“We’re Better Than This” — Pope Leo XIV’s Top Three US Cardinals on 60 Minutes

Cardinals Cupich, McElroy, and Tobin sat for their first joint interview — and credited Pope Leo XIV with inspiring them to speak out against the Iran war and mass deportations.

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Before you read on: Pope Leo XIV has asked Americans to contact their members of Congress and demand an end to the war in Iran. Answer the pope’s call in one click at standwithpopeleo.com, an app we built to make it as easy as possible.

On Sunday night, Norah O’Donnell sat across from Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, Cardinal Robert McElroy of Washington, D.C., and Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark for their first joint television interview.

The CBS 60 Minutes segment aired just hours after McElroy delivered a Mass for Peace at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, where he called the Iran war “immoral” and received sustained applause.

The timing was not accidental. These three men — the only American cardinals actively leading dioceses — have spent the last several weeks watching Pope Leo XIV challenge the Trump administration on war and immigration. And on Sunday, they made clear that the pope’s example has changed their own calculus about speaking out.

Cardinal Tobin put it plainly when O’Donnell asked if the pope should be more vocal: “He’s the pastor of the world. He’s not a pundit.” But the cardinal immediately added that Leo “is going to pronounce on what’s important.” That distinction matters.

Leo has not weighed in on every policy skirmish or culture-war provocation. He has focused his authority on two issues where Catholic social teaching leaves no room for ambiguity: the sanctity of human life in wartime and the dignity of immigrants.

On Iran, the cardinals were unequivocal. McElroy declared the war unjust under Catholic teaching, citing the tradition’s strict prerequisites for a legitimate use of force.

“This is a war of choice that we went to,” he told O’Donnell. He then connected the conflict to a broader pattern that should alarm every American: “We’re seeing before us the possibility of war after war after war.”

Cupich condemned what he called “the gamification” of the war’s portrayal on social media — the White House splicing movie footage with actual bombing raids. “We’re dehumanizing the victims of war by turning the suffering of people and the killing of children and our own soldiers into entertainment,” he said.

When O’Donnell noted he had called it sickening, Cupich repeated the word. “This is not who we are. We’re better than this.”

Each cardinal has carved out a specific role in the Church’s confrontation with the administration.

Cupich has focused on the moral obscenity of war propaganda. McElroy — who served as bishop of San Diego before moving to Washington — has brought border-state credibility to the immigration debate, acknowledging that crossings “got to a point where it was getting out of control” under Biden while insisting that the current policy amounts to an indiscriminate roundup of people who have built lives and raised American children.

Tobin has been the bluntest on immigration enforcement, calling ICE “a lawless organization” back in January.

When O’Donnell pressed him on those words, Tobin stood by every one. “When they have to hide their identities to terrify people, when they can actually violate other guarantees of our Constitution and Bill of Rights, well I think somebody’s got to call that out.”

The interview also revealed the human cost the crackdown has imposed on Catholic parishes.

McElroy disclosed that Spanish-language Mass attendance in the Archdiocese of Washington dropped 30 percent from the year before. The pastor of the church where CBS conducted the interview asked that the parish’s name and location not be shared — a measure of just how deeply fear has penetrated communities that once gathered freely for worship.

O’Donnell challenged the cardinals with a political reality: Trump won the Catholic vote 55 to 43 percent over Kamala Harris, and he campaigned openly on mass deportation. Cupich drew a sharp line. “I would like to know what Catholics feel about this indiscriminate mass deportation,” he said. “I think it’s very clear the American people are saying, ‘We really didn’t vote for this.’”

Behind every exchange in the interview sat the figure of Pope Leo XIV. The cardinals made clear that Leo’s willingness to confront the administration gave them permission and purpose.

The pope criticized U.S. military action in Venezuela in January, and his condemnation of Trump’s threat to destroy Iranian civilization as “truly unacceptable” came just days before the ceasefire announcement.

By Palm Sunday, Leo was warning that Jesus “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war.”

McElroy’s Mass for Peace on Saturday night was a direct answer to Leo’s call for Catholics to “contact the authorities — political leaders, congressmen — to ask them, tell them to work for peace and to reject war always.”

The interview ended with a look at what comes next. O’Donnell noted that Pope Leo will spend July 4th in Lampedusa, the Italian island where tens of thousands of migrants have landed — and where thousands more have drowned — on their way to Europe.

The timing is unmistakable: America’s 250th birthday, and the first American pope will mark it not in Washington or Rome but on a rock in the Mediterranean where the world’s forgotten wash ashore.

Cupich said the visit sends a message that Leo’s “top priority right now is to be with those who are downcast and marginalized.” Tobin answered the question with a grin and a reference to another famous lady on an island — the Statue of Liberty, which sits in the Archdiocese of Newark. “She’s holding up a torch, and she’s reading from a scroll, and it says, ‘Welcome.’”

The segment closed with a striking data point. Catholic conversions in the United States have reached their highest numbers in recent years, with Tobin’s archdiocese hitting an all-time record for new members. When O’Donnell asked if Pope Leo deserved credit, Tobin answered without hesitation. “I believe that Pope Leo is the right man at this time.”

The American Catholic Church is not a political party. But under Leo’s papacy, it has emerged as the institution most willing to say what millions of Americans already believe — and what their government refuses to hear.

These three cardinals made that case on national television Sunday night. Now 53 million American Catholics know what their Church expects of them.

At Letters from Leo, we stand with Cardinals Cupich, McElroy, and Tobin — and with the millions of American Catholics who believe that war is not a game, that immigrants deserve dignity, and that the Church must speak when governments lose their moral bearings.

In a country where cruelty has become policy and propaganda has replaced accountability, this community exists because people are hungry for something grounded in the Gospel rather than partisan rage.

The fastest-growing Catholic community in the country did not build itself on fear. It was built by readers who believe that faith demands courage — and who refuse to stay silent while their government wages unjust war and terrorizes immigrant families.

If you believe this movement matters — Catholics and people of goodwill standing for human dignity in a moment of profound moral crisis — I am asking you to join us.

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