Joe Donnelly reflects on time as U.S. ambassador to the Vatican

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind.-- Joe Donnelly is a household name in Michiana, representing the area in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, before being asked to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican.

Donnelly reflected on his time in Rome Wednesday before the Rotary Club of South Bend. He gave some insight into what it's like working with Pope Francis.

"His north star is that every child everywhere should have the same chance to have a wonderful life," Donnelly said. "At the same time, he's a tough boss. He runs-- he's 87, and he runs the Vatican."

His job, he said, was to be a mouth in the pope's ear.

"The pope's voice is probably heard by more people in the world than any other person," he said. "So, when the pope talked about issues, we wanted to make sure that he understood, that the church understood, here's what America believes."

Global issues came to the forefront during Donnelly's tenure in the holy city, like Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"On my first meeting with Pope Francis, we had a 45 minute meeting together. 40 minutes was on Ukraine, on how can we end this horror."

Another issue is the war in Gaza.

"Their concern was, 'how do we do this? How do we meet with hostage families, and not meet with the Palestinian families of these children and stuff?' And we said, 'on behalf of the United States, you should meet with both. You should meet with both,'" Donnelly said.

Pope Francis did meet with both families of Israeli hostage and Palestinian families.

His time as ambassador wrapped in July. Now, he teaches at his Alma mater, The University of Notre Dame.

He didn't tell ABC57 about any plans for a future in politics, but said he isn't ruling anything in or out.