Up close and personal with Pope Francis: Western Massachusetts journalist Kerry Weber interviews pontiff at Vatican

A lifelong Catholic and a religious journalist for many years, Kerry Weber says her recent visit and interview with Pope Francis at the Vatican was tremendously meaningful.

I was grateful to be in the presence of such a holy man, but also grateful to have the chance to ask some hard questions about our church and its place in the world, said the Springfield native who had an audience with the pontiff in late November. Though, perhaps the most surprising thing was how normal it felt to be with him, which has a lot to do with how welcoming and open he was.

Weber found international travel interrupted her Thanksgiving planning this year, but since it meant an interview, along with her four colleagues from America Media, with Pope Francis, it was travel that she was more than happy to undertake to join them from her home in East Longmeadow.

While planning for the interview began over the summer by America Media Vatican correspondent Gerard OConnell, it was only two days before Thanksgiving when the interview was scheduled.

Weber is executive editor of America, the Jesuit Review of Faith and Culture published by America Media. Besides the reviews OConnell, she was joined in the interview by two Jesuits, Matt Malone, its outgoing editor in chief, and Sam Sawyer, incoming editor in chief, as well as Gloria Purvis who hosts a podcast presented by America Media.

The interview was conducted in Spanish through an interpreter at the popes residence in the Santa Marta guesthouse at the Vatican. Published online in English, it covered a range of topics.

I think Francis was speaking to Catholics in the United States in a unique way in this particular moment in time, Weber said. Both our church and our country feel very fractured at times, and I think his emphasis on the fact that polarization is not Catholic is truly asking us to rethink how and why we divide ourselves. He very clearly wants us to follow the beatitudes and the works of mercy before any political leader.

The pope, who turned 86 on Dec. 17, will mark the 10th year of his pontificate in March.

Weber said some of Francis more lengthy answers during the interview involved his diplomatic approach on the war in Ukraine; his dislike within the Roman Catholic church of what he sees as issues, like abortion, becoming more political than pastoral, and his belief that the church, in its punishment of those within it who have sexually abused children, be seen as separate from those abusers, and that there be no less transparency around such abuse allegations that involve a bishop.

His reference to polarization being not Catholic and in opposition to the Catholic spirit that harmonizes opposing differences came in response to question related to his 2015 speech before the U.S. Congress. In that address, the pope asked for a renewed spirit of fraternity and solidarity and noted the absence of such a renewal within both the church and this country.

Weber, who covered that papal visit and whose writings on the churchs spirituality include the book, Mercy in the City: How to Feed the Hungry, Give Drink to the Thirsty, Visit the Imprisoned and Keep Your Day Job, said she felt the pope was mindful that some of this interview also addressed criticisms of his writings on capitalism that have been of particular interest to U.S. Catholics.

In preparation of the interview, Weber said her team of editors and staff threw out tons of ideas and then eventually narrowed down the topics and refined the questions. When we got to Rome, we met again to decide how to prioritize the questions and who would ask which one. We expected to have about an hour with the Holy Father, but he very graciously stayed with us for almost two hours.

Kerry Weber, Springfield native and executive editor of America, the Jesuit Review, second from left, talks with Pope Francis at his Santa Marta residence, with from left, Gerard OConnell, Vatican correspondent for America, Matt Malone, Jesuit and former editor in chief of America, Gloria Purvis, host of The Gloria Purvis Podcast, and Sam Sawyer, Jesuit and editor in chief of America. The pope presented her and others with a copy of his book, Let Us Dream: The Path to a Better Future. Weber now lives in East Longmeadow.Third Party submitted

The interview began with a question to Francis around why he appears in his ministry so peaceful and happy to many people, to which he answered, God makes me happy (in the) assurance that one does not walk alone.

One of Webers questions to Francis dealt with her reviews 2021 survey of American Catholics that showed only a small fraction looked to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for moral guidance. She said Pope Francis responded that individual bishops are more important than the conference that was created over time.

In the United States, I think its very easy for Catholics in the pews to think of the bishops as a kind of anonymous group that puts out statements, or perhaps as simply a political force, Weber said. But I think Pope Francis was saying that to prioritize this version of the bishops makes it too easy to forget they are also people. And that every relationship that means anything requires us to see the person in front of us. And I think he was saying that the bishops first priority should be to their flock, that they are most effective when they are motivated by deep, holy relationships with the people in their diocese or archdiocese.

She also asked Francis, who has maintained the churchs adherence to a male-only priesthood, to address the call some women feel to the priesthood.

The goal of my question was to ask Pope Francis for a pastoral response to the pain felt by women who are pained by the churchs teaching that women may not be ordained to the priesthood, Weber said. His response offered praise for the many ways in which women already serve in the church, and I believe that he truly admires many of the skills and talents of the women he knows pastorally and professionally.

But, she noted, the popes response was anchored in the intellectual and theological teachings of the church, and I had hoped he would address the personal, not the why or why not but the question of what someone does with the pain caused by a church teaching.

Weber said the interview has drawn a robust response from her reviews readers as well as others. One scholar of biblical theology, writing on Dec. 12 in the Vatican newspaper, LOsservatore Romano, in response to the popes answer to Webers question the ordination of women as priests, suggested the pope struggles to free himself from the patriarchal vision of a theology around women that is no longer authentic.

The secular press has focused, Weber said, on his comments about the war in Ukraine, (while) some of the Catholic press has focused on his comments on the bishops or on women. But most of our readers, at least the ones Ive heard from, have focused on his humanity. They are struck by his openness, honestly accessibility, vulnerability, even if they disagree with some of what he has to say.

Weber, like her two siblings, is a graduate of Springfields former Cathedral High School and Providence College, both Catholic institutions. She also holds a masters degree from Columbia University School of Journalism.

The daughter of John and Peggy Weber, she accompanied her mother, who is also an award-winning Catholic author and now-retired journalist for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, on diocesan work and later did assignments for the diocesan newspaper and TV show.

I have been a Catholic all my life, and I have worked in the Catholic press, in some capacity, since I was 16 years old, so this conversation with Pope Francis was tremendously meaningful to me both personally and professionally, Weber said.

Weber has worked since 2009 for America that was founded in 1909 by the Jesuits, a religious order of men also known as the Society of Jesus and whose members include Francis, the first Jesuit to be elected to the papacy.

Weber loves that her work as Catholic journalist allows me to cover such a variety of topics, she said. Covering faith is always interesting because everything can be filtered through the lens of faith, so theres always a wide range of topics to write about or read about.

Weber, with her husband and three young children, moved back to Western Massachusetts during the pandemic from New Jersey where she had commuted to the reviews headquarters in New York City.

She noted that at the end of the interview with Francis, she got to interact in a more informal way with him that resulted in a special takeaway.

My 6-year-old wanted to know what the popes favorite animal was, Weber said. So, after the interview I asked him that question. He seemed a bit surprised, but laughed and said it was a combination of all the animals, which made me laugh, too.

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