The True Philadelphia Podcast With Matt O'donnell

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