The One Where We Broke Bread With a Cardinal

Cardinal William Levada gets grilled by Time ME Richard “Rick” Stengel

Time managing editor Richard Stengel hosted Cardinal William Levada, the highest-ranking American in the Catholic Church, and a cadre of media types at a lunch this afternoon in the 2nd floor conference room of the Time Life Building.

Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (or, as one of our colleagues put it, “a pretty bad ass Catholic”) answered questions from Stengel, Time writers Jeff Israeli and David Van Biema, who co-wrote the recent cover story on Pope Benedict XVI, and Nancy Gibbs, who’s penned more cover stories for the magazine than anyone else. They focused on Benedict’s speech at the United Nations, which Stengel called “muted,” the Pope’s head-on discussion of abuse within the Church and the relationship between Catholicism and Islam. Levada, who said at the outset that he wasn’t “an interpreter” for the Pope’s thoughts and speeches, answered thoughtfully and conscientiously throughout.

One highlight came when His Eminence discussed meeting President Bush at the White House with the Pope. Benedict XVI introduced Levada as “my successor,” and the Cardinal said the President gave a quizzical look. The Pope, of course, meant Levada succeeded him at the Doctrine of Faith.

Stengel attempted to get Levada to speak about the possibility of him succeeding Benedict XVI as the Pope. “You do it very well,” the editor said when Levada told the audience that Benedict XVI had to be taught to master the skill of raise-his-arms-in-the-air-like-a-Pope. “You’re hinting at something,” Levada said. “Something I don’t even allow myself to think about.”

As with all good media events these days, the entire interview will be on Time.com soon.

Pre-interview photo op

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