Whoopi Goldberg reveals ‘remarkable’ meeting with Pope Francis 

By Matthew Santucci

Rome Newsroom, Oct 13, 2023 / 08:00 am

Whoopi Goldberg has been a staple figure of the daytime talk show “The View” since 2007. So, the acclaimed actress and co-host’s two-day absence from the show raised some eyebrows.

“As you can see, Whoopi is off today. She’s off doing something really exciting,” co-host Joy Behar said Wednesday. While Behar did not provide the exact reason for Goldberg’s absence, she said: “But trust me, it’s a good one.” She went on to suggest that the reason behind Goldberg’s absence would be revealed on Monday, Oct. 16. 

Viewers, however, did not have to wait until Monday’s show to find out what the 67-year-old actress was up to. On her Instagram page, which has 1.3 million followers, Goldberg shared a series of Instagram stories from Rome where, saying she had “the most exquisite experience.”

This was followed by a subsequent story where she revealed her meeting with Pope Francis. “So, yeah, remember I said I was here and we’re looking at all these different things? I think I forgot to mention, I met the pope today. It was pretty remarkable." 

Goldberg said the meeting allowed her an opportunity to thank the pope for his work on building inclusion, something she had had wanted to do for some time.

“He says we have to love everybody,” Goldberg said. “We can all talk about it, and that can sometimes be the best weapon with which to fight injustice.”

Following her visit with the pope she toured the photo exhibition in the Holy See Press Office titled “Changes,” which uses images to highlight the effects of climate change on vulnerable communities and ecosystems. “The pictures tell us that we have a problem and that each problem is an individual one in an individual place but that when we put them all together… it’s the world. It looks like it’s piecemeal but it isn’t, it’s really part of a much bigger picture,” Goldberg said.

Goldberg also hinted that her visit could be an opportunity to scout locations to reprise her role as Sister Mary Clarence for the final installment of the “Sister Act” film trilogy. 

“Picture Sister Act and all the nuns standing here, waiting for the pope to come out. Maybe that’s going to happen in the new movie. You don’t know. You never know, but we are in Rome, and I am in Vatican City. What could I be doing? Why could I be here? We’ll find out.”

An Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award winner, Goldberg is known for her philanthropic efforts on behalf of children and the homeless. She is a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador and has been outspoken in her advocacy of legalized abortion and the need for a global response to climate change.

Last year she was suspended for two weeks as co-host of “The View” because of what the head of ABC News called her “wrong and hurtful comments” about Jews and the Holocaust. The suspension came a day after Goldberg’s comment during a discussion on “The View” that the Holocaust was “not about race … it’s about man’s inhumanity to other man.” Goldberg quickly apologized, saying she “misspoke.”

“My words upset so many people, which was never my intention,” she said during a broadcast of the show. “I understand why now and for that I am deeply, deeply grateful because the information I got was really helpful and helped me understand some different things.”