The “Inside the Vatican” team is together in Rome—live and in person—for the Synod on Synodality’s final week. Host Colleen Dulle, veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O'Connell and producer Ricardo da Silva, S.J., discuss last week’s most contentious story out of the Vatican: the scheduled meeting of Study Group 5, which is considering ways to increase participation for women in the Church, including the possibility of women deacons.

The team examines the “palpable outrage” reported by delegates during their scheduled meeting, where they expected to engage with the Vatican's doctrinal chief and study group members. Instead, they were met by staffers from his office. This unexpected turn not only frustrated delegates but raises serious questions about the real commitment to synodality in the church’s highest ranks.

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On this week’s episode of “Inside the Vatican,” Colleen Dulle and Ricardo da Silva, S.J., are joined by Rev. Matthew Laferty, a Methodist minister who works for the World Methodist Council and represents the Methodist church’s relationship with the Catholic Church and the Vatican. They discuss how the Catholic Church’s current Synod on Synodality is inspiring deeper conversations and greater unity between the Christian churches.

A link to further reading from the episode will be added here soon.

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The 2024 session of the Synod on Synodality has reached its halfway point. In this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” producer Ricardo da Silva, S.J., reporting from Rome, provides an overview of the second week of the synod.

Then, joined by Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell, the two explore some central themes that are beginning to emerge from this session of the synod, including the growing role for theologians, the reimagining of ordained ministries and how the Catholic Church's efforts to foster unity with fellow Christian churches are central to its understanding of synodality. 

Inside the Vatican's synod coverage is sponsored in part by the Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara University.

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Links:

Synod Diary: Father James Martin’s halftime report from inside the synod hall

Brazilian Cardinal talks restoring women deacons, ordaining married men at synod press briefing

Pope Francis hears testimonies from transgender and intersex Catholics

Further synod coverage from America:

The keys to a bishop’s role in a synodal church: collaboration and compassion

Interview: Laurence Gien, the abuse survivor and opera singer who spoke at the Vatican

Writing to 21 new cardinals, Pope Francis urges them to be compassionate shepherds

Synod Diary: Lessons from the Jesuit pilgrimage for the synod slog

Synod Diary: Women deacons are not a ‘Western’ obsession

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On this week’s episode of “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle is joined by Laurence Gien, a survivor of clerical sexual abuse who spoke about his experience as part of a penitential celebration in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on Oct. 1, 2024.

Calling for healing for survivors and administrative urgency from the church to address their pain, Mr. Gien saw his testimony as an important symbolic act to promote transparency and accountability for people wounded by the Catholic Church—many of whom remain unnamed and unheard.

Find links for further reading from the episode here.

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The second session of the Synod on Synodality began with a penitential liturgy at St. Peter's Basilica, where a victim of child sexual abuse shared his story for the first time during an official liturgy there. This underscored the church's commitment to naming its sins, greater transparency and accountability.

On this episode of Inside the Vatican, host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell are joined by producer Ricardo da Silva, S.J., to recap the first week of the synod. While the consideration of contentious issues like the ordination of women to the diaconate have been tabled from the official agenda and set aside for deeper study, they continue to be raised by delegates despite this, as Ricardo reports.

Later, Colleen and Gerry discuss some of the 21 cardinals-elect named at the weekend by Pope Francis—all but one eligible to vote in the conclave—and how each aligns with his vision for a more inclusive, compassionate church, serving the most marginalized.

Find links for further reading from the episode here.

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Colleen Dulle and Gerard O'Connell tackle your burning questions in a special mailbag episode of “Inside the Vatican.” Tune in for their answers on issues that matter to ordinary Catholics. What real changes can we expect from the Synod on Synodality? Why won’t Pope Francis travel to Paris for the grand reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral this December? And how is the Vatican responding to the rapidly expanding war in the Middle East? Colleen even shares her thoughts on who the next pope might be, while Gerry explains why he prefers to opt out of such speculation.

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This episode of “Inside the Vatican” was originally slated to be our mailbag Q. and A. episode, but with so much news, Gerry and Colleen are focusing this week on the most newsworthy moments from Pope Francis’ visit to Belgium. Sexual abuse was a main issue going into this visit; what was less expected were the criticisms the pope faced on the role of women in the church and society.

In the second half of the show, Colleen and Gerry explain the expulsion of ten members of an influential Catholic lay group in Peru. One of those suspended was a Catholic journalist, which raises the question: Are Vatican sanctions like these in conflict with the freedom of the press?

Find links for further reading from the episode here.

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Among the youngest people in a room of mostly bishops, Julia Oseka and José Manuel De Urquidi were in the first group of lay voting members at a synod, as delegates to the Synod on Synodality held at the Vatican last year. In an episode of “Inside the Vatican” recorded last month, José and Julia join host Colleen Dulle for an interview about their experience at the synod: a month of deep listening, dialogue, and disagreement handled with respect—even on sensitive topics like LGBT issues and women’s ordination—and what they expect from this year’s gathering.

Colleen, Gerry and the 'Inside the Vatican' and 'Jesuitical' teams return to the Vatican to deliver in-depth reporting and on-the-ground analysis of the Synod on Synodality as it happens. Great news: you can follow along from home! Visit AmericaMagazine.org/subscribe and you’ll get access to daily synod diaries along with our full coverage. If you have questions about the synod or topics about the Vatican you’d like us to cover during the synod, let us know! Send an email to [email protected]

Find links for further reading from the episode here.

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Links for further reading

Five things to watch for in the upcoming October synod

I listened to Synod delegates opposed to LGBTQ issues. Here are my responses.

Women deacons, LGBT issues not on the agenda for October’s synod meeting

Vatican II—and its media coverage—has a lesson for today’s synod: Don’t expect immediate results

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On Sept. 19, the Vatican officially recognized Medjugorje as a place of pilgrimage and popular piety, stopping short of confirming the supernatural origin of the apparitions. The next day, Pope Francis, in a fiery speech to global grassroots organizers, criticized the wealthy for obstructing social justice and advocated for higher taxes on billionaires, an end to sports betting, and a universal basic income.

Also on the show, host Colleen Dulle and Vatican reporter Gerard O’Connell discuss Pope Francis’ visit to Belgium and Luxembourg from Sept. 26-29 and what he might find in these increasingly secularized, historically Catholic countries.

Find links for further reading from the episode here.

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Links for further reading

• Vatican finally approves Medjugorje devotion: visit Mary but not the visionaries
• Pope Francis says tax billionaires, stop sports betting in fiery economics speech
• Vatican cancels papal audiences because Pope Francis has ‘slight flu’
• Why supernatural apparitions are a mixed blessing for the Vatican

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Pope Francis’ 12-day Southeast Asia visit ended in striking contrast to its start, reports veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell. Singapore’s relatively empty streets upon his arrival gave way to 55,000 supporters in the stadium for his final Mass, where he took extra time to greet and bless children. On the flight back to Rome, resuming his now-anticipated press conferences, Pope Francis criticized U.S. presidential candidates, labeling Kamala Harris’s views on abortion and Donald Trump’s migration policies as “both against life.”

In the second half of the show, Gerry and host Colleen Dulle share the latest plans for the next session of the Synod on Synodality next month.

Do you have a question for our mailbag episode? We’d love to hear from you! You can submit your questions in writing or send a voice memo to [email protected]. Please include your first name in any voice message. Questions are due Sept. 27.

Find links for further reading from the episode here.

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Pope Francis continues his longest international visit to date: an almost-two-week tour of Southeast Asia and Oceania. Veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell reports live from Dili, the capital city of Timor Leste, sharing insights into the pope’s historic visit to Papua New Guinea and Timor Leste—where nearly half of the country’s population gathered to celebrate Mass with him—and previews the final leg of the trip to Singapore.

Read more about the pope's historic trip to Asia

Do you have a question for our mailbag episode? We’d love to hear from you! You can submit your questions in writing or send a voice memo to [email protected]. Please include your first name in any voice message. Questions are due Sept. 27.

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This week, Pope Francis embarked on the longest journey of his pontificate: A two-week trip across Southeast Asia and Oceania. In the season premiere of ‘Inside the Vatican,’ veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell reports from Jakarta, Indonesia, on how the visit is progressing and what lies ahead as the pope travels to Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste, and Singapore.

Find links for further reading on the pope’s Asia trip here.

Do you have a question for our mailbag episode?

Do you have questions about the Synod on Synodality or other Vatican matters? Submit them via email to [email protected] by Sept. 27. You can choose to send your question in writing or as a voice memo, but please make sure to include your first name if you’re sending a voice memo.

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The Vatican declared Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò guilty of schism and excommunicated on July 4. For anyone who has followed the archbishop’s public statements over the past few years, the decision was anything but a surprise. Still, no one could have predicted that this Vatican diplomat with more than 40 years of service would fall so precipitously from favor.

In this special deep dive episode of “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle interviews journalists, a canon lawyer, and a historian to trace Viganò’s transformation from top Vatican official to being excommunicated for schism, and what that transformation means for the rest of the Catholic Church.

Special guests:

• Robert Moynihan, editor-in-chief of Inside the Vatican magazine and a friend of Viganò
• Gerard O’Connell, Vatican correspondent for America
• Dawn Eden Goldstein, who holds a licentiate in canon law from the Catholic University of America
• Shaun Blanchard, lecturer in theology at the University of Notre Dame Australia

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Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò faces a Vatican trial for schism that is likely to end quickly. In this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell and host Colleen Dulle explain the charges against the Vatican’s former nuncio to the U.S., and what happens next in his extrajudicial disciplinary process.

Later, Colleen shares with Gerry what happened when she asked the prefect of Vatican communications Paolo Ruffini’s to explain why his dicastery continues to use artwork by the disgraced ex-Jesuit Marko Rupnik in its publications.

Find links for further reading from the episode here.

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Pope Francis met individually with ten world leaders at the G7 Summit. He also made history as the first pope to attend and deliver a speech at the gathering, where he urged delegates to prioritize ethics in artificial intelligence for the common good. Earlier that day, he had met with 100 international comedians at the Vatican. In this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” hosts Colleen Dulle and Gerard O’Connell bring you inside both events.

Father James Martin, S.J., joins them to discuss the pope’s meeting with comedians, which he attended, and his hour-long private meeting with the pope, during which he asked about the pope’s reported use of a homophobic slur in closed-door meetings at the Vatican.

NEWS UPDATE: After our recording, news broke that Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganó had been charged with schism by the Vatican and will face trial. You can read Gerry’s report here.

Find links for further reading from the episode here.

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U.S. Cardinal Robert McElroy urged U.S. Catholics to be “more vigorous advocates” in support of Pope Francis’ calls for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, in an interview with America’s veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell.

On this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” Gerry and host Colleen Dulle discuss Gerry’s interview with the cardinal and give an overview of a busy week for the pope. On Friday, he will meet with a group of comedians including Whoopi Goldberg and Stephen Colbert, then travel to southern Italy for the G7 summit, where he will meet U.S. President Joe Biden.

After this episode was recorded, news broke that Pope Francis had reportedly again used the anti-gay slur that he apologized for using two weeks ago. Read more at the link below.

Find links for further reading from the episode here.

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Pope Francis hosted the inaugural World Children’s Day, a Vatican initiative held from May 25 to 26 at Rome’s Olympic Stadium and St. Peter’s Square. The event drew around 50,000 children spanning more than 100 nationalities and featured conversations between the young participants and Pope Francis. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and actor Roberto Benigni were also in attendance. With the event, the pope hoped to raise awareness about the plight of children caught in war, promote global peace, care for the environment and empower the younger generation.

On the show, producer and guest host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., and veteran Vatican reporter Gerard O’Connell discuss this unique event and the Vatican’s ongoing efforts to foster peace and dialogue among warring factions worldwide.

Later, Gerry reflects on “20 Days in Mariupol,” the award-winning film he saw at the Vatican. The documentary, screened as part of a special event hosted by the British and Ukrainian embassies to the Holy See, exposes the atrocities committed by Russian forces in Ukraine. It highlights the horrors of war and underscores the crucial role of journalists in uncovering the truth.

Links for further reading from the episode here

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Pope Francis is under fire for reportedly using a homophobic slur during a closed-door meeting with Italian bishops at the Vatican on May 20. The incident occurred during a Q&A session where seminary admissions policy for gay candidates was discussed. Despite a swift apology from the Vatican on the pope’s behalf, the incident has led many to question whether there are limits to what had hitherto been perceived as Pope Francis’ welcoming and inclusive stance toward L.G.B.T.Q. persons.

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., and co-host and veteran Vatican reporter Gerard O’Connell discuss the recent incident, the Vatican’s apology, and its aftermath. They discuss the pope’s concerns about seminary formation, including fears of priests leading “double lives” and a perceived “gay subculture” in seminaries. They also revisit a 2005 document from the Congregation for Catholic Education, which has been reaffirmed by Pope Francis, barring gay men from entering seminaries to train for the priesthood.

Find links for further reading from the episode here

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A day after news broke that Pope Francis had allegedly used a derogatory word about gay men applying to seminaries in a closed-door conversation with Italian bishops, the Vatican has issued an official response:

“Pope Francis is aware of articles that recently came out about a conversation, behind closed doors,” said Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office. “The pope never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms, and he extends his apologies to those who were offended by the use of a term, reported by others.”

For more on this story, click the links below:

Pope Francis says Italian seminaries should reject gay applicants

Vatican issues apology after Pope Francis’ use of a homophobic slur

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In his 60 Minutes interview with Norah O’Donnell, Pope Francis said a categorical “no” to women deacons with Holy Orders. In this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell unpack the implications of the pope’s comment and discuss the broader highlights of the interview, including Pope Francis’ thoughts on his U.S. critics, antisemitism, and the hope he finds in humanity.

In the second part of the show, Colleen and Gerry dig into the Vatican's new document on authenticating Marian apparitions and alleged “supernatural phenomena.” Released May 17, the 13-page guide establishes new, much-needed norms for evaluating such phenomena. 

Plus, stay tuned for headlines about Pope Francis' travels, a significant conference in Rome on the Catholic Church in China, and more.

Find links for further reading from the episode here.

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On May 9, Pope Francis issued a papal bull proclaiming the 2025 Jubilee Year. The document, resembling a social encyclical, urges nations to grant amnesty to prisoners and calls on the world’s most powerful entities to forgive the debts of poor countries. Can Pope Francis’ calls match the impact of John Paul II’s in the Jubilee of 2000?

Later, Colleen shares her review of reports from a global synod meeting of 200 parish priests, held just outside Rome, and suggests that this meeting gave rise to a collective vision for a “synodal parish”.

Links from the episode here.

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As the war in the Holy Land continues to escalate and protests break out on university campuses around the world, Pope Francis persists in his calls for peace. But is it possible? Where does peace begin?

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” David Neuhaus, S.J., an Israeli priest who teaches Scripture in Israel and Palestine, joins hosts Colleen Dulle and Gerard O’Connell for a conversation on what he believes can bring peace in the Holy Land war. He reflects on how Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs can engage in dialogue without dismissing each other’s painful histories, and emphasizes the need for sensitive language when addressing each other’s traumatic histories.

Find full show notes and links for further reading here.

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Pope Francis made history by becoming the first pope to attend the iconic Venice Biennale cultural festival in its 128-year history. After a Vatican-sponsored exhibition at a women’s prison, he met with inmates and staff before celebrating Mass in St. Mark’s Square.

Looking ahead, host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican reporter Gerard O’Connell preview the pope’s forthcoming visits to Italian cities, including his expected appearance at the G7 summit in Puglia next month. Pope Francis will become the first pope to address the G7, sharing his concerns about the unchecked growth of artificial intelligence and its profound ethical implications.

Find full show notes and links for further reading here.

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“A negotiated peace is better than a war without end,” said Pope Francis in an exclusive interview with CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell, marking the first such interview for network television in the U.S. Amid conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, the pope advocated for global peace. The full interview airs May 19 on CBS’s “60 Minutes,” covering topics such as child welfare, women’s roles, L.G.B.T.Q. ministry and speculation on the pope’s resignation.

Recording “Inside the Vatican” live from Buenos Aires, host Colleen Dulle reflects on her visit to the pope’s homeland, which has given her a deeper understanding of his emphasis on “being amongst the people,” she says, and his belief that “you can’t do theology behind a desk.” She highlights the vibrant lay ministry in Argentina and the impact of the newly instituted ministry of catechist, which she’s now seen in action firsthand.

Later, Gerry shares insights from his interview with Mark Lewis, S.J., who will lead the newly merged Gregorian University. The integration of the Biblical and Oriental Institutes with the Gregorian under Father Lewis’ leadership marks a historic first step by the Jesuits in the effort for greater synergy and collaboration among the pontifical institutions in Rome.

Find links from the show here

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After being removed by Pope Francis as head of the papal household, evicted from his Vatican apartment and returned to his native diocese in Germany, Archbishop Georg Gänswein is reportedly set to be appointed as a nuncio, or papal ambassador.

