WE COULD SAY MAYBE 30 SECONDS OF INTERACTION, BUT A VERY MEMORABLE 30 SECONDS." AND HERE ON THIS SUNDAY AS WE REFLECT ON THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF POPE FRANCIS, WE'RE JOINED NOW BY MIKE SEAVEY, A CAREER PRIEST - RETIRED - AND NOW THEY'VE PULLED YOU BACK INTO ACTIVE SERVICE. RIGHT. YOU'RE SERVING A NUMBER OF PARISHES IN PORTLAND. HELPING OUT WHEREVER I CAN AND GLAD TO DO IT. AND NOT JUST THAT YOU WEAR A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT HATS. YOU'VE BEEN AFFILIATED WITH THE AFL-CIO AS THEIR LABOR AND FAITH LIAISON. SO I THINK YOU HAVE A REALLY GREAT PERSPECTIVE TO OFFER HERE. LOOKING BACK TEN YEARS AGO, YOU WERE A GUEST OF SENATOR ANGUS KING FOR THE HISTORIC JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS WHERE POPE FRANCIS DELIVERED A SPEECH TO LAWMAKERS. THAT'S CORRECT. WHAT STANDS OUT TO YOU ABOUT THAT? THAT TRIP. AND I KNOW THAT YOU'VE YOU'VE LOOKED BACK ON HIS MARRIAGE RECENTLY, TOO. WELL, I'LL TELL YOU, IT WAS JUST AN AMAZING I MEAN, WHEN ANGUS CALLED ME TO TELL ME HE HAD A TICKET FOR ME, YOU KNOW, WAS KIND OF LIKE, SPEECHLESS. I THOUGHT, HEY, IS THIS A JOKE? BUT I, I KNOW HIS VOICE, SO I KNEW IT WAS HIM. AND GOING DOWN, IT WAS JUST AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE. I SAT UP IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, UP IN THE UP IN THEIR GALLERY, AND I HAD REALLY, ACTUALLY, BEFORE THAT ACTUALLY WAS ON THE WHITE HOUSE LAWN, WHEN THE POPE CAME TO MEET PRESIDENT OBAMA. AND THEN I SO I LISTENED TO THOSE SPEECHES. AND THEN FROM THERE WE WENT TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND I LISTENED TO HIS SPEECH THERE. IT WAS AN AMAZING SPEECH. HE USED A LOT OF AMERICAN HISTORY. AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THAT I WILL NEVER FORGET IS I. I WAS SEATED IN A PLACE WHERE I COULD SEE CONGRESSMAN JOHN LEWIS, WHO HAS SINCE WHO HAS SINCE PASSED. AND HE WAS A A WONDERFUL CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER IN THE 1960S, AND HE WAS INVOLVED IN THE MARCH IN SELMA, WHERE, THE, THE STATE POLICE OF ALABAMA, JUST MERCIFUL, MERCILESSLY BEAT UP A LOT OF PEOPLE. JOHN LEWIS WAS ONE OF THEM. AND POPE FRANCIS ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THIS WAS THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THAT MARCH. AND I WONDERED, COULD JOHN LEWIS HAVE IMAGINED BEING ON THAT BRIDGE 50 YEARS BEFORE THAT, THAT HE WOULD BE SEATED IN THE US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THE CATHOLIC POPE WOULD BE IN THE HOUSE COMMEMORATING THAT MARCH? IT TELLS YOU HOW THINGS CAN CHANGE AND THINGS HAVE CHANGED. POPE FRANCIS ALSO LEAVES A LEGACY OF BEING A PROGRESSIVE LEADER WITHIN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. HE WASN'T AFRAID TO BE OUTSPOKEN ON ISSUES RELATED TO MIGRATION AND CLIMATE CHANGE. YOU'RE INVOLVED IN ADVOCACY WITH WHAT SOME MIGHT CONSIDER TO BE LEFT LEANING CAUSES. WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, POPE FRANCIS'S, WORK SURROUNDING THOSE ISSUES? WELL, YOU KNOW. ON THOSE ISSUES, HE REALLY WASN'T SPEAKING MUCH DIFFERENTLY FROM POPES BEFORE HIM ON ALL THREE. BUT THAT WAS MIGRATION OR