During Monday’s press conference, Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) was asked about Pope Francis after his passing.
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00:01Anything else?
00:02Okay.
00:03Do you have anything just to say about the passing of Pope Francis?
00:07I know you've gone on social media this morning.
00:09You remember meeting him in Philly until the 15th.
00:12Yeah.
00:13It was incredibly sad to wake up to the news of the passing of Pope Francis.
00:18I had the extraordinary honor of meeting the Pope in 2015 when he was in Philadelphia for the world meeting of families.
00:29He stayed at a seminary that was in Montgomery County.
00:34At the time I had the job that your county executive has in Montgomery County.
00:39And so I was given this honor of greeting the Pope as he arrived at the seminary.
00:44We shared a few words and he was very gracious with his time.
00:49And then the Pope turned and walked up the steps into the seminary.
00:55No one asked me to leave so I followed the Pope into the seminary.
01:01And he walked over into a corner of the lobby, this beautiful ornate lobby.
01:07And he started meeting quietly with a group.
01:11I didn't know who the people were he was meeting with.
01:14And it was hard to hear.
01:16So again, no one had asked me to leave.
01:17I just got closer and closer and closer.
01:20And I realized this is back in 2015 that the Pope was meeting with a group of survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of predator priests.
01:31He was expressing sympathy for what they had been through.
01:36And he was telling them that he would take steps in order to stop that type of abuse.
01:44That was incredibly powerful to me.
01:47Years later, when I would be the elected attorney general of Pennsylvania and leading the grand jury investigation into abuse within the Catholic Church and prosecuting predator priests,
02:01I recalled that meeting and actually wrote the Pope a letter about that meeting.
02:08While he didn't respond in writing to me, the response that he gave internationally, for the first time a Pope ever acknowledged the pain of these survivors in the wake of our grand jury report,
02:25drawing from clearly the care and concern he had during the meeting that day in 2015 in suburban Philadelphia.
02:34The first time a Pope has ever acknowledged the pain and suffering of those brave survivors.
02:40It was extraordinary to me.
02:42On so many issues, this Pope was a voice for the voiceless.
02:47And I honor the work that he did.
02:50We have a lot more work to do together, not just in the arena of government, but in our societies all across this globe.
02:58And I think the Pope laid out a roadmap for all of us to be able to follow,
03:03to be a voice for the voiceless, and to lead with compassion in your heart.
03:07Now, what do you think?
03:11I love this word.
03:13I love it!
03:15I love it!
03:17I love it!
03:19I love it!
03:21Good afternoon!
03:23I love it!
03:25How much is it?
03:27I love it!