On this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell and host Colleen Dulle analyze the reported forthcoming appointment of Benedict XVI’s longtime secretary and how it fits into the archbishop’s often publicly tumultuous relationship with Pope Francis.

In the second half of the show, Colleen and Gerry break down Pope Francis’ brief but dense statement responding to the military escalation between Iran and Israel this past weekend.

Find full show notes and links for further reading here.

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The Vatican released a document on human dignity this week with sections denouncing what it calls “gender theory” and “sex change.”

In this special round table episode of “Inside the Vatican,” America’s Editor-in-Chief Fr. Sam Sawyer, S.J. and the Executive Director of Outreach, America’s LGBT Catholic resource, Michael O’Loughlin, join host Colleen Dulle for a discussion on the document “Dignitas Infinita” and the pastoral challenges it presents in the guests’ ministry to LGBT Catholics.

Find full show page and links for further reading here.

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This week, the Vatican issued a new document on human dignity. Although it primarily reiterates established Catholic teaching on various topics, it has already become controversial because of its condemnations of gender theory, sex change efforts, and surrogate motherhood.

On this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell analyze the document. Since much of what is covered in the document has already been addressed by the Vatican, Colleen asks, why publish this declaration now? And why did it take five years to put together?

Find full show notes and links for further reading here.

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Catholics from the pews to the pope are worried about young priests. The October 2023 synod recommended a number of changes to the seminary system, but to understand them, one first needs to understand how priests are formed, and how that process has undergone major changes in recent years.

In this special “Deep Dive” episode of “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle speaks to seminarians, rectors (seminaries’ top administrators), professors and psychologists from across North America to give a comprehensive picture of seminary formation today and the challenges formators are seeing. Along the way, the episode explains the synod’s specific reform requests and what we know about what will happen next.

Read the full show notes and find links to read more here.

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As Catholics around the world observe Holy Week, the hosts of “Inside the Vatican,” Colleen Dulle and Gerard O’Connell, take a look at Pope Francis’ Holy Week plans.

In the second half of the show, Gerry and Colleen discuss Gerry’s recent interview with Vatican Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Gallagher. Colleen also gives updates on a recent meeting between the German bishops and Vatican officials over the controversial “Synodal Way” project, and on Pope Francis’ Holy Week letter to Catholics living in the Holy Land.

Find full show notes and links for further reading here.

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The Vatican announced the creation of 10 study groups to focus on themes that arose at last October’s Synod on Synodality, an announcement that prompted mixed reactions: Are the groups a way to “kick the can down the road,” on controversial questions like the possibility of ordaining women deacons, asks host Colleen Dulle, or are they the beginning of a new, synodal way of making decisions in the church?

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” Colleen and Gerry discuss the study groups along with new appointments to the Pontifical Council for the Protection of Minors, and Pope Francis’ new book, Life, My Story Through History.

Find full show notes and links for further reading here.

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Over the weekend, Pope Francis was strongly criticized by Ukrainian civil and church leaders for a comment he made in an interview, saying that Ukraine needed “the courage of the white flag” to negotiate with Russia for peace.

On this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell and host Colleen Dulle examine the pope’s comments, give an update on the Holy See’s diplomatic push for peace both in Ukraine and Gaza, and talk about what’s next for Pope Francis on this 11th anniversary of his election.

Read the full show notes and find links to read more here.

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Anglican Bishop Jo Bailey Wells spoke at a meeting of Pope Francis’ Council of Cardinal Advisors on Feb. 5., about her own experience as an ordained woman in the Church of England and the journey her church  took before reaching the decision to ordain women. She was one of two women to present at the meeting, the second in a series of encounters with women theologians that Sister Linda Pocher, F.M.A., is arranging for the pope’s cabinet, aimed at looking more deeply at the role of women in the church between the 2023 and 2024 sessions of the Synod on Synodality.

Bishop Wells joins host Colleen Dulle to discuss her experience addressing Pope Francis and his closest advisors.

Find a text version of this interview in lieu of our usual show page here.

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Five years after Pope Francis convened a global summit on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, two previously anonymous alleged victims of Father Marko Rupnik decided to speak out about their experiences.

On “Inside the Vatican,” guest host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., recaps the Rupnik case before interviewing veteran Vatican reporter Gerard O’Connell about a press conference held on Feb. 21 at the Rome headquarters of the Italian National Press Federation. There, Gloria Branciani and Mirjam Kovac publicly discussed the alleged abuses they endured, imploring Vatican authorities to be transparent regarding the ongoing investigation by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Gerry reports that the dicastery has interviewed all the alleged victims and has all but concluded its investigation. “He risks, I understand, being removed from the priesthood,” Gerry says. “But, at the end of the day, because of the process that is underway in the dicastery, it’ll be the pope who has to make that final decision.”

Read the full show notes and find links to read more here.

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This week, the Vatican is relatively quiet, as Pope Francis and the top Roman Curia officials make their Lenten retreat. As he has done since 2021, the pope has asked each official to make their retreat individually, centered on private prayer and spiritual exercises.

Austen Ivereigh’s latest book, First Belong to God: On Retreat with Pope Francis, helps all people of faith do just that. The author joins host Colleen Dulle this week to discuss his proposed retreat, as well as his experience covering Pope Francis both as a journalist and now—with his latest book—as a spiritual writer. He also shares his plans for his third biography of the present pope, focussed on the pope’s trajectory since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Find the full episode page and links for further reading here.

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This week on “Inside the Vatican,” producer Ricardo da Silva—filling in for host Colleen Dulle—joins veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell to discuss what Gerry is calling “Argentine Weekend” at the Vatican. This past weekend brought the canonization of Argentina’s first woman saint, along with a surprisingly warm meeting between the pope and Argentina’s new, ultraconservative president Javier Milei. The hosts also debrief the story of “Mama Antula,” the new Argentine saint Pope Francis canonized this weekend.

In the second half of the show, Gerry and Ricardo analyze the pope’s meeting with his council of cardinal advisors, to which a female Anglican bishop was invited to speak about women’s ordination.

Find the full episode page and links for further reading here.

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In this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell recap the recent Anglican-Catholic summit that took place in Rome and Canterbury, England. Gerry explains what he sees as the major shift in Anglican-Catholic dialogue from theological discussion to concrete action under Pope Francis.

In part two of the episode, Colleen and Gerry analyze a letter Pope Francis sent to Israeli Jews. Why did the pope choose to address a religious group within Israel, rather than the entire nation?

Find the full episode page and links for further reading here.

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This week on “Inside the Vatican,” veteran correspondent Gerard O’Connell and host Colleen Dulle discuss Pope Francis’ recent interview with the Italian daily newspaper La Stampa. There, the pope opens up about his feelings of loneliness and once more reaffirms his defense of the Vatican’s declaration approving blessings for couples in “irregular situations.” In the second half of the show, Colleen and Gerry explore the appointment of three new bishops and the approval of a new diocese in China, actions that indicate rapid developments in the Vatican’s complex relationship with China.

Find the full episode page and links for further reading here.

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In this episode, Gerard O’Connell and Colleen Dulle discuss Pope Francis’ recent meeting with journalists, exploring his views on journalism and comparing them to past popes. They also parse the pope’s comments about declining birth rates across much of Europe and address the politicization of the issue and his call for global economic reforms that promote and support the well-being of young families.

Find the full episode page and links for further reading here.

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On Dec. 18, Pope Francis opened the possibility for priests to bless same-sex couples and couples who the church considers to be living in what it calls “irregular” situations.

In this roundtable episode of “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle, Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell, and America national correspondent Michael J. O’Loughlin dive into “Fiducia Supplicans,” the Vatican’s declaration on these blessings, examining its content, the reactions it has prompted among bishops and laypeople, and what it might signify for the future of the church. 

Find the full episode page and links for further reading here.

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In their first episode of the new year, veteran Vatican reporter Gerard O’Connell and host Colleen Dulle dissect Pope Francis’ “State of the World” address and reveal his plans for 2024, including significant international trips, high-level Vatican appointments, and the opening of Jubilee Year 2025.

Find the full episode page and links for further reading here.

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A Vatican tribunal has sentenced Cardinal Angelo Becciu to five and a half years in prison, the first such sentence in at least 500 years.

This week on Inside the Vatican, veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell and host Colleen Dulle explain the financial scandal that led to the trial, the dramatic revelations that emerged throughout it, and what happens next—both to Cardinal Becciu and with Pope Francis’ financial and judicial reforms.

Read the full show notes and find links for further reading here.

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On Monday Dec. 18, the Vatican’s doctrinal office issued a declaration stating that priests can bless same-sex couples as long as the blessing does not resemble a marriage or coincide with a civil union ceremony.

This declaration follows up on a controversial 2021 response from the dicastery that stated same-sex unions could not be blessed in a liturgical context. The new declaration does not overturn the previous teaching against liturgical blessings, but does allow priests to give non-liturgical blessings to couples in irregular situations, such as a same-sex relationship.

James Martin, S.J., editor-at-large at America Magazine, discusses the significance of this development, noting that it is a step forward and offers a deeper theological reflection. Requesting a blessing is “a holy desire for God's help,” says Father Martin. “Rather than saying God doesn't bless sin, it’s saying, God blesses all of us in our desire for God’s presence in our lives.” Father Martin believes that this declaration is an important step towards inclusivity and pastoral care for L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics, their families and friends.

“This is an early Christmas present for the Catholic Church and for so many people who have felt that God really isn’t accompanying them—and that the church, more specifically, is not accompanying them—and now they will feel more accompanied and able to do these things in public.”

Read more

Pope Francis’ same-sex blessings declaration is a major step forward for LGBTQ Catholics

Pope Francis allows blessings of couples in same-sex relationships

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In this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle is joined by Mike Lewis, the editor in chief of Where Peter Is, a blog site dedicated to countering criticism of Pope Francis from the small but vocal resistance in the U.S. church. 

In the wake of Pope Francis’ recent decisions to remove Bishop Joseph Strickland from his diocese in Tyler, Tex. and revoke Cardinal Raymond Burke’s salary and Vatican apartment, Colleen and Mike discuss the long-simmering tensions between Francis and certain voices in the U.S. church, why those tensions are boiling over in this particular moment, and potential opportunities for bridge-building between Pope Francis and his critics.

Read the full show notes and find links to read more here.

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Pope Francis canceled his trip to the United Nations’ COP28 climate conference due to his ongoing bout of bronchitis. In this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell and host Colleen Dulle discuss the Pope's health and his message on climate change. 

Colleen and Gerry also cover Pope Francis' decision to cut Cardinal Raymond Burke's salary from the Vatican’s payroll and possibly evict him from his Vatican apartment. They analyze the probable reasons behind this decision and the implications this move might have for the pope's relationship with his critics. Finally, they touch on the escalating conflict in Gaza and the pope's relentless calls for peace.

Read the full show notes and find links to read more here.

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The synod delegates have returned home and the round tables have been put away. So now, a month after the first Roman meeting of the Synod on Synodality, many Catholics are left wondering: What just happened?

This deep dive episode of “Inside the Vatican” explains the key events and dynamics of the synod, combining recordings from synod events with a diverse selection of interviews, inviting you to “listen in” on this historic meeting.

Interviews include:

• Vimal Tirimanna, C.Ss.R., a synod member and moral theologian from Sri Lanka
• Dr. Catherine Clifford, an ecclesiologist and member of the synod
• Bishop Bill McGrattan, president of the Canadian bishops’ conference and a synod member
• John Thavis, former Rome bureau chief of Catholic News Service
• Olivier Poquillon, O.P., a member of the synod’s methodology commission and rector of the École Biblique in Jerusalem

Find the full episode page and links for further reading about the synod here.

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Pope Francis has canceled his scheduled trip to Dubai for the COP28 climate conference on doctor’s orders. In this brief update episode, host Colleen Dulle explains what we know about the pope’s illness so far.

Links from the show:

On doctor’s orders, Pope Francis cancels trip to Dubai for climate conference

Pope Francis punishes Cardinal Burke, revokes Vatican apartment and salary

This #GivingTuesday, please consider making a tax-free donation to America Media at americamagazine.org/donate. Thank you!

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The “Inside the Vatican” team is hard at work on a deep dive episode unpacking what happened at last month’s Synod on Synodality. So this week, we’re bringing you a brief news update.

On the day this update is released, Nov. 22, Pope Francis is expected to meet with families of Israelis being held hostage by Hamas, and separately with a group of Palestinians who have relatives in Gaza. He’s expected to meet each group for around 30 minutes just before his general audience. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the meetings are “exclusively humanitarian in nature” and are meant to express the pope’s closeness to those suffering.

At the end of next week, the pope will travel to Dubai to address the COP28 climate summit. Gerry will be traveling with him on the visit, and you can follow his reporting at americamagazine.org.

Finally, please consider making a tax-free donation to America Media for #GivingTuesday! Visit americamagazine.org/donate. Thank you!

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In this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell analyze Pope Francis’ headline-making decision to oust Bishop Joseph Strickland as the head of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas.

They also review Gerry’s recent interviews with cardinals and bishops from around the world to learn how these leaders are implementing synodality in their dioceses. 

Find the full episode page, show notes and links here.

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In this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell discuss Pope Francis’ diplomatic approach to the ongoing war in Israel and Gaza.

They also talk about the pope’s historic announcement that he will attend the COP28 Climate Conference in Dubai next month.

Read the full show notes and find links to read more here.

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Theologian Catherine Clifford is an expert on ecclesiology and the history of Vatican II, and she was a full voting member of the Synod on Synodality representing North America. She joined host Colleen Dulle in Rome near the end of the synod to explain the major implications the synod has on the Catholic Church’s structures and its hierarchical nature.

Read the full show notes and find links to read more here.

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On this special crossover episode of Jesuitical and Inside the Vatican, Zac Davis speaks with his colleagues Gerard O’Connell, Sam Sawyer, S.J., and synod member James Martin, S.J., about the concluding document of the recent synod on synodality in Rome. They discuss:

• The open debate about women’s ordination to the diaconate
• Why reference to L.G.B.T. Catholics was not included in the synthesis document
• What the synthesis document is and how it can be read and used widely
• Was this really a synod of bishops?
• Plus, new paths for appointing bishops and performance reviews

Links:

• Father James Martin: What happened at the Synod on Synodality
• Cardinal Cupich on the synod, women deacons, giving bishops job reviews and why ‘LGBTQ’ was left out of the final doc
• Synod publishes final report and votes: Calls for more discussion on synodality, women deacons and more
• Full text: Pope Francis’ homily closing the 2023 Synod on Synodality

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In this “Inside the Vatican,” episode host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell discuss the final week of the Synod on Synodality and the Letter to the People of God, released Oct. 25 after the approval of synod participants. The letter is the first of two documents expected from the synod before it concludes its business in Rome on Oct. 29.

They also talk about the Vatican’s response to the ongoing crisis in Israel and Gaza, including Pope Francis’ weekend phone call with President Biden. Plus, some late-breaking news on Pope Francis’ speech decrying institutional clericalism.

Read the full show notes and find links to read more here.

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The Rev. Clarence Devadass, a priest of the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a synod delegate, and a host of the “Catholics at Home” podcast, joins Colleen Dulle and Gerard O’Connell to talk about his experience of bringing together Asia’s diverse cultures in one continental synod document, and how he hopes he has represented those experiences in the synod hall.

Read the full show notes and find links to read more here.

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In this bonus “Inside the Vatican” episode, host Colleen Dulle interviews Inés San Martín, former Rome bureau chief of Crux and current vice president of marketing and communications at The Pontifical Mission Societies U.S.A.

Inés speaks with Colleen about World Mission Sunday, happening on Oct. 22, and the changes that The Pontifical Mission Societies U.S.A. have made following a $10.2 million financial scandal. They also discuss synod secrecy guidelines, where Inés provides a unique perspective into Vatican communications for the synod.

Read the full show notes and find links to read more here.

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Pope Francis has asked synod participants to “fast from public words”—and they’ve been instructed in the synod’s official rules not to speak about their own or others’ interventions in the synod, even after the meeting ends.

In this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle interviews John Thavis, the former Rome Bureau Chief of Catholic News Service and author of “The Vatican Diaries” and “The Vatican Prophecies,” about how synods and their guidelines around secrecy have evolved over time.

Read the full show notes and find links to read more here.

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In this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell discuss developments from the second week of the Synod, including the inclusion of L.G.B.T. people, the global migration crisis, the plights of the world’s most impoverished people, and women’s roles—including ordination to the diaconate and positions of influence and authority in the church.

They also discuss the “delicate diplomatic line” that Colleen says the Vatican must tread in relation to the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict and Pope Francis’ appeals for peace.

Read the full show notes and find links to read more here.

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In this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle interviews Julia McStravog, a senior advisor on the Synod on Synodality at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, to get an inside look into how the U.S. church organized itself to carry out the national and continental phases of the synod. 

