Prime Minister Mark Carney took time during his visit to Rome for the Pope’s inaugural Mass to speak with reporters, and his Catholic faith was a topic that came up in their questions.

Carney met with Pope Leo XIV following the Mass and thanked him for his message of unity, compassion, and peace. During a press scrum, he told reporters it was “a great privilege” to represent Canada at the inaugural Mass. 

“It’s a source of inspiration for Canadians, for Catholics and for people around the world – the message of peace, the message of love, that [the Pope] emphasized, but an active peace, not peace as in absence of conflict, but peace as something that we seek.”

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During his visit, Carney also met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine; Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy; Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany, and U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance.

The conversations, he said, left him “more convinced than ever that Canada has what the world wants, and we seek to follow the values that the world respects.”

Canada has a “tremendous opportunity,” he added, “to help lead a world that is being reshaped, to the advantage of Canadians, and, in the spirit of today’s proceedings, to the advantage of all in the world.”

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The first question from a reporter noted Carney’s kneeling for Communion and asked about its significance, as well as photos he took with the Pope.

Answering in French, Carney said, “Because I am Catholic, and this was a Mass, and that’s what we do – it is part of the Mass,” noting that other leaders did the same.

As for taking photos with the Pope, he said, “I would note that virtually everybody took a picture of the Pope that was around me,” including world leaders, several of whom “came up to me and asked for a selfie that they took themselves – and this is our culture today.”

In a follow-up question in French, he was asked how, as a practising Catholic, his faith and the new Pope would influence his mandate as Prime Minister.

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He downplayed the significance of his Catholicism on his job, responding in French, “The only influence is to be a politician whose role, in this moment, is a question of service. I believe I have an obligation, a responsibility to serve Canada. But it won’t have any impact on government policy.”

He continued in English, saying, “The only influence [my faith] has in terms of my political life is the fact of my political life. In other words, I feel because of that responsibility a sense of service, which is one of the reasons why I put myself forward. It does not have an influence on the policies that the government follows.”