ECOLOGY OR THE LABOR MOVEMENT. AND THEN FRANCIS ISSUED HIS ENCYCLICAL ON ON CLIMATE CHANGE. I THINK THAT'S HIS GREATEST LEGACY TO THE CHURCH AND TO THE WORLD, AS MUCH AS ALL THE OTHER THINGS WERE TRULY WONDERFUL. BUT ON ALL OF THOSE ISSUES, HE WAS REALLY DEVELOPING THE TRADITION THAT WAS ALREADY THERE. HOW ABOUT HIS WORK, OPENING THE DOOR, BEING MORE WELCOMING TO MEMBERS OF THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY. IS THAT A LEGACY THAT YOU HOPE CONTINUES WITH THE NEXT LEADER CONTINUES AND GROWS? YEAH, I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF NEED TO DEVELOP THAT. AND I HOPE THAT THAT, THAT THAT IS SOMETHING THAT, THAT CAN DEVELOP AND GROW WITH WITHIN OUR OWN COUNTRY AND, AND IN AND IN ALL COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD. YEAH, CERTAINLY DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES AMONG CATHOLICS AND, AND OUR PARTNERS AT ABC NEWS HAVE BEEN AT THE VATICAN AND SPEAKING WITH SOME, WORSHIPERS WHO HAVE BEEN DETAINED, PETER'S SQUARE AND SAID OPENLY THAT THEY'RE LOOKING FOR OR HOPING FOR A MORE CONSERVATIVE LEADER. SO BE INTERESTING TO SEE WHAT COMES OUT OF THE CONCLAVE. ANOTHER THING THAT STOOD OUT TO ME ABOUT POPE FRANCIS, JUST TWO MONTHS BEFORE HIS PASSING, HE WROTE A LETTER TO US BISHOPS REGARDING THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION'S STANCE ON MIGRATION AND EFFORTS FOR MASS DEPORTATIONS. HE TOOK A HARDLINE APPROACH AGAINST THAT, RIGHT? WHAT DO YOU THINK OF HIS WORDS IN THAT LETTER? YOU KNOW, I HAVEN'T HAD A CHANCE TO TO READ THAT LETTER SPECIFICALLY, BUT I THINK THAT THERE THERE IS A THE DIGNITY OF EVERY PERSON IS SACRED. THERE PROBABLY I'M SURE THAT THERE ARE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE HERE THAT ARE OUTSIDE OF THE LEGAL SYSTEM. I HAVE NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT. TO PAINT THEM ALL AS BEING, A VIOLENT CRIMINALS. I THINK DOES DOES A GREAT DISSERVICE TO THEM AND TO US, WHEN WE DEMONIZE OTHER PEOPLE, WE REALLY DESTROY A PART OF OUR OWN SELF. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT POPE FRANCIS SAID IN IN HIS SPEECH TO THE CONGRESS, AND I DON'T REMEMBER THE EXACT WORDS, BUT HE TALKED ABOUT OUR REDUCTIONISM OF SEEING EVERYTHING AS THEM AND US, AND I'M PROBABLY PARAPHRASING A BIT. BUT HE SAID, SOMETIMES WE THINK THAT IN ORDER TO KILL THE DEMON OUTSIDE, WE NEED TO FEED THE DEMON WITHIN OURSELVES. I THINK THAT IS JUST A REMARKABLE STATEMENT ON WHAT HAPPENS IN THE POLARIZATION IN THE CHURCH IN OUR COUNTRY, IN THE WORLD. WE BREAK THINGS DOWN INTO THEM AND US. THERE'S ONLY US. IN THE DAYS AND THE WEEKS AHEAD, PERHAPS, IF NOT LONGER, CATHOLICS AROUND THE WORLD WILL BE LOOKING FOR THAT WHITE SMOKE EMERGING FROM THE VATICAN. WHAT ARE YOUR HOPES AND EXPECTATIONS FOR THE CONCLAVE AND THE NEXT LEADER OF THE GLOBAL CATHOLIC CHURCH? YOU KNOW, I CAN ONLY HOPE THAT. AND I'M SURE THIS IS GOING TO BE THAT THE CONCLAVE IS IS GOING TO BE A PLACE OF PRAYER AND OPENNESS TO GOD AND A WILLINGNESS TO MOVE. YOU KNOW, POPE FRANCIS SAID GOD IS FULL OF SURPRISES. AND TO JUST SEE WHAT WHAT HAPPENS IF WE HAVE A MAN, A POPE, THAT'S THAT'S HOLY, THAT'S PASTORAL AND VISIONA