Julia played a pivotal role in guiding the U.S. church throughout the synod process. She is also part of the team that wrote the national and continental synthesis documents. She describes her team’s mission as “sacred work,” stressing the need “to include as many voices as possible within the editing process” to create “documents in dialogue” that resonate with everyone’s experiences.

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In this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” Colleen Dulle and Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell discuss the first week of the Synod on Synodality. They analyze the strong emphasis from Pope Francis and the synod team to maintain discussions between participants confidential, both during and after the synod. They also provide an overview of synod discussions, including topics like the roles of women and young people in the church and the surging global migration crisis.

At the top of the show, Gerry reports on the immediate responses of Pope Francis and other senior church leaders to the escalating violence in Israel and Palestine, which has already ended hundreds of lives and threatened the security of civilians living on and around the Gaza Strip.

Read the full show notes and find links to read more here.

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Today, we're releasing an episode of America Media's "Jesuitical" podcast, hosted by Ashley McKinless and Zac Davis, who are joined by Inside the Vatican's co-host Gerard O’Connell, a journalist who has covered the Vatican since 1985. They bring questions from listeners about the Synod on Synodality, which began this week: How will the discussions inside the synod hall work? How will the synod deal with internal polarization? What will determine the success of this synod? They also discuss:

• The changes that Pope Francis has brought to the synod, making it more open and inclusive.
• How to listen and remain open to the Holy Spirit.
• Lay involvement in the synod, especially of women and young people.

Links from the Show

• Analysis: The synod is not Vatican III. It’s Pope Francis’ implementation of Vatican II.
• America’s synod coverage

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In this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell discuss the opening of the Synod on Synodality and the list of “dubia” sent to Pope Francis by a group of retired cardinals.

They also talk about the ecumenical prayer vigil hosted by the Taizé community on Sept. 30 and the retreat that the synod participants attended Oct. 1-3. Colleen and Gerry highlight the talks given by Father Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., and the significance of the synod for the broader Christian community.

They also mention the upcoming publication of the document “Laudate Deum” and give updates on the case of Father Marko Rupnik and a proposed Vatican law that would remove abuser priests and any superiors who covered up for them.

Read the full show notes and find links to read more here.

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This past weekend Pope Francis traveled to Marseille for a meeting of bishops and young people from around the Mediterranean basin, where he delivered a powerful message about integrating migrants into society.

On this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell and host Colleen Dulle recap three major moments from the pope’s visit, before giving a preview of three major Vatican events coming up  in the next week: The consistory to create new cardinals on Sept. 30, the opening of the Synod on Synodality, and the release of Pope Francis’ follow-up to “Laudato Si’”.

The “Inside the Vatican” and “Jesuitical” podcast teams will be in Rome covering the synod in October! Send your questions about the synod to [email protected] and Gerry may answer them on “Jesuitical” next week!

Read the full show notes and find links to read more here.

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This week, a letter found in a previously sealed section of the Vatican's archives reveals Pope Pius XII may have been aware of the Holocaust and the mass deaths of Jewish and Polish people in Nazi concentration camps. Gerard O'Connell and Ricardo da Silva, S.J., give the latest updates on what we know.

Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia, announced publicly for the first time that he is prepared to receive Cardinal Zuppi, Pope Francis' special envoy on peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

Gerry joins Ricardo for a conversation on the peace mission—and what it was about Cardinal Zuppi’s visit to Beijing that may have influenced the Russians to open their doors to the cardinal.

In the second half of the show, Gerry and Ricardo unpack Gerry’s interview with Boris Gudziak, Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in the United States.

Read the full show notes and find links to read more here.

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At the Synod on Synodality’s Roman meetings, lay men and women have both been included for the first time as full, voting members. But, argues the Rev. Louis Cameli, if this synod is not to be a “parliament,” as Pope Francis often warns, perhaps there should be no voting in the synod at all.

Father Cameli, who is Cardinal Blase Cupich’s Delegate for Formation and Mission and a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago, joins veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell and host Colleen Dulle for a conversation on voting at the synod.

Read the full show notes and find links to read more here.

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Gerry traveled to Mongolia with Pope Francis from Aug. 31 to Sept. 4. On this episode of “Inside the Vatican”—the premiere of season six—Gerry and Colleen analyze the pope’s trip to the world’s most sparsely-populated country and the message he sought to deliver there.

Click here to read the full show page with additional stories and links for further reading.

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While much of the world’s attention has focused in recent years on global superpowers Russia and China, the vast and sparsely-populated nation sandwiched between them, Mongolia, has often gone overlooked.

Once the seat of the mightiest land empire in history, Mongolia has a rich history and strong cultural identity rooted in Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire. The Catholic Church in Mongolia, however, is young: Aside from a few missionary visitors in the Middle Ages, the church has only had a presence in Mongolia for about 30 years.

Pope Francis will visit Mongolia’s 1,400 Catholics from Aug. 31 to Sept. 4, speaking to civil and religious leaders, including missionaries and participants at an ecumenical and interreligious gathering, and will dedicate a new House of Mercy, one of the charitable organizations that are often Mongolians’ first encounter with the Catholic Church.

In this deep dive episode of “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle speaks with historian Dr. Timothy May, current missionary Br. Andrew Tran and former missionary Fr. Peter Turrone about the history and current situation of Catholicism in Mongolia, and what Pope Francis hopes to achieve in his visit.

Read more:

Explainer: Mongolia only has 1,400 Catholics. Pope Francis is going there anyway.

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World Youth Day wrapped up Sunday, Aug. 6, having gathered 1.5 million young people from around the world. On this special summer episode of “Inside the Vatican,” America editors Ricardo da Silva, S.J. and Gerard O’Connell, who reported on the ground from Lisbon, recap the event with host Colleen Dulle.

Links from the show:

Spanish teen says she regained her sight at World Youth Day Mass

Pope Francis fields questions on abuse, his health on return flight to Rome

Pope Francis at World Youth Day: ‘Live each day with hearts free of fear.’

Behind the scenes of a Way of the Cross like no other at World Youth Day

Podcast: ‘Todos! Todos! Todos!’ A rejuvenated Pope Francis tells young people the church is for everyone

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America editor Ricardo da Silva, S.J., and Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell report from Lisbon on the opening of World Youth Day in this special episode of Inside the Vatican.

An energized Pope Francis arrived yesterday, Aug. 2, giving a speech to Portuguese civic leaders in which he urged them to invest in young people and work for peace, especially in Ukraine. He also celebrated vespers and met with a group of survivors of clerical sexual abuse.

The pope is scheduled to participate in several more World Youth Day events and travel to Fatima, where he is again expected to pray for peace in Ukraine.

Links from the show:

Ricardo da Silva, S.J.: How reporting from World Youth Day is reinvigorating my faith

James Martin, S.J.: ‘Does God exist?’ and other FAQs about faith and religion (World Youth Day address)

Ricardo da Silva, S.J.: Ahead of World Youth Day, the head of the Jesuits had a candid Q&A with six young pilgrims

Gerard O’Connell: In Portugal, Pope Francis challenges Europe to invest in young people, not weapons

Catholic News Service: As sex abuse crisis hits Portugal, Pope Francis says listen to the ‘anguished cry of the victims’

Gerard O’Connell: Pope Francis to university students in Portugal: Your degree is a mandate to work for a better society.

Follow Gerry on Twitter: @gerryorome 

Follow Ricardo on Twitter: @ricdssj 

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Two U.S. dioceses recently had visits from Vatican investigators, and one led to the resignation of a bishop. This week on “Inside the Vatican,” Colleen and Gerry unpack what these official reviews mean, then look to some of the younger bishops Pope Francis has been appointing to ensure his legacy.

After that, Gerry and Colleen give a preview of what’s happening in the Vatican this summer.

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Other links from the show

Exclusive interview with Archbishop Frank Leo, Pope Francis’ ally in Toronto

Pope Francis appoints Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernandez as the new head of Vatican office for doctrine

Days after Wagner coup attempt, Pope Francis sends cardinal for peace talks

Deep Dive: Inside the top secret process of appointing a Catholic bishop

Two U.S. bishops were recently subject to Vatican visitations. What do these interventions mean?

Pope Francis is appointing more young bishops. Will they secure his legacy?

Ignatian Wisdom Fellowship from Loyola University Chicago

Sacred Heart Major Seminary’s online course "An Introduction to Spirituality”

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Colleen and Gerry unpack the Synod on Synodality's working document and the clues it provides about the synod’s first global meeting in October. They explain the unique approach of “conversation in the Spirit” and explore the document’s key questions on communion, participation, and mission.

Find the full show page and links for further reading here.

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We have an exciting new podcast from America Media to share with you. It’s called “Preach: The Catholic Homilies Podcast.” 

On each episode listeners will first hear an inspiring homily, especially delivered for the podcast, and then take a privileged peek into the heart and mind of the preacher in a conversation with the host, Jesuit priest and America’s associate editor, Ricardo da Silva, S.J. 

Whether you’re a preacher looking for inspiration or a Catholic in the pews, who believes like Pope Francis, that Catholic homilies could use some work, I hope you’ll check out the Preach podcast!

To give you a taste of the show, we’re sharing this week’s episode of Preach, featuring America’s editor in chief, Sam Sawyer, S.J.

Listen to more episodes of Preach.

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The Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) announced today that the well-known religious artist Fr. Marko Rupnik has been dismissed from the Jesuit order after he was credibly accused of sexually, psychologically and spiritually abusing adult women between 1985 and 2018.

Read more: Jesuits expel prominent artist Marko Rupnik after allegations of abuse against adult women

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Pope Francis has been in the hospital since Wednesday, June 7, recovering from an operation on an abdominal hernia. In this episode, Colleen and Gerry give an update on the pope’s recovery and analyze how the Vatican has been communicating about the pope’s condition.

Find the full show page and links for further reading here.

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Pope Francis is back in the hospital for surgery on a hernia that likely formed on the scar from his 2021 colon operation.

Also in this episode: A nude man protests in St. Peter’s Basilica, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi visits Ukraine to begin Pope Francis’ peace mission, and Benedict XVI’s secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, is given a deadline to move out of the Vatican.

Find the full show page and links for further reading here.

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The Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication issued a new document called “Towards Full Presence: A Pastoral Reflection on Engagement with Social Media.” The document lays out how Catholics should be thinking about their social media engagement—and like the pope’s encyclical Fratelli Tutti, it takes as its model the story of the Good Samaritan, urging people to reach out and listen to those who are different from them, to build community with those people, and to step beyond social media into working creatively for a positive change in the physical world.

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell and host Colleen Dulle analyze the document’s strengths and weaknesses. 

On the second part of the show, Colleen and Gerry revisit the story of Sister Lucía Caram, the Argentine nun who drove 2,000 miles each way to bring refugees from Ukraine to Spain, where she lives. In the last 14 months, Sister Lucía has visited Ukraine 18 times, delivered 92 ambulances and helped resettle some 4,000 refugees. Gerry caught up with Sister Lucía in Rome last week; he gives an update on what she has done and seen.

Links from the show

Dicastery for Communication issues document about social media behavior

• Full Document: A Pastoral Reflection on Engagement with Social Media
• Vatican tells the bishops of Catholic Twitter: be reflective, not reactive
• When bishops attack: How Pope Francis handles his critics

Pope Francis meets with Argentine nun about field hospitals in Ukraine

• What an Argentine nun has seen on the frontlines of Ukraine after 18 trips
• Pope Francis is fighting for peace in Ukraine. Here’s how NATO and the US can help his cause.
• Pope Francis’ secret Ukraine-Russia peace mission, explained
• The Convent de Santa Clara Foundation
• Follow Sister Lucía Caram on:
• Twitter (@sorluciacaram)
• Instagram (@sorluciacaram) 

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Last Saturday, Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the head of the Italian bishops conference and a consummate diplomat to visit Moscow, to lead a mission “to help ease tensions in the conflict in Ukraine.”

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell explains why Cardinal Zuppi was chosen for this job despite not being a Vatican diplomat.

In the second half of the show, Gerry and host Colleen Dulle discuss the pope’s planned trip to World Youth Day in Lisbon, August 2 through 6. The pope plans to spend almost a full week in the country currently grappling with a devastating clerical sexual abuse scandal.

While in Portugal, Pope Francis also plans to visit Fátima, the site of a recognized Marian apparition. Gerry and Colleen explain how the “secrets of Fátima” revealed there relate to the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Links from the show

Cardinal Matteo Zuppi to lead peace mission

• Update: Pope Francis has asked Cardinal Matteo Zuppi to conduct Ukraine peace mission
• ​​Pope Francis’ secret Ukraine-Russia peace mission, explained

Pope Francis plans to visit Fatima for World Youth Day

• Vatican confirms Pope Francis trip to Lisbon and Fatima for World Youth Day
• What does Our Lady of Fátima have to do with Russia and Ukraine?

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President Volodymr Zelensky of Ukraine visited the Vatican on Saturday for a private meeting with Pope Francis. The Ukrainian President spent 40 minutes with the pope. Holding his hand to his heart, and speaking in French, Mr. Zelensky told the pope it was a “great honor” to meet him. 

The pope has repeatedly expressed his desire to visit the war torn Ukraine but only with the proviso that he can also visit Russia. Dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite the pope’s many attempts, has proved impossible.

On “Inside the Vatican” this week, we decode what this latest meeting between the pope and the Ukrainian president might mean for the Vatican’s mediation efforts to end Russia’s war on Ukraine. 

“Francis has made very clear that he's open to conversing with both Zelensky and Putin,” Gerry says. “In fact, Francis didn't have to send anybody to talk with Zelensky because there is a highway of communication all the time going on; whereas on the highway to Moscow, there is very little traffic.” 

Links from the show

Pope Francis meets with Ukranian president Volodymyr Zelensky

• Pope Francis meets with President Zelensky in the Vatican for first time since the war in Ukraine began
• Reports: Zelensky could visit Pope Francis in first papal meeting since beginning of war
• Pope Francis’ secret Ukraine-Russia peace mission, explained

New leadership in Caritas Internationalis

• Interview: New Vatican charity leaders look to the future after workplace crisis

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Last week, the Pontifical Council for the Protection of Minors had its first meeting since the shocking resignation of abuse expert Hans Zollner, S.J. His resignation over issues “that need to be urgently addressed” led to a public disagreement between him and the commission’s president, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, O.F.M.

[Listen and subscribe to “Inside the Vatican” on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.]

In this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell and host Colleen Dulle explain the big questions the abuse commission faces and what is next for this advisory body, following last week’s meeting.

In the second half of the show, Gerry reports on the secret “mission” Pope Francis says he has undertaken to end the war in Ukraine. The pope was sparse on details, but Gerry’s sources have offered him greater insight into the pope’s plan and the people he has engaged to reach Russia and Ukraine.

Links from the show

Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors meets without Hans Zollner, S.J.

• Pope Francis to conflict-ridden sex abuse commission: This is ‘the moment of reparation.’
• Pope Francis tells bishops of Latin America, where new sex abuse protections aren’t in place, to make it a priority
• Jesuit abuse expert Hans Zollner explains decision to resign from Vatican safeguarding commission
• Jesuit sex abuse expert Hans Zollner resigns from papal commission over ‘urgent concerns’
• Jesuit sexual abuse expert discusses the Marko Rupnik case, the Society of Jesus and the state of the abuse crisis
• Jesuit sex abuse expert appointed to Vatican office for child protection

Pope Francis reveals plan for peace between Russia and Ukraine

• Pope Francis’ secret peace mission, explained
• Kremlin denies working with Vatican on Ukraine peace talks
• Pope Francis: ‘When it’s public I’ll talk about it’—hints at secret talks to end Ukraine-Russia war
• In Hungary, Pope Francis meets with Ukrainian refugees and Russian church official
• Asked if Putin is committing genocide in Ukraine, Pope Francis doesn’t say no

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Colleen is back!

This week on Inside the Vatican, hosts Colleen Dulle (with baby William) and Ricardo da Silva join veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell to discuss Pope Francis’ recent visit to Hungary.

The pope used his public messages during the visit to highlight the plight of migrants and refugees, saying “Jesus is an open door.” Pope Francis has been at odds with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán over the prime minister’s restrictions on migration. Hungary has made exceptions to welcome Christian refugees in particular; the pope, in his homily at Mass, lamented “"the doors we close toward those who are foreign or unlike us.”

Colleen and Gerry also discuss the pope’s words on Ukraine, which borders Hungary, during the apostolic visit. After Pope Francis hinted at a secret peace “mission” to Russia and Ukraine, both the Kremlin and Ukrainian officials denied knowing anything about such a mission. The Vatican has made headway in its humanitarian efforts during the war, but can it get both parties to the table for peace negotiations?

