President Obama speaks at Notre Dame in 2009.

President Barack Obama was asked his thoughts on the possibility of an American pope by George Stephanopoulos. This is what he said:

It seems to me that an American pope would preside just as effectively as a Polish pope, or an Italian pope, or a Guatemalan pope. I don’t know if you’ve checked lately, but the Conference of Catholic Bishops here in the United States don’t seem to be taking orders from me. My hope is based on what I know about the Catholic Church, and the terrific work they’ve done around the world and certainly in this country in helping those who are less fortunate, is that you have a pope who sustains and maintains what I consider the central message of the gospel: we treat everybody as the children of God, and that we love them the way Jesus Christ taught us to love them.

Watch the video here.