CHARLOTTE — Like many others, Michael Kennedy said he was waiting to see who the newly elected pope would be.
After the election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, he can now say he knows the man who is now leading the Catholic Church.
“You just don’t think that when you wake up, you’re going to say, ‘I know the pope,’” said Kennedy. “Flabbergasted that this has happened.”
Kennedy told Channel 9’s Almiya White that he and Pope Leo XIV were old college friends.
“Never dreamed that I would live to see a classmate walk out on that balcony,” Kennedy expressed.
He said when the news broke, he was flooded with memories of their friendship.
“We were both at Villanova in university together. We both graduated in 1977. I was a liberal arts major; he was a math major,” Kennedy explained.
To him, Pope Leo was simply known as Bob, an all-around great guy.
“He’s brilliant. I mean, he was. I don’t know what his GPA was, but I’m willing to bet he graduated with honors. He’s a super nice guy, just, just a very gentle, you know, calm person, never seemed to get riled,” said Kennedy.
He said Pope Leo and former Pope Francis share many similarities.
“I think there’s going to be a lot of continuity between him and Pope Francis. You can see it in his opening remarks today,” Kennedy said. “He was very good at bridge, bridging the gaps between the more liberal and the more conservative wings of the church.”
All in all, Kennedy said he was honored to echo words only a few can.
“I need to go back to work, because when they do icebreakers and you tell two truths and a lie, I can say I know the Pope and see whether they can figure that, whether that’s true or not,” said Kennedy.
Kennedy further described the Chicago native as a man of deep faith who will guide those in the Catholic Church well.
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