Links from the show

Pope Francis returns from weekend papal visit to Hungary

• Amid Hungary’s ‘no migrants’ policy, Pope Francis urges open doors and welcome
• Pope Francis praises Hungary’s protection of traditional values—and pushes the country to welcome migrants
• Pope Francis reflects on his visit to Hungary and building bridges of peace
• Pope Francis will travel to Hungary at the end of April
• Pope Francis meets Hungary’s Victor Orban—with Ukraine war as the backdrop
• Pope Francis in Budapest calls on the Hungarian Catholic Church and its pastors ‘to be builders of bridges and promoters of dialogue’
• What to expect from Pope Francis’ trip to Hungary and Slovakia
• American conservatives have fallen in love with Hungary. Pope Francis is less impressed.
• Lesson from Hungary: Anti-Catholicism is not a good response to anti-L.G.B.T.Q. laws

Pope Francis’ secret peace mission

• Pope Francis: ‘When it’s public I’ll talk about it’—hints at secret talks to end Ukraine-Russia war
• In Hungary, Pope Francis meets with Ukrainian refugees and Russian church official
• At the Vatican, Ukrainian prime minister asks Pope Francis for help returning children kidnapped by Russia

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Pope Francis announced on Monday, April 24, that all the participants at the first assembly of Synod on Synodality will have a vote when they meet at the Vatican this October. This is the first time women will have a vote at such a major church event. 

“More than 20 percent of the participants will be non-bishops,” says Gerry. “This can be priests, it can be consecrated women and men, it can be lay women and men.” 

The announcement of the change to the synod’s voting pattern happened just days before Pope Francis is set to visit Hungary on an official state visit. On arrival, he will honor his diplomatic commitments, meeting with government officials and various dignitaries, among them XX the country’s president. Significantly, he is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán who aside from “being the longest-serving prime minister in Europe,” Gerry says, is also “a close ally of Vladimir Putin in Russia.”  

“We are seeing the Pope try every which way to get the message across to Vladimir Putin,” says Ricardo, “about the importance of coming to the table and dialoguing on the issues in the war between Ukraine and Russia.”

While in Hungary the pope will also take the opportunity to exercise his role as pastor to the worldwide Catholic Church. He will meet with young people, refugees and some of the other most impoverished people in the land, but he also plans to meet with the Jesuits who minister in this landlocked central European country.

In the second half of this week’s show, Ricardo and Gerry discuss a new controversy that was sparked after remarks made in a speech by Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life led some to suggest that the church has drastically changed its position on euthanasia and medically-assisted suicide. 

But, it appears that Archbishop Paglia’s “comments were misconstrued,” Ricardo says. “He is clearly feeding into this highly charged debate in Italian parliament... He is worried that any implications or any changes to the law will have implications on the church's defense of life … its moral teaching on the sanctity of life, dignity, and care for the human person.”

Finally, Gerry talks about Pope Francis’ revelation in an interview for La Nacion, the leading Argentine newspaper, that he has asked Archbishop Georg Gänswein to leave his residence at the Vatican, and either find alternative lodgings in Italy or return to his native Germany. “Some might read this eviction as a kind of retribution from Pope Francis for the polemical things written in his book,” Ricardo says, a claim that Gerry refutes. “Benedict died in the end of December, we are now almost at the beginning of May,” Gerry says. “Six months to change houses? Not exactly an offense to anybody.”

Links from the show

Pope Francis announces all synod participants will vote at the upcoming synod

• For first time in history, Pope Francis gives women right to vote at the synod

Pope Francis prepares for weekend papal visit to Hungary

• Pope Francis will travel to Hungary at the end of April
• Pope Francis meets Hungary’s Victor Orban—with Ukraine war as the backdrop
• Pope Francis in Budapest calls on the Hungarian Catholic Church and its pastors ‘to be builders of bridges and promoters of dialogue’
• What to expect from Pope Francis’ trip to Hungary and Slovakia
• American conservatives have fallen in love with Hungary. Pope Francis is less impressed.
• Lesson from Hungary: Anti-Catholicism is not a good response to anti-L.G.B.T.Q. laws

Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia comments on medically-assisted suicide

• Head of the the Pontifical Academy for Life affirms his opposition to euthanasia

Archbishop Georg Gänswein is asked to leave the Vatican

• Pope Benedict XVI’s secretary, advocate and confidant: What you need to know about Georg Gänswein
• Archbishop Gänswein says he was “pained” by Francis’ decision to reassign him

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Pope Francis publicly denounced allegations made against Pope John Paul II on Italian television last week by Pietro Orlandi, the brother of Emanuela Orlandi. Last year, Ms. Orlandi’s mysterious disappearance from the Vatican almost 40 years ago, when she was just 15-years-old, inspired “Vatican Girl,” a documentary series on Netflix.  

Mr. Orlandi, speaking on an Italian TV program, said that he had learned from a source that “John Paul II sometimes went out at night with two Polish monsignors, and he clearly did not go out to bless houses.” His comments have been understood to imply that the late pope was out sexually grooming young women at night. They were all the more surprising because they were made immediately after a lengthy meeting earlier that day between Mr. Orlandi, his lawyer and Alessandro Diddi—the Vatican’s chief prosecutor—to discuss the case.

When pressed after his interview to share the details of the comments implicating the saint-pope, Mr. Orlandi and his lawyer invoked their legal privilege no to disclose their source. Mr. Orlandi, through his lawyer, said that his comments “never accused John Paul II of these attempts at going out after girls,” Gerry reports. “This frustrated the prosecutor,” Gerry says, and “the prosecutor says, this is a break in the investigation, stopping the investigation,” and jeopardizes the ongoing process.

In the second half of the show, Gerry and Ricardo share what happened at a press conference in Rome on Monday, April 17, where Hans Zollner, S.J., explained in greater detail why he resigned suddenly last month from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. Father Zollner is a German, Jesuit priest and the most recognizable authority on dealing with the scourge of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

Father Zollner has said his resignation was necessary because of shortcomings on “responsibility, compliance, accountability and transparency,” within the commission. 

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Links from the show

Pope Francis defends John Paul II

• Pope Francis defends John Paul II in ‘Vatican Girl’ case
• Pope Francis wants the truth out on decades-old cold case of the missing ‘Vatican girl’ in safeguarding commission
• ‘Vatican Girl’: Netflix’s true-crime documentary on the Holy See’s 40-year-old missing person mystery
• Vatican Intrigue: A Jesuit’s secret identity and a new Netflix true crime series

Hans Zollner, S.J., resigns

• Jesuit abuse expert Hans Zollner explains decision to resign from Vatican safeguarding commission

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China has breached its long-fought-for agreement with the Vatican on the appointment of bishops. On April 4, Bishop Shen Bin was transferred from the Diocese of Haimen, where he had been an auxiliary bishop, and installed as the bishop of Shanghai, the largest Roman Catholic diocese in mainland China. 

Matteo Bruni, the director of the Vatican Press Office, confirmed the installation in a statement on April 6. The Holy See had been informed of the appointment only “a few days prior,” Mr. Bruni said, and was only alerted to the bishop’s installation through reporting in the mainstream media. It appears the appointment is in direct violation of the highly controversial bilateral agreement that the Vatican reached with China in 2018, and renewed last October. “It's the pope's prerogative to nominate the bishop to a diocese,” says Gerry. “Many people are now—even those who are quite in support of the agreement—are raising questions.”

In the second half of the show, Gerry and Ricardo review “The Pope: Answers,” a new documentary film on Hulu. In the documentary, Pope Francis has a conversation with 10 young people from Spain, Senegal, Argentina, Peru, Colombia and the United States, aged between 20 and 25 years old. 

Among them are an atheist; a porn content creator; a nonbinary person; a survivor of sexual abuse; and a former nun from Peru, who is lesbian. They talk candidly about sexual abuse, the pope’s salary, loss of faith and dating apps like Tinder. “It’s such an intimate and personal film,” says Ricardo. “It really was a good example of what it is to live out synodality, which is what Pope Francis is calling us to do, really listen to each other.”

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Links from the show

New bishop installed in Shanghai

• China installs new bishop in Shanghai, in apparent violation of Vatican-China deal

Holy Week

• Pope Francis’ Easter Message: The international community must strive to end the war in Ukraine
• Pope Francis’ Easter Vigil homily 2023: The women at Easter bring the news that will change life and history forever
• Pope Francis to miss Way of the Cross event in cold Rome
• Pope Francis washes the feet of young prisoners in Holy Thursday rite, telling them: ‘Any of us’ can fall into sin.

“The Pope: Answers”

• Watch “The Pope: Answers” on Hulu

Twenty-five years of the Good Friday Agreement

• Pope Francis prays for lasting peace in Northern Ireland on 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement

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When most people are admitted to the hospital, they stay in bed and recover. Unless, you are Pope Francis! Not even two days after he started treatment for a respiratory infection, the pope took to visiting the sick at Gemelli General Hospital in Rome, last Friday. In the pediatric oncology wards, he played and prayed with sick children. He had a pizza party with his medical team and the hospital’s care staff, and baptized a baby. And even on his way home, he stopped to console grieving parents whose child had died the night before.

“Inside the Vatican” hosts, Ricardo da Silva, S.J. and Gerard O’Connell discuss how the pope bounced back from bronchitis, silencing the ever-growing stirrings of his resignation in time to preside at the Mass that ushers in the holiest week of the Christian calendar.

In the second half of the show, Gerry and Ricardo reflect on the pope’s homily for Palm Sunday and preview the Vatican’s plans for the Easter Triduum. 

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Links from the show

Pope Francis in hospital

• After hospital pizza party and baptizing a baby, Pope Francis expected to return to Vatican Saturday
• Pope Francis’ hospitalization actually gave me hope for the Catholic Church

Holy Week at the Vatican

• Pope Francis, out of hospital, presides at Palm Sunday celebration
• Read: Pope Francis’ homily for Palm Sunday 2023. ‘The abandoned’ are the ‘Christs of our day.’
• Cardinal Farrell: Pope Francis’ critics are wrong. He’s no autocrat.

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The Vatican has rejected the six-centuries-old “Doctrine of Discovery” that helped justify the occupation and takeover of Indigenous Peoples’ lands throughout colonial times, and still today forms the basis of property law in many parts of the world. In the U.S. and Canada, the doctrine has also been used to defend the unjust acquisition of land in legal disputes in their Supreme Courts. The decision by the Vatican comes after Pope Francis made a historic long-awaited and promised apology for the Catholic Church’s involvement in the operation of residential schools and the abuses perpetrated in this system of education for more than a century by clergy and consecrated religious men and women.

For more background, analysis, and developments on the doctrine of discovery and its impact over the centuries, please visit americamagazine.org. We also have an Inside the Vatican Deep Dive on the Pope’s visit to Indigenous Peoples in Canada last year and a video explainer on our Youtube channel.

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“Balenciaga Pope!” That is what the internet is calling it. 

Photos of Pope Francis wearing a luxury oversized, white puffer jacket, that sells for anywhere up to $6,000, went viral this weekend. 

A single tweet of the pope’s updated winter wardrobe invited 25,000 retweets, and Google Trends reported a dramatic increase in pope-related searches. 

But, however realistic and convincing the photo might have appeared, it was a total fake, generated using an artificial intelligence platform. 

On “Inside the Vatican,” this week co-hosts Ricardo da Silva, S.J. and Gerard O’Connell, look at why some tech bosses are turning to the Vatican for moral guidance as new and evermore sophisticated waves of artificial intelligence take hold.

“What is the moral position on A.I.?”, Ricardo asks. “Has the Vatican said anything about the rapidly growing sophistication of algorithms and artificial intelligence, and the frightening capacity they have to deceive us?”

Later in the show, we parse the revised “Vos Estis Lux Mundi,” Pope Francis’ landmark instruction on the Vatican's procedural norms for dealing with the scourge of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church which goes into effect next month. 

Until now, the instruction had been issued on an experimental three-year basis. On April 30, it will be promulgated definitively into official church law.

Most of the document has remained the same but there are a few important changes, among them the fact that leaders of international lay movements can now be disciplined under church law for abuses committed against those in their care, and those to whom they minister

“This is a work in progress,” Gerry says. “Nobody says the law as issued now is the final word. We may find that in another two years, Francis may well make another amendment to this law.”

Links from the show:

The Vatican is worried about artificial intelligence

Should we be worried about A.I.? Theologians, philosophers and Catholic thinkers weigh in

Pope Francis confirms ‘vulnerable adults’ are covered by updated Vatican sex abuse law

Pope Francis tells bishops of Latin America, where new sex abuse protections aren’t in place, to make it a priority

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Pope Francis has been admitted to hospital where he is undergoing treatment for a respiratory infection. 

The pope was taken to hospital by ambulance today, Wednesday, Mar 29, after he complained that he was experiencing chest pains following the celebration of the Angelus at midday in St. Peter’s Square. 

According to sources at the Vatican, Massimiliano Strappetti, the pope’s personal health care assistant decided to call the ambulance, which took him to the Gemelli Hospital in Rome where he was taken immediately to the cardiac unit for examination. 

But, following further examination and tests, including a test that ruled out a Covid-19 infection, Matteo Bruni, the director of the Vatican press office, issued a statement confirming that Pope Francis was experiencing a respiratory infection and would undergo some days of treatment in hospital. 

Hans Zollner, S.J, who has speerheaded the Vatican’s response to the sexual abuse crisis within its own ranks has resigned from his position on the Pontifical Council for the Protection of Minors.

Father Zollner, a psychologist and leading expert in the protection of minors and vulnerable adults, said that his resignation has arisen because, quote, “I have noticed issues that need to be urgently addressed and which have made it impossible for me to continue further.”

He went on to cite specific concern for how the commission had gone about achieving its goals, “over some years now” he said, with respect to quote “responsibility, compliance, accountability and transparency.” And he questioned the selection process of the commission’s members, financial accountability and transparency in its decision-making. 

Read more:

Pope Francis will remain in hospital for several days with respiratory infection

Jesuit sex abuse expert Hans Zollner resigns from papal commission over ‘urgent concerns’

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On July 27, 2021, a trial began inside the Vatican Museums before a bench of three judges of the Vatican City State’s court. Now, more than 600 days since arguments began in the specially remodeled Vatican rooms, the trial continues.

At the center of the trial is Cardinal Angelo Becciu, the substitute for General Affairs at the Vatican’s Secretariat of State from 2011-18, the equivalent of the Vatican’s chief of staff. He is being tried for embezzlement and abuse of his office. The cardinal is also the highest-ever prelate to be tried by the tribunal since Pope Francis changed the Vatican’s rules in April 2021 to allow bishops and cardinals to stand trial in civil and criminal matters. 

Cardinal Becciu was effectively responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Holy See for 7 years, before he was appointed prefect of the then-Congregation for the Causes of Saints, before he suddenly resigned from that role and relinquished his privileges as cardinal, which include the right to vote in any future conclave. 

The trial principally investigates the controversial $225 million purchase of an investment property in Chelsea, London, which is one of the wealthiest districts in the world. It is alleged the property was paid for, in part, using funds collected from Peter’s Pence, a Vatican fund intended to help the church in its various needs across the world, especially in its outreach and relief to the most materially impoverished people and places. 

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” co-hosts Ricardo da Silva, S.J., and Gerard O’Connell discuss the most recent happenings at the Vatican’s mega-trial of the century and what has surfaced from the testimony of key witnesses. In the second half of the show, the hosts look at allegations arising from a new documentary on Polish television which alleges that when Pope John Paul II was archbishop of Krakow he knew of and covered up allegations of the sexual abuse of minors by three priests under his care.  

Related links:

Top Vatican official says London property deal was a double ‘Via Crucis’

John Paul II knew of and concealed child sex abuse as archbishop, Polish TV reports

In a historic first, a cardinal stood trial at the Vatican over involvement in a real estate scandal

The biggest criminal trial in modern Vatican history begins tomorrow. Here’s what you need to know.

Powerful Vatican Cardinal Becciu resigns amid financial scandal

Cardinals and bishops to lose special legal privileges under new papal decree

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President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua suspended diplomatic ties with the Vatican over the weekend in what appears to be retaliation for the pope’s strong public criticisms on March 10 of his “rude dictatorship,” likening it to “a communist dictatorship in 1917, or a Hitlerian one in 1935.” These comments were made by the pope in an interview with Infobae, an Argentine news outlet. “I have no other choice,” the pope said, “but to think that the person in power is mentally unbalanced.” 

On “Inside the Vatican” this week, host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell are joined by senior editor Kevin Clarke to discuss the ongoing conflict between the Nicaraguan president and the Holy See. 

“There are so few independent voices left within Nicaragua,” Kevin says on the podcast. “Thousands of non-governmental organizations have been shut down. The independent press is essentially acting in exile to cover political developments in Nicaragua. The last man standing was the Catholic Church.”

Later on, Ricardo and Gerry discuss another interview Pope Francis gave last week. In the interview with Elisabetta Piqué, who is Gerry’s wife and a Rome-based correspondent for La Nacion, the Argentine news outlet, the pope again criticized the ongoing war in Ukraine, stopping short of labeling the wanton killings there a genocide, he also condemned what he called “the ideological colonization of gender,” and announced “everyone will have the right to vote” at the upcoming “Synod on Synodality,” settling a long-held question as to whether women would be allowed to vote for the first time in a church synod. The revelation has taken even senior Vatican officials by surprise.

