S3 E8: Archbishop Nelson Perez on Coming Home, God, Heaven, COVID-19 and Whether He Texts Pope Francis

Summary: Archbishop Nelson Perez was all set to bring new leadership to the Philadelphia Archdiocese - until all of his plans changed. The coronavirus pandemic has eliminated gatherings and kept 1.4 million Catholics in our region at home. Archbishop Perez talks about his very strange and unexpected start in his new job with the church. Our conversation also veers off the COVID-19 course to get his views on God, heaven, leadership and Pope Francis. Recorded at the rectory at Archdiocesan headquarters in Center City, Philadelphia on March 30th, 2020. In this podcast: How the Archbishop is coping during the coronavirus pandemic (1:10), Going back to the day in January 2020 when the church announced his appointment in Philadelphia (3:05), what he says to people whose faith is being tested by the pandemic (3:50), using religion to try to understand horrible events (4:55), using this time to reorganize our priorities (5:25), how he found out he was leaving Cleveland as Archbishop and going back to Philadelphia (5:55), the phone call he received during Martin Luther King weekend and the "are you alone?" question (6:40), his background and how it lead him to Philadelphia twice (8:35), how he used to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame while serving in Cleveland and his favorite rock bands (9:50), if he considers himself a "Philly guy" and what that even means to him (10:45), what it means to be Philadelphia's first Hispanic Archbishop (11:50), how he apologized for the priest sex abuse scandal within the Catholic Church during his introductory news conference (13:30), what Pope Francis is like (15:10), the different views between himself and his predecessor, Archbishop Charles Chaput (17:05), how he supports the teachings of the church and if he believes women should ever be priests (19:00), his leadership style (19:50), what his vision of God looks like (21:45), if he ever has moments where he wishes he would be able to marry and have children (23:45), how he views the concepts of heaven, hell and purgatory (25:05), what he plans to address during his homily on Easter (26:35), what changes we might see at the other side of this pandemic (29:25), if social distancing might create new, less-desired habits (31:20), what he would say to someone with the simple question: "Will I be okay?" (32:15).