The Catholic Church’s College of Cardinals made history Thursday by electing the first American pope, Robert Prevost, who took the name Pope Leo XIV. The liberal media celebrated Leo as a pope cut from a similar cloth to Pope Francis, while downplaying the reported Republican streak to his voting history. But during an appearance on CNN News Central, liberal Catholic writer Michael Sean Winters (of National Catholic Reporter) lashed out at conservatives and told them to search their souls and change their politics. “Can you talk a little bit about you know, what the task at hand is for this pope when it comes to unity and or reforming?” asked co-host Brianna Keilar. Winters argued that it was “very clear” that the Cardinals had elected Leo to “land the plane” of Francis’s reforms: So, I mean, the cardinals were very clear in choosing Cardinal Prevost to be the pope, that they want to continue the reforms Pope Francis has started. And Prevost is a very great manager. He will maybe be able to institutionalize some of them, some of these reforms in ways that Francis had just begun. Somebody who can land the plane, if you will.     He scoffed at talk of unity within the church as just a “conservative talking point” and suggested that those conservative Catholics “change” their politics: You know, that unity talk has become a conservative talking point in recent weeks. You know, so long as it's not a heckler's veto, I'm all for unity. But we're Catholics; you get behind the pope. And there's only one pope. And if he's teaching the gospel in a way that doesn't cohere with your politics, as a Catholic, you have to ask yourself if your politics need to change. Near the end of the interview, when asked about tensions in the church over the direction its heading, Winters again chided the conservative wing. According to him, it was merely a small but loud group that needed to search their souls: But I think the tensions especially in America, there's a conservative group that's been very well funded and very well organized. But I've been saying for two weeks, since Pope Francis died, that they were really a minuscule part of the population and they have to do some soul searching, now. “I think they thought this archconservative was going to come in and role everything back. And clearly, the cardinals of the worldwide church said, no, we're moving ahead,” he mocked. The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: CNN News Central May 8, 2025 3:57:00 p.m. Eastern (…) BRIANNA KEILAR: Can you talk a little bit about you know, what the task at hand is for this pope when it comes to unity and or reforming? MICHAEL SEAN WINTERS (National Catholic Reporter): So, I mean, the cardinals were very clear in choosing Cardinal Prevost to be the pope, that they want to continue the reforms Pope Francis has started. And Prevost is a very great manager. He will maybe be able to institutionalize some of them, some of these reforms in ways that Francis had just begun. Somebody who can land the plane, if you will. You know, that unity talk has become a conservative talking point in recent weeks. You know, so long as it's not a heckler's veto, I'm all for unity. But we're Catholics; you get behind the pope. And there's only one pope. And if he's teaching the gospel in a way that doesn't cohere with your politics, as a Catholic, you have to ask yourself if your politics need to change. BORIS SANCHEZ: Wow. (…) 3:59:10 p.m. Eastern KEILAR: And just really quickly, Michael, is you mentioned there is some tension there in the church in the direction people want to see it go. What is the challenge facing this pope? WINTERS: Well, clearly there wasn't much of a challenge division within the College of Cardinals. Relatively quickly, they reached a two-thirds-plus-one decision, to continue with Francis's reforms and to entrust them to Pope Leo, who will be his own man and will do things differently. But I think the tensions especially in America, there's a conservative group that's been very well funded and very well organized. But I've been saying for two weeks, since pope Francis died, that they were really a minuscule part of the population and they have to do some soul searching, now. I think they thought this archconservative was going to come in and role everything back. And clearly, the cardinals of the worldwide church said, no, we're moving ahead.