07-05-2025
University of Texas expert on the pope and politics as the papal conclave begins
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Catholics across the world — along with religious scholars and global leaders — are watching the Vatican, as cardinals gather to select a new leader of the Catholic Church. The conclave began Wednesday, where a group of 133 Cardinals secluded themselves to begin voting.
Professor Eric McDaniel teaches in the Department of Government at the University of Texas at Austin and also researches how religion influences American politics. He talked to KXAN's Avery Travis and Will DuPree about the impact and influence of the next pope.
Watch the video above to see the full conversation, or read a partial transcript of the conversation below. Some responses were edited for clarity.
Avery Travis: What kind of moment does the Catholic Church find itself in right now, and how might that impact this conclave process and the selection of the next pope?
Eric McDaniel: I think the Catholic Church finds itself in a time where it's trying to figure out where it stands in terms of global politics, as we're seeing a rise of religious nationalism, a rise of populism, a push back against institutions. Where does this institution find its place? But also, with the drastic change in culture and — what are the demands that are put on a global institution when you have drastic cultural changes, but also drastic changes in global politics?
Will DuPree: And we really saw that come to a forefront during Pope Francis's tenure. I mean, he spoke publicly about issues like LGBTQ rights, immigration, climate change. What kind of expectation do you have about whether that would continue under a new pope?
McDaniel: I think some of it will continue, but it may not be as intense because there was a good amount of pushback on it. One of the things that Pope Francis was pointed out for doing is speaking out quite a bit about the child abuse scandals and to what extent they will continue with that. So, I expect many of the things that he was pushing forward to continue, but some to be pulled back because they did ruffle several feathers. And speaking of where we fall within the global context, you have to be very careful.
Travis: Even after his death, we know that Pope Francis will have an impact on who will be picking his successor. So, talk about the make-up of this voting body of Cardinals, and Pope Francis's influence on that, and then how that influences the next pope?
McDaniel: Well, I think it's important to note that because the pope has nominated so many of these Cardinals that they are individuals he felt were in line with his vision and trying to continue the vision on. To what extent they will carbon copy it, I do not expect it to be so. But I do think his vision will be clearly there amongst the Cardinals that are seated.
DuPree: We will be watching whether that white smoke will come up after a few votes, or maybe it drags on for several days — starting on Wednesday — so we might have to have you back to follow up on that. But we've got one more topic we want to address with you. Professor McDaniel, President Trump just announced at least last week that he would create a religious liberty commission, and that is chaired by Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. What's your understanding about how that will work? And share your thoughts about the role that Dan Patrick might be able to play in that?
McDaniel: Well, religious liberty is a very big issue, and it's something that the Founding Fathers debated. We think about [Thomas] Jefferson and [James] Madison and the arguments they made, really, about the strict wall of separation of church and state, and that what Madison wanted in the Constitution was a little bit watered down, and we never really fully agreed upon what religious liberty is. And many religious groups — whether they be the dominant Christian groups, which has kind of been the dominant force – feels that they're being set upon, along with minority religions. So what religious liberty is, is something that's going to be highly, highly debated. And I think that Lt. Gov. Patrick has an idea of what he thinks of his religious liberty, and will try to have that be the focus of the investigations or how they try to push policies related to religious liberty going forward.
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