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American Morning
Interview With Archbishop John Foley
Aired December 24, 2003 - 08:20 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Later today, the pope will celebrate the traditional Christmas midnight mass at Saint Peter's Basilica. The scene is already set outside, though, with a Christmas tree standing in Vatican Square. Services were held there yesterday. Tonight's mass will be sent across the world by satellite, as it has been for the last 29 years.
And Archbishop John Foley will provide the English TV commentary.
Archbishop Foley joins us this morning from Rome.
Nice to see you, sir.
Thanks for joining us.
I know you...
ARCHBISHOP JOHN FOLEY, PRESIDENT, PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR SOCIAL COMMUNICATION: Well, thank you very much, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: I know you have met with the pope.
How is his health? How's he doing?
FOLEY: Well, he looked pretty good on Monday. He received the heads of the various Vatican departments, gave a talk, and he read the entire talk himself and it was understandable. And then he met each one of us individually. He's obviously felt better in his life, but comparatively speaking, I think he's doing pretty well.
O'BRIEN: I understand that he's going to be the principal celebrant, and sometimes he has not done that, because he has not been feeling strong enough to actually deliver the whole mass. So that's got to be a pretty...
FOLEY: That's correct.
O'BRIEN: So a good indication that he's feeling...
FOLEY: It's a positive sign, I think. I was encouraged to see that. And people always prefer, of course, to see the pope as the principal celebrant of the mass. So that's good. That'll be tonight. And it will be his 26th mass and it will be the 40th or, rather, the 30th time that this is offered in round the world transmission. And it will be my 20th time in doing it as a television commentator from Rome so.
O'BRIEN: Yes, you've been doing this for a while now.
FOLEY: It's just, it's an exciting time.
O'BRIEN: Yes, I bet it is.
FOLEY: Yes. And the...
O'BRIEN: Give me a sense about the message.
FOLEY: Well, of course, we don't know what the message is going to be yet because -- it should be arriving at my office around this time. So I'm eager to see what it says, too. And I only hope they've provided me with an English translation, because otherwise I have to do that myself, which I've had to do in some past years. But most of the time they give an English translation.
But basically I think there will be an appeal for peace. The pope, in speaking to the department heads, also asked for holiness. He said one of the answers to the anguish in the world today is holiness. And he pointed to the example of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, whom he beatified this year and said what a wonderful woman she was. She fell in love with Jesus and saw in the face of every person she served the image of Jesus. And he said that's what we must do, see in the face of everyone we serve the image of Christ. And he said that would change the world.
O'BRIEN: Well, we will hear what the pope has to say.
Archbishop John Foley, it's nice to have you.
Congratulations to you for your 20th year, as you say, and thanks for being with us.
We appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 24, 2003 - 08:20 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Later today, the pope will celebrate the traditional Christmas midnight mass at Saint Peter's Basilica. The scene is already set outside, though, with a Christmas tree standing in Vatican Square. Services were held there yesterday. Tonight's mass will be sent across the world by satellite, as it has been for the last 29 years.
And Archbishop John Foley will provide the English TV commentary.
Archbishop Foley joins us this morning from Rome.
Nice to see you, sir.
Thanks for joining us.
I know you...
ARCHBISHOP JOHN FOLEY, PRESIDENT, PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR SOCIAL COMMUNICATION: Well, thank you very much, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: I know you have met with the pope.
How is his health? How's he doing?
FOLEY: Well, he looked pretty good on Monday. He received the heads of the various Vatican departments, gave a talk, and he read the entire talk himself and it was understandable. And then he met each one of us individually. He's obviously felt better in his life, but comparatively speaking, I think he's doing pretty well.
O'BRIEN: I understand that he's going to be the principal celebrant, and sometimes he has not done that, because he has not been feeling strong enough to actually deliver the whole mass. So that's got to be a pretty...
FOLEY: That's correct.
O'BRIEN: So a good indication that he's feeling...
FOLEY: It's a positive sign, I think. I was encouraged to see that. And people always prefer, of course, to see the pope as the principal celebrant of the mass. So that's good. That'll be tonight. And it will be his 26th mass and it will be the 40th or, rather, the 30th time that this is offered in round the world transmission. And it will be my 20th time in doing it as a television commentator from Rome so.
O'BRIEN: Yes, you've been doing this for a while now.
FOLEY: It's just, it's an exciting time.
O'BRIEN: Yes, I bet it is.
FOLEY: Yes. And the...
O'BRIEN: Give me a sense about the message.
FOLEY: Well, of course, we don't know what the message is going to be yet because -- it should be arriving at my office around this time. So I'm eager to see what it says, too. And I only hope they've provided me with an English translation, because otherwise I have to do that myself, which I've had to do in some past years. But most of the time they give an English translation.
But basically I think there will be an appeal for peace. The pope, in speaking to the department heads, also asked for holiness. He said one of the answers to the anguish in the world today is holiness. And he pointed to the example of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, whom he beatified this year and said what a wonderful woman she was. She fell in love with Jesus and saw in the face of every person she served the image of Jesus. And he said that's what we must do, see in the face of everyone we serve the image of Christ. And he said that would change the world.
O'BRIEN: Well, we will hear what the pope has to say.
Archbishop John Foley, it's nice to have you.
Congratulations to you for your 20th year, as you say, and thanks for being with us.
We appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