In celebration of Pope Francis’ first decade at the helm of the Catholic Church, Ricardo and Gerry close the show sharing their abiding sense of Pope Francis. For Gerry, who has known the pope for 18 years, “this man is a pastor,” he says. “I have seen this at a very personal level, at a level of the family, but I see it also at the level of the leader of the Catholic Church in relation to Catholics, [and] in relation also to the people of the world.”

“The phrase that he uses over and over is a ‘culture of encounter,’” Ricardo says. “He’s somebody who is constantly trying to read where people are at, what people are struggling with, what people are talking about. Not shutting down conversations, but also not scared to say what he thinks in all of this.”

Please consider supporting Inside the Vatican by purchasing a digital subscription to America at www.americamag.org/subscribe.

Related links:

• Nicaragua proposes cutting Vatican ties after Pope Francis compared Ortega regime to Hitler
• With a ‘sham trial’ of a Nicaraguan bishop about to begin, a clampdown on the nation’s Catholic Church continues
• Asked if Putin is committing genocide in Ukraine, Pope Francis doesn’t say no
• Pope Francis denounces imprisonment of Nicaragua’s Bishop Rolando Álvarez
• With a ‘sham trial’ of a Nicaraguan bishop about to begin, a clampdown on the nation’s Catholic Church continues
• Pope Francis says ‘ideology of gender’ is ‘dangerous’ and that ‘everyone’ will vote in the Synod, in new interview with La Nacion
• Why can’t women vote at the Synod on Young People?
• Video: Top 10 moments of Pope Francis

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In 2013, Pope Francis hit the ground running. He wanted a poor church for the poor; a church that gave a voice to those living on the margins, especially migrants and refugees. He put ecology and care for creation at the center of the church’s work. Inside the church, attitudes had to change. Authority had to be exercised as service. Everything had to be geared toward the mission of the church to evangelize. He denounced clericalism, called for a synodal church that listens first, and encourages all the baptized to speak their minds.

10 years later, all of this has provoked heated debates in the Catholic Church. Everyone has an opinion about the direction Francis has led his flock. In this special deep dive episode for Francis’ 10th anniversary of election, we’re exploring key themes of the Francis papacy that have sparked intense fear, unexpected joy and furious debate among the faithful. 

Inside the Vatican is made possible by our digital subscribers. To become a subscriber, visit americamagazine.org/subscribe

The Disaster Services Corporation (DSC) serves families impacted by man-made and natural disasters. Please consider giving the gift of a fresh start to a disaster survivor family. Donate at svdpdisaster.org

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In this news update, America Media’s Executive Producer Sebastian Gomes shares the biggest headlines to emerge from the Vatican this week:

• Pope Francis announces his visit to Hungary in April 2023
• Pope Francis says he does not ‘condemn capitalism’ in new book
• Pope Francis calls for greater dialogue, fraternity and peace between Pasletinians and Israelis, and prays for the migrants who perished in a shipwreck off the coast of Italy. 

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This week, Pope Francis again confirmed restrictions on the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass, making it clear that permission to celebrate the pre-Vatican II liturgy is reserved to the Vatican and that bishops do not have the freedom to interpret the Pope's previous instruction at whim.

On his recent visit to Africa, Pope Francis told Jesuits in the Democratic Republic of Congo that he has no intention to resign early from the papacy, and that the decision for any pope to resign should not become “a fashion, or a normal thing.”

Finally, we’ve entered the season of Lent. Pope Francis has asked Catholics to journey not alone, but in community with others; who together, sustain, encourage, listen and challenge one another.

Related stories:

Interview: Vatican foreign minister on a year of war in Ukraine, the growing nuclear threat and relations with Putin

Pope Francis reaffirms bishops must get Vatican approval to allow Latin Mass

​​Pope Francis: ‘The pope’s ministry is for life,’ resignation should not become ‘the normal thing’

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Catholics love their saints. But it's not easy to become one. On this special Deep Dive episode of “Inside the Vatican,” we take you inside the grueling process of saint-making, which starts at a local diocese and involves dozens of people, a long paper trail with the Vatican, travel for miracle verification and a lot of money.

We’ll hear from Vatican historians and journalists about how the process evolved from folks being devoted to holy people in their cities to a codified Vatican process. We’ll talk with individuals who are working on Dorothy Day's canonization cause in New York about how the significant cost and local politics can lead to causes being delayed indefinitely. And finally, we’ll look into how miracles are verified—and why some people think that ought to change.

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Pope Francis has returned to the Vatican after his six-day visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan, which he called a pilgrimage of peace. 

America Media’s associate editor, Ricardo da Silva, S.J. and veteran Vatican reporter, Gerard O’Connell discuss the pope’s visit to these two conflict-ridden, yet faith-filled, African countries. 

Gerry was aboard the plane, traveled with Pope Francis from place to place, and was there to witness the Pope's meetings with the millions of people who lined the streets and stadiums to see him. 

On the show, Gerry shares some of what he experienced among the people of the Congo and South Sudan this past week, and offers us a taste of a church, which he says is amazing and alive.

Please consider supporting Inside the Vatican by purchasing a digital subscription to America at www.americamag.org/subscribe.

Related links:

Pope Francis tells foreign exploiters in Congo: ‘Hands off Africa!’

Pope Francis tells young people: ‘You are the seed of a new South Sudan.’

Pope Francis preaches peace to one million Congolese people at Zaire rite Mass

Pope Francis arrives in South Sudan with a message that ‘may appear blunt and direct’ to its leaders

‘We thank God for the pope’: Takeaways from Pope Francis’ visit to the D.R.C.

Pope Francis: Critics who used Benedict’s death ‘have no ethics’

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Pope Francis has begun his visit to the peoples of the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. He will be on the African continent from Jan. 31 through Feb. 5 for his 40th apostolic visit abroad. 

The Democratic Republic of Congo is the first stop on his visit to the African continent, where he will remain until Friday, Feb. 3. Pope Francis has said he is on a “mission of peace” to these African nations. 

The D.R.C. is rich in mineral wealth, and though it won independence in 1960, it has continued to be embroiled in political, tribal and even interreligious conflicts. It is also the largest Catholic community in Africa—45 million Catholics, about 50 percent of the D.RC.’s total population.  

On the show this week, Ricardo da Silva, S.J., interviews Toussaint Kafarhire Murhula, S.J., a priest, political analyst, and the director of Centre Arrupe, a center for research and formation in Lubumbashi, on the country’s southeastern tip, ahead of the first visit a pope has made there in 38 years.

To support Inside the Vatican please consider getting a digital subscription at americamagazine.org/subscribe

Links from the show:

Congolese Jesuit on Pope Francis’ Africa visit: ‘Women are expecting some changes to happen’

VIDEO Why Pope Francis will visit South Sudan  

VIDEO Pope Francis is on a mission of peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Pope Francis taps Chicago-born bishop to lead Vatican department that evaluates new bishops

Pope Francis preaches peace to one million Congolese people at Zaire rite Mass

Pope Francis tells foreign exploiters in Congo: ‘Hands off Africa!’

What to expect during Pope Francis’ visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan

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Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the former German head of the then-Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and an open critic of many of Pope Francis’ initiatives has released a new book, In Good Faith: Religion in the 21st Century, in which he blasts, among others, the Synod on Synodality and papal resignations, and criticizes the pope’s relationship with U.S. President Joe Biden.

The day after Ricardo and Gerry recorded this episode, Pope Francis gave a wide-ranging interview to Nicole Winfield, the Vatican reporter for the Associated Press, in which he addressed a range of topics including homosexuality, his own handling of the sexual abuse crisis, the Vatican’s agreement with China on the selection and appointment of bishops, and his own health. But perhaps most relevant to this episode, Pope Francis responded in the interview to his critics on many fronts.

You can read Ricardo’s summary of the AP interview with Pope Francis here. 

Pope Francis has instructed all bishops traveling to Rome for the first main session of the Synod on Synodality this October to arrive four days early for a silent retreat. The retreat will be led by Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., the former head of the worldwide Dominican order, a popular preacher and writer. The pope has also called the leaders of Christian churches and their faithful to assemble with him in Rome ahead of the Synod to pray for its success alongside the Catholic faithful and bishops who will be there.

Pope Francis will visit the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan from Jan. 31 to Feb. 5, in a long-awaited visit to the Christian churches postponed last year because of his recurring knee troubles. We look at the pope’s weeklong itinerary and tease out his reasons for making this first-ever visit to these two sub-Saharan African countries long blighted by famine and civil unrest, but filled with hope.

Links from the show:

• Pope Francis gives major interview on his critics, sex abuse, decriminalizing homosexuality and more
• Deep dive: The ‘Synod on Synodality’ — What’s done and what comes next?
• Pope Francis postponed his trip to South Sudan. What does this mean for people living there?

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Pope Francis gave a wide-ranging interview to the Associated Press, on Wednesday, January 25, 2023. It the interview, he addressed a range of topics including- homosexuality, his own handling of the sexual abuse crisis, the Vatican-China agreement, how he responds to his loudest critics and his own health. 

You can read an article summarizing the interview, by Ricardo da Silva S.J., at americamagazine.org.

Please consider supporting this podcast by becoming a digital subscriber to America Media.

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The late Cardinal George Pell is now the confirmed author of the once-secret memorandum that sought to discredit the papacy of Pope Francis. This, read in concert with a letter by the cardinal, published posthumously—which characterizes Pope Francis’ succession to the chair of St. Peter as a “catastrophe”—offers stark insight into the dueling forces present within the ranks of the church’s most senior figures.

On this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” Ricardo da Silva, S.J., and Gerard O’Connell dive into the revelations since the cardinal’s death and recall Cardinal Pell’s anti-Pope Francis actions over the years, which date back to the conclave that elected the present pope. 

“As one Vatican official said to me,” Gerry says, “maybe he saw quite clearly what direction Pope Francis was leading the church and didn’t like what he saw; especially in terms of the position on moral questions but also in the position of moving away from clericalism, giving more responsibility to the laity in the church.”

In the second half of the show, they discuss the latest developments in a class-action lawsuit filed in Quebec, Canada, last summer. The case implicates at least 88 clergy members and notably includes Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, which is the Vatican office that manages the selection process of the world’s bishops. 

In a shocking move this December, which Gerry believes is “unprecedented,” Cardinal Ouellet filed a $100,000 countersuit for defamation against “Ms. F.” He alleged his accuser had tarnished his name by bringing false accusations against him and claimed he did not even know her. Last Friday, Jan. 13, Ms. F. chose to respond to the cardinal’s escalated action by publicly revealing herself as Pamela Groleau, saying she intends by this move to reclaim her dignity and bring the church to acknowledge the crimes of its clerics.

“I think something else we can expect,” Ricardo says, “which undoubtedly will happen, and which Pamela Groleau herself says in the statement that she made when she revealed her identity, is that this, she hopes, will inspire others to come forward and tell their stories. And so this will open the floodgates.”

And the floodgates have already started to crack. Shortly after recording the episode, Golias Hebdo, a French news magazine revealed that a second woman, known only as “Marie,” had also brought accusations of sexual misconduct against Cardinal Ouellet. 

Links from the show:

• Explainer: Cardinal Pell’s complicated (and critical) relationship with Pope Francis
• Cardinal Pell blasts Pope Francis in secret memo: ‘This pontificate is a disaster’
• Cardinal Ouellet announces lawsuit against woman who claimed sexual assault 
• Pope Francis says not enough evidence to try Cardinal Ouellet, a close adviser, for sexual assault
• Podcast: Vatican issues new universal laws on sexual abuse (listen around 11:50)
• Pope Francis issues new rules for accountability and response to allegations of sexual abuse

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Cardinal George Pell, an Australian prelate who served as the Vatican's first financial overlord, has died. The cardinal was also intimately involved with the present revision of the English translation of the Mass and had been the most senior Catholic cleric to be convicted and imprisoned for child sexual abuse. The judgment was later unanimously overturned by a full bench of Australia's high court, but only after he served more than 400 days in maximum-security prisons.

On “Inside the Vatican” this week, hosts Ricardo da Silva, S.J., and Gerard O’Connell, delve into Cardinal Pell’s legacy dealing with sexual abuse—not only the charges of which he was exonerated, but also the controversial approach he took in dealing with the clerical sexual abuse of minors when he was the archbishop of Melbourne, which some people argue, Ricardo says, “was much more reform to protect the abusers than those abused.” They also look at his stealthy and much-praised reforms to Vatican finances, when he served as the first prefect for the then-Secretariat of the Economy under Pope Francis, with whom he “was not exactly 100 percent on the same theological vision of church as,” says Gerry. “One of the first things the pope aimed at was the reform of Vatican finances—he knew that that really was a jungle,” Gerry adds. “And so he chose what he called the ranger, the Australian ranger. And he said, ‘You take charge.’”

Cardinal Joseph Zen Zi-kiun, the 90-year-old prelate from Hong Kong, who was arrested on suspicious charges last year, was given special permission to travel to the Vatican to attend the funeral of his friend, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. While in Rome, Cardinal Zen also met with Pope Francis. The meeting sparked questions about what many have thought to be an adversarial relationship between the two. Gerry and Ricardo parse the meeting, which Gerry judges to have been “something great; a healing event, a moment of reconciliation.” For Ricardo, the meeting between the two reveals how “complex these issues are,” he says. And it also reveals a larger move “by certain religious media—Catholic media—to put Pope Francis in opposition to others, or others in opposition to Pope Francis,” he argues. “This is a simplification that doesn’t tell half of the story.”

In the second half of the show, Ricardo and Gerry dig into the news surrounding Archbishop Georg Gänswein, who was Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s closest aide and confidant as well as his personal secretary. Gänswein is releasing a tell-all book that he says will answer long-held questions about, among others, the complicated relationship between Pope Francis and the pope emeritus; the drama surrounding the butler responsible for the “Vatileaks” scandal—which sought to expose the Vatican's dirty finances; and the 30-year-old missing person case of Emanuela Orlandi or “Vatican Girl,” as she has come to be known in the title of a Netflix documentary. Ricardo and Gerry address some of the questions the book raises, and whether the book will further compromise the archbishop’s already tenuous relationship with the present pope. 

Gerry has read an advanced copy of the book, and with it, he says that “Gänswein has shot himself in the foot.”

Links from the show:

Australia’s Cardinal Pell dies suddenly at 81

Pope Francis meets with Hong Kong’s Cardinal Zen the day after Benedict XVI’s funeral

Pope Benedict XVI’s secretary, advocate and confidant: What you need to know about Georg Gänswein

Pope Francis has private audience with longtime Benedict aide amid tell-all book fallout

Cardinal Pell blasts Pope Francis in secret memo: ‘This pontificate is a disaster’

‘Vatican Girl’: subject of Netflix’s true-crime show has case reopened by Holy See

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Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI was laid to rest just before noon (Rome time) on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023, in the grottoes underneath St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, where the mortal remains of many pontiffs reside. 

About 50,000 people came to the Vatican to pay their final respects to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI—who served the Catholic Church for nearly eight years before his historic retirement in February 2013—the first time in 600 years that a pope had resigned from office. From the time of his resignation until his death, Benedict had led a life of relative quiet and contemplation at a monastery inside the Vatican.

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” Ricardo da Silva, S.J., an associate editor at America Media, speaks with Gerard O’Connell, our regular co-host on the show, and David Gibson, the director of the Center on Religion and Culture at Fordham University in New York and the author of The Rule of Benedict: Pope Benedict XVI and His Battle with the Modern World. 

In the first part of the show, Ricardo talks with Gerry and David about what made this first-ever funeral of a pope emeritus different from that of a pope who dies while still in office. They also address the criticism that Pope Francis’ homily did not sufficiently eulogize and recognize the legacy of the former pope. 

In the second half of the show, Ricardo, Gerry and David discuss the legacy of Pope Benedict’s nearly eight years as pope and his 24 years as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

 Read more on the life and legacy of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at americamagazine.org.

Links from the show:

A video version of this podcast on America’s YouTube channel

Pope Francis presides over historic funeral for Benedict XVI

What you need to know about the historic funeral of Pope Benedict XVI

Eulogy vs. homily: When should you talk about the deceased in a Catholic funeral?

Pope Benedict XVI, defender of orthodoxy defined by historic resignation, dies at 95

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Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI died at 9:34 a.m. Rome time, today, Saturday, December 31st, 2022. On this special update episode of “Inside the Vatican,” veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell joins host Colleen Dulle for a conversation on the emeritus pope’s funeral arrangements, his legacy, and Gerry’s memories of him.

Joseph Ratzinger was elected pope and took the name Benedict XVI in 2005 after the long papacy of John Paul II. In 2013, Benedict XVI became the first pope in 600 years to resign voluntarily from his office, which made it possible for future popes to resign if they should find their mental or physical health failing or the weighty burden of office too much for them to bear.

