much different than the
United States. You know, people get dressed up for church.
We were at Eastern Mass yesterday and it's just very different.
(01:58):
So there is much more of a morning right now,
I can you know, you can feel it.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Yeah, this Pope had a major impact on the Catholic Church.
He was much more progressive than and the church has
always been extremely conservative. Do you think that when the
conclave starts rob they're going to try to go another direction?
Speaker 2 (02:22):
So here's the thing, Larry, it's the Catholic Church is
very different than what we would look at politically in America. Right.
It's maga, it's right left and that kind of stuff.
Pape Francis, who was not my favorite. I'll admit Pope
Francis though would not and did not deviate on gay
marriage or abortion. But he's a Jesuit, and Jesuits tend
(02:46):
to be pretty left in that they always fight for
social justice, so on immigration, for instance, it was very uncharacteristic.
But Pope Francis really condemned President Trump because Trump wants
to clamp down on immigration, and in the view of
social justice, you know, every brother should be helped and
(03:08):
really no borders, which is very different than what we think.
And even though the Vatican itself has a huge wall
around it, that's just not social teasting for the Catholic Church.
So it's interesting because it was a surprise when Jorge Brigolio,
who was the cardinal in Buenos Aires, was picked in
(03:30):
the conclave of the twenty fourteen. Nobody saw that coming
because he is more progressive, and every cardinal elector in
twenty fourteen had appointed by Benedict the sixteenth and John
Paul a second, who were very conservative, so you just
don't know. There is a feeling now though that this
we'll kind of get back a little bit towards either
(03:52):
a European and or an Italian pope, but we could
have a surprise in an African pope because African popes,
I'm sorry, African bishops are very conservative. So who knows.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Yeah, there are already betting odds on this, and one
of them is from the Cape Coast six to one odds.
He's number three and he is from Africa. So you're
absolutely right. There's no shot an American pope anytime soon.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Probably not, although Cardinal Dolan would be amazing for the
church universally, you know, because he's such a great communicator
with a great smile and is conservative. But it's very
unlikely that they would go to America because it's just
considered too powerful politically, economically, and that's probably the last
thing that they would want. But there's an old saying,
(04:46):
you know, these cardinals, some of them may go in
as a pope and they come out as a cardinal,
you know, like, don't worry about the betting because it's
never right. Nobody had Pregolio coming out as hope last time.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
You're right, so anything can happen. Maybe we will get
an American and I think it'd be smart on their
part because the numbers for Catholics is diminishing in this
country now I guess not the numbers, but the percentage
is diminishing, and so it'd be a brilliant move on
their part. We can always hold out hope, Rob astro WEO,
thanks for taking time out of your vacation to call in.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Thank Larry
Well, Rob as Areno, as you know, is the Hope
of As the host of rob ast Areno's show on
WOR Saturdays from four to five pm. He's the host
of Saturday Agenda from one to three pm on Newsmax.
He's also, of course, the former Westchester County executive and
right now he is traveling in Spain, so he has
(00:21):
a unique perspective at the passing of Pope Francis. Rob
thanks for joining us this morning from Spain. I'm sorry
to interrupt your vacation.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Larry, aren't you. So it was interesting, you know, we're
a six hour difference. And I woke up in Seville
this morning and so at like around ten o'clock is
when they released the information from the Vatican. He died
at around seven thirty and so I saw immediately and
called right to Newspash, like everyone wake up at four am.
(00:56):
The Pope died, and you know, so it was because
I was here for Holy Week, and it's amazing in
Sevil and Spain, they have processions all the time during
Holy Week and it's very religious, very Catholic country, sure,
And I was kind of dipping in and out of
the churches this morning before we were leaving on our
way to Madrid, and you know, people are praying for
(01:18):
the pope and crying, and obviously there's going to be
some major changes in the Catholic Church coming up within
about two or three weeks. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
No, there's absolutely going to be some major changes. But
you can see and feel this right now in the
streets of Spain.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yeah, oh yeah, no, Look, this is I mean, they
here in Spain and when I get to Italy in
a couple of days probably it'll be very They're very
deep in their Catholicism and it's much different than the
United States. You know, people get dressed up for church.
We were at Eastern Mass yesterday and it's just very different.
(01:58):
So there is much more of a morning right now,
I can you know, you can feel it.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Yeah, this Pope had a major impact on the Catholic Church.
He was much more progressive than and the church has
always been extremely conservative. Do you think that when the
conclave starts rob they're going to try to go another direction?
Speaker 2 (02:22):
So here's the thing, Larry, it's the Catholic Church is
very different than what we would look at politically in America. Right.
It's maga, it's right left and that kind of stuff.
Pape Francis, who was not my favorite. I'll admit Pope
Francis though would not and did not deviate on gay
marriage or abortion. But he's a Jesuit, and Jesuits tend
(02:46):
to be pretty left in that they always fight for
social justice, so on immigration, for instance, it was very uncharacteristic.
But Pope Francis really condemned President Trump because Trump wants
to clamp down on immigration, and in the view of
social justice, you know, every brother should be helped and
(03:08):
really no borders, which is very different than what we think.
And even though the Vatican itself has a huge wall
around it, that's just not social teasting for the Catholic Church.
So it's interesting because it was a surprise when Jorge Brigolio,
who was the cardinal in Buenos Aires, was picked in
(03:30):
the conclave of the twenty fourteen. Nobody saw that coming
because he is more progressive, and every cardinal elector in
twenty fourteen had appointed by Benedict the sixteenth and John
Paul a second, who were very conservative, so you just
don't know. There is a feeling now though that this
we'll kind of get back a little bit towards either
(03:52):
a European and or an Italian pope, but we could
have a surprise in an African pope because African popes,
I'm sorry, African bishops are very conservative. So who knows.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Yeah, there are already betting odds on this, and one
of them is from the Cape Coast six to one odds.
He's number three and he is from Africa. So you're
absolutely right. There's no shot an American pope anytime soon.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Probably not, although Cardinal Dolan would be amazing for the
church universally, you know, because he's such a great communicator
with a great smile and is conservative. But it's very
unlikely that they would go to America because it's just
considered too powerful politically, economically, and that's probably the last
thing that they would want. But there's an old saying,
(04:46):
you know, these cardinals, some of them may go in
as a pope and they come out as a cardinal,
you know, like, don't worry about the betting because it's
never right. Nobody had Pregolio coming out as hope last time.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
You're right, so anything can happen. Maybe we will get
an American and I think it'd be smart on their
part because the numbers for Catholics is diminishing in this
country now I guess not the numbers, but the percentage
is diminishing, and so it'd be a brilliant move on
their part. We can always hold out hope, Rob astro WEO,
thanks for taking time out of your vacation to call in.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Thank Larry
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