Pope Francis ‘changed the tune’ of the Catholic Church

The death of Pope Francis on Monday brought to an end a chapter of the papacy that emphasized focusing on marginalized people and prominent issues such as LGBTQ rights and situation change Francis was the first Latin American and first Jesuit pope and his tenure was marked by taking new if measured moves for the Catholic Church Francis expanded the roles of women in the church emphasized the church as a refuge for everyone took a stance against far-right populism and consumerism welcomed LGBTQ Catholics and more CBS News Norah O Donnell who in was the first person from a U S configuration to have a one-on-one meeting with Pope Francis spoke with WTOP s Michelle Basch and John Domen to share more about Francis legacy achievements and what happens next Read and listen to the interview below toggle audio on and off change volume download audio Norah O'Donnell of CBS News reflects on meeting Pope Francis and his effect on the Catholic Church with WTOP's Michelle Basch and John Domen function ' wtop-audio-container fa-play' on 'click' function var audio filename 'div wtop-audio-file' figures mp -url if typeof gtag function gtag 'event' 'post audio' 'play' audio filename 'permalink' window location href The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity Norah O Donnell It is remarkable learning this morning that the people s pope has died on Easter Monday It was just about a year ago that we were there in Casa Santa Marta inside the Vatican interviewing Pope Francis and we sat with him for about an hour And I must tell you I unveiled him warm funny very smart and also just a remarkable moment because he was the first in so a large number of techniques The first Jesuit Pope first pope from the Americas and the first pope to choose the name Francis because he loved St Francis of Assisi And of class that characterized his entire papacy focusing on the marginalized the poor the peripheral the forgotten And I just have to say I mean one of the things I learned when I was there a year ago and also about a month ago Pope Francis set up showers in St Peter s Square for the homeless He was perpetually about directing attention to the people who are the preponderance forgotten and need the majority of help And I think that will be part of his legacy Michelle Basch Can you talk about how different he was compared to previous popes Norah O Donnell Very different because as I mentioned just his own biography was so different Look at how he dressed just the white cassock and the silver cross not those regal red robes or gold or anything like that He lived in Casa Santa Marta which is the papal apartments where when you come and visit you stay there not in these luxurious papal apartments He was different in the way he talked about issues talking about migration a lot That was where he tussled with the current Trump administration on that issue He talked about weather change He explained state change is the road to death at this point I did talk to him about women in the Catholic Church and while he mentioned he would not allow women to become priests or deacons he has appointed two women two sisters to prominent positions in the Vatican taking care of finances and other stuff One final thing is he has changed the funeral rights So we will see this within the next week a very different type of funeral for a pope There will be a constituents viewing in St Peter s Basilica but he won t be up on a platform He wants to be down with the people and then he will not be buried at the Vatican That s right This is so different Pope Francis wants to be buried at the Basilica of St Mary Major that is the largest and oldest Marian church in all of Rome because he wants to bring attention to the Privileged Virgin Mary John Domen The fact that his priorities and what he emphasized were so different from previous popes certainly rankled a lot of American Catholics Now going forward when it comes to the Cardinals who will be picking his successor a large number of of them were elevated by Pope Francis How do you sort of envision the future direction of the church sort of mapping out Norah O Donnell It s a great question and you re right he did rankle multiple conservatives from very his first year in office When he was inquired about gay priests and he explained Who am I to judge There was a lot of outreach to the gay neighborhood and more as part of his papacy But I think what you will see in this conclave which of class will choose the next pope is College of Cardinals will gather in Rome There are about more than that Cardinals around the world who will be part of this More than of them have been put into office by Pope Francis so they reflect his ideology his values so that I think also will be part of his legacy as the church continues to change slowly I do think it s worth noting that while Pope Francis was very inclusive and tried to be more inclusive and tried to open up the heart of the Catholic Church in his words as one Vatican observer notified us he changed the tune but not the lyrics of the Catholic Church Source