Benedict lived as an emeritus pope for almost 10 years, a period longer than he was pope. 

This evening at the Vatican, Pope Francis said of his predecessor, “With emotion we remember his person so noble, so kind. And we feel in our hearts so much gratitude: gratitude to God for having given him to the Church and to the world; gratitude to him, for all the good he accomplished, and especially for his witness of faith and prayer, especially in these last years of his retired life. Only God knows the value and strength of his intercession, of his sacrifices offered for the good of the Church.”

Read more on the life and legacy of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at americamagazine.org.

Links from the show:

Pope Benedict XVI, defender of orthodoxy defined by historic resignation, dies at 95

Pope Benedict’s theological legacy: An Augustinian at heart who influenced the course of Vatican II and beyond

Pope Benedict XVI’s devotion to the Eucharist: A key to understanding his life and theology

Pope Francis will preside at Benedict’s funeral in St. Peter’s Square on Jan. 5

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In a surprise statement at the end of his public audience on Dec. 28, Pope Francis appealed for “a special prayer” for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI because, he said, “he is very sick.” Just after the audience, Francis went to visit Benedict at his residence in the Vatican.

On “Inside the Vatican” this week, veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell and host Colleen Dulle give an update on the former pope’s health. According to a Vatican spokesman, by the time of the podcast’s release, his condition had stabilized somewhat overnight but remained serious.

The rest of the podcast looks at three of Pope Francis’ Christmas messages: His homily for Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, his Christmas Day Urbi et Orbi message, and his pre-Christmas address to the Roman Curia.

Gerry first gives an inside look at Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter’s Square where, he said, the crowds had nearly returned to their pre-Covid size. Colleen and Gerry unpack the pope’s homily, which focused on the image of Jesus’ manger and urged those present, including foreign dignitaries, to do “something good” this Christmas.

On Christmas Day, the pope used his Urbi et Orbi address to draw attention to places of suffering in the world through the eyes of children. “May the Lord inspire us to offer concrete gestures of solidarity to assist all those who are suffering,” he said. “Tragically, we prefer to heed other counsels, dictated by worldly ways of thinking. Yet who is listening to the voice of the Child?”

Finally, in his annual address to the Roman Curia, Pope Francis continued the theme of his addresses in past years, using insights from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola to call those who work in the Vatican’s central offices to conversion.

Links from the show:

Pope Francis asks for special prayer for ‘very ill’ Benedict XVI

Vatican update: Benedict XVI is ‘lucid and alert,’ but condition remains serious

Pope Francis: Rediscover the meaning of Christmas in the manger

Listen to the cries of the newborn Prince of Peace, pope says on Christmas

Pope Francis compares Roman Curia to the Prodigal Son’s ‘elder brother’ in annual address

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In the last few days, much more information has come out detailing the timeline of the abuse allegations and restrictions against Marko Rupnik, S.J., the Jesuit priest-artist who was, we now know, excommunicated for absolving a woman with whom he had a sexual relationship.

On this week’s episode of “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle and producer Ricardo da Silva, S.J., who is filling in for Gerard O’Connell, walk listeners through the timeline of what we now know, along with the important questions and takeaways about this case.

“I think the important thing to know here is that we are coming to a place where it is very difficult, near impossible, to hide anything happening inside the church among very powerful people. And so this has shown that we will get at answers,” Ricardo explains. “The great takeaway for me is, is really more one as a member of a religious order, and it's an appeal that I make to religious orders out there including my own: It is really important for us to set the story straight immediately and to reveal all the known facts in a case, and not to hide behind legalese, not to hide behind legal prescriptions, but to say what happened when it happened as quickly as we can.”

In the first half of the show, Ricardo and Colleen recap several other recent Vatican news stories, including Pope Francis’ revelation that he has already signed his letter of resignation and the removal of outspoken anti-abortion activist Frank Pavone from the priesthood.

Links from the show:

Vatican investigator says abuse allegations against Jesuit Marko Rupnik are true

Jesuits ask victims to come forward in abuse case of Jesuit artist Marko Rupnik

Pope Francis reveals he signed resignation letter in case of medical impairment

Vatican defrocks Father Frank Pavone for blasphemous posts, disobedience

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This week on “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell give an update on the new facts that have emerged in the case of the Jesuit artist Marko Rupnik, who was suspended from parts of his ministry in response to allegations of abuse against him.

The facts are difficult to confirm, so this week on the podcast Colleen and Gerry also explain the process they use to determine whether information is credible.

The day after this episode was recorded, Father Arturo Sosa, superior general of the Society of Jesus, confirmed to the Associated Press that in 2019, two years prior to the most recent allegations of abuse, Father Rupnik had been “convicted and sanctioned” by the Vatican for granting absolution in the confessional to a woman with whom he had “engaged in sexual activity.” A priest absolving someone of a sin he committed with that person is a serious crime according to church law, and it results in automatic excommunication. The excommunication can only be lifted if the priest admits to the crime, which Father Sosa said Father Rupnik did. You can read more on this story here.

In the second part of the show, Gerry and Colleen turn their focus to Ukraine. Pope Francis grew overwhelmed with emotion last week while praying for what he calls the “martyred” nation, pausing in the middle of his prayer to choke back tears. The hosts recount how Russian and Ukrainian have responded to this display of emotion, and Gerry provides some historical context for past times popes have cried publicly.

Links from the show:

‘We have not hidden anything’: Jesuit superior general interviewed on abuse allegations against Marko Rupnik

Jesuit abuse expert calls for more Vatican transparency in how it dealt with a prominent Jesuit artist

Jesuits reveal artist had been excommunicated for absolving woman for engaging in sexual activity with him

Pope Francis breaks down in tears while praying to Mary for peace in Ukraine

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The Slovenian Jesuit artist Marko Rupnik has been barred from hearing confessions or offering spiritual direction after allegations that he spiritually and sexually abused adult members of a religious order of women in Slovenia. On this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican reporter Gerard O’Connell explain what is known about the case.

Up next, the Vatican’s website showed a 404 error message (page not available) on and off for a few days last week, following the publication of America’s interview with Pope Francis in which the pope heavily criticized Russia, naming Putin several times, calling Russia the aggressor in the war against Ukraine, and naming two Russian minority groups – the largely Buddhist Buryati and the largely Muslim Chechens – as being particularly cruel in the war in Ukraine.

The Vatican Press Office issued a statement last week attributing the crash to “anomalous” attempts to access the site that it said did not all come from one country. On the podcast, Gerry explains what more he has learned about the hack. “What I do know from informed sources is that this was a highly sophisticated operation, not the effort of amateurs,” Gerry says. 

Colleen and Gerry also give an update on papal almoner Cardinal Konrad Krajewski’s new campaign to bring donated thermal shirts to Ukraine. Donations can be sent to: Elemosineria Apostolica, Cortile Sant’Egidio, 00120 Città del Vaticano.

Finally, Pope Francis’ visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan is back on. The pope will visit the two countries in late January and early February. For more background on peacemaking efforts in South Sudan, listen to “Inside the Vatican”’s interview with Elizabeth Boyle of Sant’Egidio here.

Links from the show:

Prominent Jesuit artist restricted from ministry after allegations of sexually abusing women religious

After postponing, Pope Francis has rescheduled his trip to Congo and ecumenical visit to South Sudan

Pope Francis postponed his trip to South Sudan. What does this mean for people living there?

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Last week, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, Nov. 22, several members of the America Media team had an exclusive two-hour sit-down interview with Pope Francis; it was published Monday the 28th.

The interview was wide-ranging and included questions on political polarization, lack of trust in the U.S. bishops conference, the war in Ukraine, transparency on sexual abuse cases, women’s ordination, encouragement to Black Catholics, and discussion of the Vatican-China deal. Since its release, international media coverage has focused on the pope’s decision to single out two Russian minority groups as being “perhaps the cruelest” in the war against Ukraine.

On this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell and host Colleen Dulle analyze the pope’s comments on Ukraine, as well as those on political polarization, the U.S. bishops, and women’s ordination.

In the first part of the show, Gerry gives an inside look into what it was like to interview the pope, and Colleen shares some exciting news.

Links from the show:

Exclusive: Pope Francis discusses Ukraine, U.S. bishops and more

Russia protests Pope Francis’ comments on Ukraine made in America magazine interview

Gerard O’Connell: Ukraine, abortion, racism, women’s ordination: Highlights from America’s interview with Pope Francis

Kerry Weber: Behind the scenes: What it’s like to interview Pope Francis

The Gloria Purvis Podcast: Gloria Purvis and Father Matt Malone on what their interview with Pope Francis means for the U.S. church

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Exclusive: Pope Francis denounces polarization, talks women’s ordination, the U.S. bishops and more in a new interview with America Media!

It’s an exciting time for America Media! We've transformed the organization under the leadership of Matt Malone, S.J. into a modern media entity that leads the conversation on faith and culture. There is no doubt that this transformation will continue at America under the leadership of Traug Keller, president and Father Sam Sawyer, SJ, 15th editor in chief. 

We're especially grateful to our digital subscribers, who can access all of our award-winning content. But subscriptions alone do not cover the cost to produce our magazine, videos and podcasts, so we are really dependent on fundraising to bridge that gap.

With Giving Tuesday upon us, we hope you will consider a tax-deductible gift of any size to support America Media. Visit our website and click the “Donate Now” button to join our media ministry, which enables us to continue producing Inside the Vatican. We truly could not continue to bring you these episodes without your support, so thank you, so much, for your consideration.

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For Thanksgiving week, “Inside the Vatican” is bringing you a brief update on a few of the top Vatican stories from the last week.

Up first, the way Catholics calculate when to celebrate Easter could be changing.

This past Saturday, Nov. 19, Pope Francis met with Mar Awa III, Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, which is an Eastern Christian church based in Iraq. In the meeting, the pope took the opportunity to express his support for the idea that Eastern and Western churches should celebrate Easter on the same date—usually they’re about a week apart, with the Eastern Palm Sunday falling on the Western Easter.

Echoing Vatican II, Pope Francis said that he is willing to accept any proposal for a common date of Easter provided that the other churches that are not in communion with Rome agree.

Next, Pope Francis assigned a lay man and father of two as secretary of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life last week. Gleison De Paula Souza is the first layperson to serve as second-in-command in this dicastery; three of the four top positions in that office are now held by lay people.

Finally, on Nov. 22, Pope Francis overhauled the leadership of Caritas Internationalis, which is the church’s charity arm; it includes 162 charitable groups including Catholic Charities USA and Catholic Relief Services. The pope removed Caritas’ entire executive team after a review of the organization revealed management weaknesses that had damaged staff morale. Some current and former employees report bullying and favoritism within the organization’s Rome headquarters. A statement from the Vatican made clear that there was no financial mismanagement or sexual misconduct.

Links from the show:

Pope Francis says Catholics are ready for a common Easter date with the Assyrian Church

Pope Francis appoints a father of two to No. 2 spot at Vatican family office

Pope Francis fires top leadership of Caritas Internationalis after review found poor staff morale

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Pope Francis met with America editor-at-large James Martin, S.J. in the Vatican’s apostolic palace on Nov. 11 for 45 minutes. This week on “Inside the Vatican,” Father Martin joins hosts Colleen Dulle and Gerard O’Connell to discuss their exchange, which focused mostly on ministry to LGBT Catholics.

Gerry explains the significance of the meeting’s duration—about twice as long as most heads of state have with the pope—and its location. “It’s a message to be received in the apostolic palace,” Gerry says on the podcast. “It means that the pope wants this known publicly.”

Father Martin also discusses the pope’s endorsement of his latest book, Learning to Pray.

In the second half of the show, Gerry and Colleen dig into Pope Francis’ message for this year’s World Day of the Poor, and how the pope hopes that his initiatives for the day will trickle down to dioceses around the world.

Finally, the hosts give an update on the case of French Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, who despite publicly confessing to abusing a 14-year-old girl remains a cardinal with full privileges, including the ability to vote in a conclave. The Vatican now says it will investigate the cardinal after French prosecutors have finished their own investigation. Despite the confession, the cardinal has neither been removed nor suspended from ministry, although he admitted in his letter of confession that he would go on retreat to pray and meditate on his actions.

“I have been here long enough in the Vatican to see we get statements [that] say something to satisfy the public demand, but they don’t give the whole story,” Gerry tells Colleen. “So, I would not exclude that other things are happening behind the scenes [at the Vatican].”

Links from the show:

Pope Francis received Father James Martin in private audience for the second time

Pope Francis praises Father James Martin during audience with Vatican communicators (on Outreach, a publication of America Media)

Pope Francis on World Day of the Poor: Do not listen to ‘prophets of doom’ but instead ‘light candles of hope.’

Cardinal Ricard confessed to abusing a 14-year-old. What we know and what the Vatican will do next

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At a meeting of the French bishops’ conference, a letter from Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard was read aloud, in which the cardinal admitted that he had “conducted himself in a reprehensible fashion” with a 14 year old girl, adding, “My behavior necessarily caused in this person grave and lasting consequences.”

On “Inside the Vatican” this week, host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell explain what is known about the case. Cardinal Ricard was up to now a member of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office tasked with investigating abuse cases, though it isn’t clear whether Cardinal Ricard himself ever investigated a case.

The French church is currently reeling from a series of major abuse revelations. First, a report released last fall looked into sexual abuse of minors in Catholic institutions and estimated that up to 330,000 minors had been abused since 1950. More recently, there’s been the case of Bishop Michel Santier, who retired as bishop of Creteil in 2020 citing health reasons. It was recently revealed that he was actually removed by the Vatican for “using his influence over two young adult men for sexual purposes” and abusing the sacrament of confession by holding “striptease confessions.” Colleen and Gerry discuss the lack of transparency in all these cases.

In the second half of the show, Gerry and Colleen discuss Pope Francis’ trip to Bahrain over the weekend, where he attended an interreligious gathering, the “Bahrain Forum for Dialogue: East and West for Human Coexistence.” The hosts view the trip in the context of Pope Francis’ relationship with the Sunni Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, who also attended the meeting and with whom the pope wrote a milestone 2019 document on human fraternity.

Links from the show:

French cardinal admits to abusing teen girl 35 years ago

Pope Francis in Bahrain: What to know and expect

Pope Francis slams ‘childlike’ whims of powerful that start wars as Putin’s invasion of Ukraine rages on

In Bahrain, Pope Francis calls for full religious freedom and an end to the death penalty

Pope: ‘Every time a woman comes in to do a job in the Vatican, things get better’

Pope Francis: 'Three world wars in one century: be pacifists!' (Full press conference text)

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The first global report for the Synod on Synodality came out last week, and it’s the Vatican’s first official word on what they’ve been hearing in listening sessions since August 2021.

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” producer Ricardo da Silva, S.J., joins host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell for a roundtable discussion on what stood out in the synod document. Ricardo was struck by how the report presented feedback in the respondents’ words, including quotes from more than 70 countries, and how it raised issues that had previously been taboo. Gerry, on the other hand, thinks little was surprising in the report, and emphasizes how the document was to be read “with the eyes of the disciple.” Colleen describes how the report pulled no punches when discussing sexism in the church.

In the second part of the show, the hosts have a lively discussion on their differing views of the document, hashing out questions of what magisterial standing the document has, if any. Ricardo, a Jesuit priest, reflects on the significant questions that the synodal process raises for priests, after the document strongly criticized clericalism and pointed out low synod participation rates by priests. The three hosts together discuss the report’s section on liturgical reform—something that touches the life of every Catholic.

Links from the show:

Read the global synod report (Document for the Continental Phase)

Making the church more inclusive while staying true to teaching: Vatican releases synod’s synthesis document

Deep dive: The ‘Synod on Synodality’ — What’s done and what comes next?

I helped write the first global synod document. Here’s what we heard from Catholics around the world.

Pope Francis will be the first pope to visit Bahrain

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Host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell dig into three eye-catching Vatican stories this week: First up, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin spoke at a dinner for EWTN’s Europe-based staff, stressing the importance of Catholic media being in communion with the pope rather than “fan[ning] the flames of polarization.” He prayed that a “spirit of communion” with the pope would be “the distinctive sign of your work.” But EWTN’s Spanish-language press agency ACI Prensa ran a headline that, Gerry says, surprised many in the Vatican: “Cardinal Pietro Parolin defines EWTN as ‘a work of God at the service of truth.’”

The Vatican released the full text of Cardinal Parolin’s speech two days later, which showed that the quote from the headline had been taken out of context. “They [the Vatican] didn’t comment on the headline or anything, but you didn't have to be a genius to understand that this was a direct response,” Gerry says on this week’s episode of “Inside the Vatican.”

Up next, Colleen and Gerry turn to the story of the Jesuit historian Peter Gumpel, who spent his long career shepherding saints’ causes through the Vatican’s canonization process. A few days after his death on Oct. 12, America ran a story by someone who had known Father Gumpel, who wrote: “Peter’s last name, Gumpel, was a pseudonym. He told me the family name he was born with—the family he was born into—was Hohenzollern, the royal dynasty of kings and princes, electors and emperors (1871-1918) who ruled all or parts of Germany and Romania beginning in the 11th century, a royal family that continues to this day.” Gerry also knew Father Gumpel well, and weighs in with his take on the Jesuit’s secret identity.

Finally, the hosts turn to the long-enduring mystery of the disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi, a 15-year-old girl who lived in the Vatican. The still-unsolved case has caught new attention thanks to a Netflix true-crime documentary series. Colleen gives an update on the series’ new revelations, and Gerry weighs in on what it’s been like watching the case unfold in Rome over several decades.

Links from the show:

Vatican cardinal tells EWTN: Catholic media must be in communion with pope

Full text of Cardinal Parolin’s speech

The final secret of the Vatican’s Jesuit saint maker

A deep dive into the secret archives of Pope Pius XII

‘Vatican Girl’: Netflix’s true-crime documentary on the Holy See’s 40-year-old missing person mystery

The Vatican and China renew agreement on appointing bishops for third time

Making the church more inclusive while staying true to teaching: Vatican releases synod’s synthesis document

I helped write the first global synod document. Here’s what we heard from Catholics around the world.

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On Sunday, Pope Francis announced that the Synod on Synodality will be extended. Instead of one final meeting in the Vatican in October 2023, there will now be two Vatican meetings: One in Oct. 2023 and another in Oct. 2024.

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell and host Colleen Dulle explain the pope’s reasoning behind this decision, and whether the extension of the synodal process makes this synod, as some have said in recent days, a type of “Vatican III.”

[Missed our deep dive episode on the Synod on Synodality? Listen here!]

The hosts also discuss what message Pope Francis is sending by extending the synod: Is it a sign he does not intend to resign, an effort to ensure synodality continues with future popes, or simply a declaration that becoming a “listening church” is one of his top priorities?

In the second part of the show, Colleen and Gerry discuss the pope’s new book, I Ask You in the Name of God. Ten Prayers for a Future of Hope. Colleen explains the papal speech on economics that the book is based on, and Gerry gives his takeaways from the volume. The hosts revisit the question of where books like these fall in the hierarchy of papal teachings.

After this show was recorded, America published a report by Kenneth Woodward on the secret identity of a Jesuit who shepherded more than 150 canonization causes through the church’s saint-making process. Read “The final secret of the Vatican’s Jesuit saint maker” here.

Links from the show:

Deep dive: The ‘Synod on Synodality’ — What’s done and what comes next?

Pope Francis’ 9 commandments for a just economy

WATCH: The Pope, the Environmental Crisis, and Frontline Leaders | The Letter: Laudato Si Film on YouTube

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Cathy Harmon-Christian’s SUV has been getting a lot of attention lately. Last year, after a nun and priest friend asked her to work full-time holding listening sessions for the global Synod on Synodality with people on the margins, or outside, of Catholic parish life—who the church might have a hard time reaching—she printed a massive decal of Pope Francis extending his hand in blessing. At the bottom, was a message, which included her email address: “Pope Francis wants to hear from you!” 

“It was bigger than my window, unfortunately,” Ms. Harmon-Christian said, “so I did have to do some maneuvering.” The sign covers the back window of her Subaru and extends onto the door below.

And it worked: Ms. Harmon-Christian received emails from people who saw her driving around Atlanta. She was stopped at the gas station and even had a listening session with her mechanic, who had left the Catholic Church to become Evangelical.

Ms. Harmon-Christian’s listening work was not limited to those she encountered on the road. She has held listening sessions on Zoom, in cafés, outdoors with people experiencing homelessness, and even received a long letter from a prison inmate in Texas. Although she has not received confirmation that the results of her listening sessions were accepted by either her diocese or the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops—her 600-page report far exceeds each diocese’s 10-page limit—she has received messages of support from Vatican officials, who have encouraged her to continue her work.

So, why is the Vatican gathering all of this feedback from people like Ms. Harmon-Christian and others around the world?

For a new deep dive episode of “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle and Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell interviewed three officials in the Vatican’s synod office, along with Catholics like Ms. Harmon-Christian, who are holding listening sessions around the world. Colleen also spoke with someone who is more critical of the synod. All this to help explain the Vatican’s Synod on Synodality—what its puzzling name means and what it’s meant to accomplish.

Links from the show:

Gerard O’Connell | Exclusive: Cardinal Grech on drafting the first global synod synthesis—and what’s in store for phase 2

Gerard O’Connell | Cardinal Grech: The synod ‘needs time’ on the question of married priests

Colleen Dulle | Explainer: So, what exactly is a synod?

Colleen Dulle and Doug Girardot | We contacted every diocese in the U.S. about their synod plans. Here’s what we found.

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Pope Francis dedicated his entire Angelus address this past Sunday, Oct. 2, to denouncing the war in Ukraine. Recent weeks have seen the Ukrainians pushing back Russian forces on the ground, while Russian president Vladimir Putin has escalated his threats, claiming that four Ukrainian regions now belong to Russia, and that Russia will take any attempt to reclaim them as a threat to its territorial integrity. Putin said that in the face of such a so-called invasion, Russia would respond by all means necessary–including using nuclear weapons.

The Vatican has responded to the war so far by advocating peace and focusing on sending humanitarian aid. But the pope’s response has been criticized on the world stage for being too soft on Russia; for example, after he said that NATO had been “barking at Russia’s gate” before the invasion, or when he prayed for a Russian civilian killed by Ukrainian forces, who had in turn been used for Russian propaganda.

This week on Inside the Vatican, host Colleen Dulle interviews Joe Donnelly, the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See—President Biden’s representative to the Vatican. We talk about the anguish the pope is clearly feeling over Ukraine, and how Ambassador Donnelly navigates working with the Vatican, even when its approach and goals differ from those of the United States.

Links from the show:

Gerard O’Connell | Interview: U.S.-Vatican Ambassador Joe Donnelly on Ukraine, China and his meeting with Pope Francis

Colleen Dulle | Review: When popes play peacemaker (Review of God’s Diplomats)

Gerard O’Connell | Pope Francis makes dramatic appeal to Putin: Stop the war in Ukraine

Victor Gaetan | What critics of Pope Francis’ NATO comments don’t understand about Vatican diplomacy

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With reports from at least 112 of the 114 bishops’ conferences around the world, the Synod on Synodality has entered its next phase as 35 laypeople, priests and bishops meet in Frascati, Italy, to discern the outcome of the worldwide listening process that started last October. 

On “Inside the Vatican” this week, veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell reveals some of the highlights of his interview with Cardinal Mario Grech, the secretary general of the Synod of Bishops. (The interview was conducted for an upcoming deep dive episode on the synod which will be released on your “Inside the Vatican” podcast feed next month.) 

“The Pope is very keen that the synods and the synod process is not hijacked by pressure groups,” Gerry said. “In fact,” Gerry tells host and producer Colleen Dulle, “the cardinal said to me… I said, ‘Are you afraid of pressure groups: people with an agenda who want to get it through these?’ And he said, ‘I’m not afraid of these, but I hope if it’s going to be hijacked, it’s going to be hijacked by the Holy Spirit.’”

This week, Pope Francis also announced the first in what is expected to be a series of major personnel changes in high-ranking positions at the Vatican. Cardinal José Tolentino Calaça de Mendonça, a 56-year-old Portuguese prelate, is the first head of a newly created Vatican department known as the Dicastery for Education and Culture, combining what were previously two separate departments. 

Cardinal Tolentino is a lauded poet, author and theologian in his native Portugal. He has received numerous literary prizes and academic accolades and rose to prominence in the Vatican when the pope invited him to preach the Lenten retreat for Vatican staff in 2018. “Pope Francis is clearly a big fan of this cardinal,” Colleen tells Gerry. Though, she adds, “I think that he is more popular in other parts of the world than in the United States.” 

“It's a perfect fit in many ways,” says Gerry of Pope Francis’ appointment of Cardinal Tolentino to the new culture and education department. “He is a polyglot and he really has an open vision, and he is completely on the page of Pope Francis.… a church that is open, that is inclusive, that is not condemnatory, that's trying to encourage, not to discourage, that's trying to open doors, not to close doors.”

Links from the show:

Pope Francis names Portuguese cardinal new head of Vatican office for Culture and Education

Italy could elect its first woman prime minister—and its most right-wing government since becoming a republic

Videos from inside the Frascati Synod meeting

Exclusive: Cardinal Grech on drafting the first global synod synthesis—and what’s in store for phase 2

Cardinal Grech: The synod ‘needs time’ on the question of married priests

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Pope Francis was in Khazakstan last week for a major Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions—although his visit was overshadowed in the press by criticism from a Khazak bishop, Athanasius Schneider, who said the meeting was “dangerous” and could come off as the pope supporting “a supermarket of religions,” “undermin[ing] the uniqueness and absoluteness of Jesus Christ as savior.”

Meanwhile, the Khazak government rolled out the red carpet for the pope, who was the first to attend the international congress, although John Paul II and Benedict XVI had been invited in past years. The nation’s foreign minister also signed an agreement with his Vatican counterpart to make it easier for Catholic missionaries to enter the country.

On “Inside the Vatican” this week, veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell and host Colleen Dulle give an update on what happened at the meeting, and why Bishop Schneider disapproved of it.

In the second part of the show, the hosts turn to Ukraine, where Pope Francis’ almoner, or almsgiver, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, came under fire while delivering aid in a war zone near Zaporizhzhia. He emerged unscathed and was able to bring food, other aid, and rosaries blessed by the pope to the soldiers and civilians there.

Colleen and Gerry discuss the aid the Vatican has provided to Ukraine and examine how Pope Francis parsed the morality of delivering arms to Ukraine when speaking with a German journalist over the weekend. How do his comments advocating self-defense square with his past denunciations of the arms trade?

Links from the show:

Pope Francis in Kazakhstan: ‘How many deaths will it take’ for peace to prevail in Ukraine?

‘There is only one true religion’: Kazakh bishop says his criticisms of Pope Francis’ interfaith outreach are a sign of collegiality

Pope Francis, asked about Ukraine, says nations can buy weapons for self-defense under right moral conditions

Review: When popes play peacemaker

Gunmen fire upon Cardinal Krajewski in Ukraine

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Queen Elizabeth II died last week, Sept. 8, after 70 years on the throne. She was 96 and was England’s longest-reigning monarch. And while most people, when asked to describe the relationship between the papacy and the British monarchy, would likely think of the Henry VIII affair, in reality the relationship between the two heads-of-state-slash-heads-of-churches is quite cordial.

On “Inside the Vatican” this week, host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell discuss Queen Elizabeth II’s relationship with the five popes she met as queen, her role as a religious leader, and what we can expect in terms of Vatican relations from the reign of King Charles III.

Up next, Pope Francis traveled to Kazakhstan this week for an international congress of the leaders of world and traditional religions—that is, the world’s major religions and some that have a more regionally-specific history, like Indigenous religions. The pope is expected to use his speech at the congress and his meetings with other religious leaders to make the case for peace, a poignant message in a nation that borders Russia.

Colleen and Gerry discuss the political buzz around the visit, as well as the history of the nation’s tiny Catholic minority. Gerry gives his impressions of the country from 2001, when he covered Pope John Paul II’s visit there just ten days after the September 11 attacks on the United States, and explains how Pope Francis’ message of interreligious cooperation has extended even farther than past popes’.

Finally, Gerry and Colleen look at the pope’s health: After canceling his scheduled visits to Lebanon and South Sudan, and not traveling to Ukraine as he had hoped to do, why has the pope decided to make this trip?

Links from the show:

Queen Elizabeth turned privilege into a life of Christian service

What Catholics need to know about Kazakhstan before Pope Francis’ visit

Pope Francis heads to Kazakh interfaith congress—without hope for a meeting with Patriarch Kirill

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Pope Francis called all the world’s cardinals to the Vatican to discuss the reform of Roman offices, called dicasteries. The meeting follows the release of “Praedicate Evangelium,” a document issued earlier this summer outlining new structures and processes for the Catholic Church’s central offices. 

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” hosts Colleen Dulle and Gerard O’Connell share what went on in the cardinal’s two-day meeting in Rome, and also look into the recent beatification of Pope John Paul I, who led the church for a mere 33 days before his sudden death. 

While the cardinals were still in Rome, Gerry took the opportunity to talk with many of them about what unfolded in their closed meeting with the pope and after meeting many of their brother cardinals for the first time. 

Gerry also shares details of his exclusive interview with Cardinal Robert McElroy, the bishop of San Diego, who is now the newest prelate from the United States, and the key themes he saw emerging from the meeting. Colleen stresses the importance of knowing, as a lay person, what happens at these meetings inside Vatican walls. “I think it's helpful for us to know that these conversations that we've been having and that anybody who's following this synodal process are having, about this tension between synodality and hierarchy,” Colleen tells Gerry. “Those conversations are also being had among the Cardinals in the halls of the Vatican.”

In the final half of the show, Gerry sets the scene for the beatification ceremony of Pope John Paul I that took place at a ceremony in St, Peter’s Square this past Sunday, Sept. 4, 2022. Blessed John Paul I was the last Italian pope to be elected over a period of 400 years. Gerry shares a few personal anecdotes about the man who was affectionately known as “the smiling pope,” and what it was like to be there at his installation.

This week’s show closes with a discussion about the politics and economics of saint-making. And given the controversies that have arisen since the rapid canonization of Pope John Paul II and the subsequent release of the McCarrick report—which reveals that the polish pope knew about some of the accusations of abuse against Mr. McCarrick—Colleen, again, asks an important question: “Should we really be canonizing these recent popes?” 

Read more:

Exclusive: Cardinal Robert McElroy’s first interview since receiving the red hat

Cardinal McElroy on Curia reform, Vatican finances and the Pope Francis resignation rumors

Pope Francis beatifies John Paul I, the ‘smiling pope’ who governed the church for 33 days in 1978

Book recommendation: 

The September Pope, Stefania Falasca, Our Sunday Visitor, 2021

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“Inside the Vatican” is back from summer break this week, just as the Vatican wraps up an unusually jam-packed late August. On August 27, Pope Francis created 20 new cardinals, 16 of whom will help choose his successor. On the podcast, host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell recap the appointments and what makes the solemn ceremony relatively simple by Vatican standards.

Most of the world’s cardinals came to Rome for the creation of the new cardinals, and stayed for meetings with the pope on Monday and Tuesday to discuss his reform of the Roman Curia that went into effect in June. Although no reporters were allowed inside the meeting, Gerry shares what he learned from several participants about what happened.

In between these two important events, Pope Francis flew by helicopter to the central Italian city of L’Aquila, which has not fully recovered from an earthquake that killed nearly 300 people in 2016. The pope met with the families of those who had died, before visiting the tomb of Celestine V, the first pope to voluntarily resign.

The visit to Celestine’s tomb, combined with the unusual meeting with the cardinals, had led some to assume Pope Francis could resign this week. Gerry explains that, while he doesn’t believe Francis intends to follow in Celestine’s footsteps and resign yet, Francis has become the first pope in more than 700 years to follow Celestine’s lead in opening the Holy Door of the L’Aquila basilica for a special feast of forgiveness known as the “Celestinian pardon.”

Read more:

Podcast: Is Pope Francis preparing for the next conclave?

Meet the 16 New Cardinal Electors

Pope Francis creates 20 new cardinals including Robert McElroy of San Diego

Pope Francis prays at tomb of Celestine V, urges mercy and humility

Pope Francis tells College of Cardinals to ‘speak freely’ at first meeting since 2014

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Pope Francis is about to make a historic visit to Canada, where he will apologize for the harm inflicted on Indigenous peoples through the earliest colonial missions and the more recent operation of residential boarding schools.  

On this special deep dive episode of Inside the Vatican, we’re looking into the history of residential schools in Canada, the impact they had on survivors, and what Pope Francis’ apology might mean in a long, but important process, of truth-telling and reconciliation. 

We’ll hear from Archbishop Richard Smith of Edmonton, the leader of one of the dioceses Pope Francis is set to visit, along with Phil Fontaine, a leading Indigenous voice, residential school survivor, and three term National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

We’ll also talk with Fr. Ken Thorson, who leads the Lacombe Province of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in Canada, the religious order that ran most of the Catholic residential schools, to hear how his community has changed its position over years of listening to Indiginous voices. 

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Pope Francis, in a wide-ranging interview with Philip Pulella a Reutuers reporter, has announced that he plans to name two women to the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops, the group that helps the pope choose bishops. Until now, only men have served on the Vatican committee responsible for selecting bishops.

We don’t know who these women are yet, but we do know the kind of work they’ll be doing—it’s part of the top-secret process of appointing bishops that we explained in a deep dive episode last year. We’re re-publishing that episode today, which looks into both how bishops are appointed and how that process continues to change, particularly during Pope Francis’ pontificate.

Links from the show:

Pope Francis to give women a role in choosing bishops

Can the Catholic Church find a better way to choose bishops?

Women are rising to new heights at the Vatican. Could they change the church forever?

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Pope Francis was set to visit the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan this week, July 2-9, before his doctors advised against making the trip. But the trip’s postponement doesn’t mean that the Catholic Church’s work for peace in the conflict-torn country is on pause.

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle speaks with Sant’Egidio’s Elizabeth Boyle about the lay group’s efforts to foster peace and friendship in South Sudan. Elizabeth explains the most important facts about the conflict, and what Sant’Egidio’s work to foster peace looks like. She also gives an update on what effect the postponement has had in the country.

Also in this episode, Colleen gives a brief update on the Vatican’s two responses to the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court. While the Vatican welcomed the decision, it emphasized the importance of protecting life through caring for those in need, calling for universal healthcare, and fighting gun violence.

This is our last episode before our summer hiatus, but we have one last request before we go: Please help us improve Inside the Vatican by responding to our listener survey! Your feedback will help us return even stronger in September.

Links from the show:

On Roe v. Wade:

Vatican: After Roe v. Wade, it’s time for widespread pro-life work

Vatican editorial: For life, always

Pontifical Academy for Life response to U.S. Supreme Court decision

On South Sudan:

Pope Francis apologizes for canceling trips to Congo and South Sudan

Community of Sant’Egidio

World Food Programme

U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization

International Committee of the Red Cross

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The World Meeting of Families is happening in Rome this week, and there has been much family-related news out of the Vatican recently. The Vatican has issued new guidance on marriage preparation, saying couples should go through a yearlong program before getting married in the church, and the Vatican’s office of Laity, Family and Life has seen a few big reforms.

To learn more about these stories, America Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell recently interviewed Cardinal Kevin Farrell, prefect for the Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. This week on “Inside the Vatican,” Gerry and host Colleen Dulle recap the Vatican’s recent family-related news through the lens of Gerry’s interview with Cardinal Farrell.

Two reforms Cardinal Farrell has made: First, he has increased the share of lay people working in his office. Today, only four of the office’s almost 40 employees are priests, and Cardinal Farrell told Gerry he believes he could be the last cleric to head the office. Second, he established term limits for members of lay movements like Sant’Egidio and the Focolare. (If you don’t know what those are, don’t worry; we explain it all on this week’s show.)

Together the Vatican’s updates to formation for married couples, families and members of lay movements are aimed at realizing Pope Francis’ vision of a dynamic church in which older people teach and share leadership with younger people, and in which no one’s pastoral needs are overlooked.

Lastly, we’d love your feedback on the show! Please take this brief 2022 ITV Listener Survey and let us know what you’d like to hear in future episodes!

Links from the show:

Cardinal Farrell: ‘I believe I could be the last cleric in charge of this dicastery’

Citing ‘superficial’ marriage prep, Pope Francis calls for yearlong program for engaged couples

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Pope Francis gave a wide-ranging interview to the editors of the European Jesuit journals—America’s across-the-pond counterparts—that was published this week. In the interview, Pope Francis takes on accusations that he is “pro-Putin” and argues that a failure to accept the Second Vatican Council is at the heart of church polarization today.

On “Inside the Vatican” this week, host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell unpack the pope’s interview.

Speaking about the war in Ukraine, Pope Francis told the editors that World War III had been declared. But what does this mean? Colleen and Gerry examine the pope’s rhetorical shift from describing a third world war fought “piecemeal” to a “declared” world war.

In the second half of the show, Gerry and Colleen look at the pope’s comments on “restorationism,” which Gerry defines as “going back to the past. You don’t want the new things; you want things as they were before.” Pope Francis commented to the European editors that there are many such people in the United States, who want to return to a pre-Vatican II era without having ever accepted the council’s reforms. “Restorationism,” the pope said, “has come to gag the Council.”

Lastly, the hosts discuss the postponement of Pope Francis’ scheduled trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan, and what effects the postponement has for people in those countries who were expecting the pope.

Lastly, we’d love your feedback on the show! Please take this brief 2022 ITV Listener Survey and let us know what you’d like to hear in future episodes!

Links from the show:

Pope Francis: ‘World War III has been declared.’

Pope Francis says traditionalist Catholics are ‘gagging’ the reforms of Vatican II

Interview: Pope Francis in Conversation with the Editors of European Jesuit Journals

Pope Francis postpones July trip to Africa due to knee troubles

Pope Francis apologizes for canceling trips to Congo and South Sudan

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Pope Francis’ increasing mobility woes were already leading some to speculate that another papal resignation might soon be on the horizon. 

[Listen and subscribe to Inside the Vatican on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.]

“But then Francis pulls a kind of a rabbit out of the hat,” America Vatican correspondent and “Inside the Vatican” host Gerard O’Connell tells co-host Colleen Dulle in this episode of “Inside the Vatican.” 

On June 4, the Vatican announced that in the two days between the making of new cardinals in August and the unprecedented meeting of the world’s cardinals, Pope Francis would leave Rome for the central Italian city of L’Aquila, where he would, among other things, visit the tomb of Celestine V, who was the first pope to resign. 

This announcement might have gone unnoticed had it not been that Celestine V was the first pope to resign, and that Benedict XVI had made a pilgrimage to the same pope’s tomb four years before announcing his resignation from the chair of Peter. It was this, Gerry says, “that provided ammunition for the guns of speculation.”

And while neither Gerry nor Colleen believes a papal resignation is imminent, on this episode of “Inside the Vatican” they consider the reasons to heed, or not, the rumors that Pope Francis will soon follow in the footsteps of Benedict XVI and Celestine V.

Lastly, we’d love your feedback on the show! Please take this brief 2022 ITV Listener Survey and let us know what you’d like to hear in future episodes!

Links from the show:

Will Pope Francis resign? Here are some reasons to believe it—and some to be skeptical

What happens if a pope resigns?

A Historic Departure: Reflections on Benedict XVI’s surprise decision to resign

Should there be a pope emeritus? What Pope Benedict’s retirement says about future former popes

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On Sunday, May 29, Pope Francis announced he would create 21 new cardinals this year, including American Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego and several other surprise choices. 16 of the new cardinals are under 80 and will be able to vote in a conclave, meaning Pope Francis has now appointed just under two-thirds of the current cardinal-electors. As of December, that number will rise to 69 percent.

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connel discuss some of Pope Francis’ most interesting picks for the college of cardinals. He has traditionally passed over so-called “cardinalatial sees,” big cities where the bishop has often been named a cardinal, in favor of bishops from underrepresented communities.

This idea of Francis choosing the person over the place was evident in the case of the sole American bishop who was named a cardinal-designate this weekend: Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego. Bishop McElroy, one of the leading intellectuals in the U.S. hierarchy, has been named while the bishops of two larger cities, Archbishop Gomez in Los Angeles and Archbishop Cordileone in San Francisco, were not. Gerry and Colleen discuss the message this appointment sends to the U.S. church, while dispelling speculation that Bishop McElroy was appointed in direct response to Archbishop Cordileone’s decision to bar U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from receiving communion.

Then, Colleen and Gerry turn their focus to the global stage. Pope Francis named the first cardinal from the Dalit, or “untouchable,” caste in India. The hosts examine what effect this will have on India’s leadership, which sees Christianity as a threat to the caste system. Gerry also tells the story behind Cardinal-designate Peter Ebere Okpaleke, a Nigerian prelate who was once rejected by the priests of a diocese for belonging to a different ethnic group.

Links from the show:

Pope Francis names 21 new cardinals, including Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego

Bishop McElroy: Pope Francis and Vatican II give us a road map for the synodal process

Voting Catholic: How to vote Catholic with Bishop Robert McElroy

Bishop McElroy: When bishops increase barriers to Communion, we are not being the pastors Pope Francis called us to be.

The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Account of the Conclave That Changed History by Gerard O’Connell

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Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco announced Friday, May 20, that he would bar Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, from receiving holy communion in his diocese, which is also Ms. Pelosi’s home diocese. 

His decision comes after a lengthy and polarized debate over the past two years among U.S. bishops over whether to mandate a blanket ban on pro-choice politicians receiving communion. Ultimately, and after direct intervention from the Vatican, the U.S. bishops decided not to pursue a joint pastoral teaching on the matter. The decision to deny communion would remain with each individual bishop.

On “Inside the Vatican” this week, host Colleen Dulle asks Gerald O’Connell, America Vatican correspondent, how Archbishop Cordileone’s statement has been received at the Vatican and whether the Vatican will intervene..  

After the break, we look into a change Pope Francis made to canon law which would open leadership positions in priestly religious orders to members who are lay brothers, not priests. We’ll talk about what effects this could have going forward.

[Listen and subscribe to Inside the Vatican on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.]

Links from the show:

Gloria Purvis Podcast: Archbishop Cordileone explains why he will bar Nancy Pelosi from Communion

Behind the Story Video: Archbishop Cordileone declares Nancy Pelosi cannot receive Communion

Archbishop bars Nancy Pelosi from Communion in her home diocese, citing ‘aggressive’ defense of abortion rights

Nancy Pelosi responds to being barred from Communion: I respect pro-life views but not ‘foisting them onto others’

Deep Dive: What you need to know about the Communion Wars in the U.S. Church

Pope Francis: ‘I have never denied Communion to anyone.

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On May 11, Cardinal Joseph Zen, the 90-year old pro-democracy prelate of Hong Kong, along with three other advocates for democracy in China, were arrested and questioned on accusations that they were “colluding with foreign forces.”

Cardinal Zen was released less than a day later. Following his arrest, the Vatican issued a statement in which it said it is “following the development of the situation very closely.”

On “Inside the Vatican” this week, veteran Vatican reporter Gerard O’Connell and host Colleen Dulle explore why this revered, outspoken defender of human rights and democracy in Hong Kong appears to pose such a grave threat to the Chinese government. The hosts also examine what Cardinal Zen’s arrest could mean for the Catholic church in China.

After that, Colleen and Gerry profile two saints who, like Cardinal Zen, spoke out in favor of justice and peace, and who paid with their lives.

Links from the show:

Cardinal Joseph Zen, 90, arrested in Hong Kong

Cardinal Zen’s arrest sends shockwaves throughout Catholic world

Titus Brandsma was killed in a Nazi death camp. This Sunday, Pope Francis will make him a saint.

10 new saints exemplify ways of overcoming selfishness, Pope Francis says.

Who was Charles de Foucauld?

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Pope Francis gave a brief and unexpected interview to James Martin, S.J., for Father Martin’s new L.G.B.T.-focused publication, Outreach, a subsidiary of America Media.

In the brief interview, the pope reminds L.G.B.T. Catholics that “God is Father and he does not disown any of his children” and gives advice to those who feel rejected by the church.

Father Martin joins host Colleen Dulle on this bonus episode of “Inside the Vatican” to unpack the “mini-interview”, how he was able to interview the pope, and what message the interview sends about Pope Francis’ approach to L.G.B.T. issues.

“I think that as [Pope Francis] talks about God's style—closeness, compassion and tenderness—it’s his style too,” Father Martin said. “He wants to reach [L.G.B.T. people]. He wants to talk to them. And I think, again, this is one of the little steps he takes to reach this community step by step.”

Links from the show:

Outreach: In brief letter, Pope Francis speaks to LGBTQ Catholics

Outreach.faith

Video: How Pope Francis is changing the Vatican's tone on LGBT people

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Despite his hopes to declare victory over Ukraine May 9, Russian president Vladimir Putin instead used his speech that day to rehash his complaint that the West and NATO had forced him to send troops into Ukraine. More surprising was that Pope Francis echoed Putin’s sentiments in an interview that earned him condemnation by the Wall Street Journal editorial board. 

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell and host Colleen Dulle unpack the pope’s comments. They also discuss the religious implications of the Russia-Ukraine war and how it threatens work towards Christian unity.

After that, the two discuss why the Vatican postponed Pope Francis’ scheduled trip to Lebanon before giving an update on Cardinal Becciu’s testimony at what’s been called the Vatican’s “trial of the century.”

In a highly unusual move, Cardinal Becciu revealed confidential information about how much the Vatican was willing to spend to ransom a kidnapped nun. Gerry explains how this revelation could put the safety of church workers around the world at risk.

Links from the show:

Pope Francis: ‘I am ready to go to Moscow’ to end the war in Ukraine

What critics of Pope Francis’ NATO comments don’t understand about Vatican diplomacy

Pope Francis approved spending 1 million euros to free nun kidnapped by Al-Qaeda-linked militants

Podcast: The Vatican’s $200 million London real estate scandal, explained

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In a new interview with the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera, Pope Francis revealed some of the details of his communications with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill and Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban. He also reflected on why he chose to appeal publicly to the Russian ambassador to the Holy See to end the war, rather than communicate privately with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell and host Colleen Dulle dig into the pope’s interview—and why he says he is pessimistic about the possibility of peace.

“There are none so deaf as those who do not want to hear,” Gerry says on this week’s show. “And it seems at this moment that the Kremlin does not want to listen to peace talk. They want victory; they want taking of territory…even if…as the Pope said, you put a flag on rubble and call it victory.”

Also on the show, Colleen gives an update on Pope Francis’ request that the Pontifical Council for the Protection of Minors produce an annual report on, in Francis’ words, “what the church is doing to protect minors and what needs to change.”

Links from the show:

Pope Francis: ‘I am ready to go to Moscow’ to end the war in Ukraine

There are plenty of good reasons for Pope Francis not to go to Ukraine. Futility is not one of them.

Pope Francis asks the church to produce annual audit on sexual abuse

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Pope Francis will not visit Kyiv as hoped and has suspended his meeting with Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, planned for July in Jerusalem.

In an interview with La Nación, an Argentine daily newspaper, published on April 21, the pope said he had made the decision to suspend his meeting with Kirill because the Holy See’s diplomatic arm advised him that “a reunion between the two at this time could give rise to much confusion.”

This week on “Inside The Vatican,” co-producer Ricardo da Silva, S.J., interviews Anne Leahy, who once served as the Canadian ambassador to Russia and later to the Holy See, to understand Pope Francis and the Vatican in its relations with Russia.

As a career diplomat, Ms. Leahy has unique insight into the diplomatic dilemmas facing the pope at this time, in his desire to negotiate peace between two nations at war and end the wanton bloodshed in Ukraine, and in his decision not to name and shame the aggressor of this war. 

“What is happening on the ground right now is a very delicate exercise that the Holy See finds itself in,” Ms. Leahy says. “Do you really think that naming President Putin is going to shame him at this point?”

The former ambassador also shares personal experiences of her time in Russia and the Vatican, which have points “quite in common between administrations.” 

“It’s a lot better now under Pope Francis, in terms of transparency and in terms of access to information, in a way,” she says.

At the top of the show, Ricardo joins regular “Inside the Vatican” host Colleen Dulle to discuss the major news coming out of the Vatican this past week. They share their takeaways from the pope’s interview and the ongoing troubles with his knee injury, which has once again forced him to stop his regular liturgies and work schedule at the Vatican.

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Links from the show:

Pope Francis suspends planned meeting with Russia’s Patriarch Kirill and explains why he hasn’t visited Kyiv

There are plenty of good reasons for Pope Francis not to go to Ukraine. Futility is not one of them.

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Catholics worldwide celebrated Holy Week as the latest Russian offensive began in Ukraine. In this episode of Inside the Vatican, host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell examine how the war was addressed in the Vatican’s Holy Week services.

Gerry and Colleen explain the controversy that led to one of the Stations of the Cross reflections, which was co-written by a Russian and Ukrainian woman, being changed before the service. They also review how the pope’s physical health looked, after the pope did not celebrate the Easter Vigil as was scheduled.

In the second half of the show, Colleen and Gerry turn to Vatican diplomacy, giving an overview of what diplomatic and religious relationships the Vatican has to keep in mind as it weighs its response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the possibility of a papal visit to Kyiv.

“If Russia isn't listening,” Colleen asks, “Does the Pope delivering this peace message matter?”

Links from the show:

A Ukrainian and a Russian were invited to lead the Vatican’s Via Crucis. Ukraine wants Pope Francis to reconsider.

Pope Francis calls for an Easter truce in Ukraine, leading to ‘peace through a true negotiation’

In Easter Message, Pope Francis calls for peace in Ukraine and world: ‘Peace is a duty; peace is everyone’s responsibility!’

Interview: Former U.S.-Vatican ambassador says Pope Francis going to Ukraine is ‘advisable, for sure.’

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Crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square on April 10 for the Vatican’s first public Palm Sunday Mass in two years, and Pope Francis began the busiest liturgical week of the year while still dealing with acute knee pain. Afterwards, he called for an Easter truce in Ukraine.

On “Inside the Vatican,” Rome correspondent Gerard O’Connell and host Colleen Dulle discuss Pope Francis’ message of peace and how he is likely to expand it later this week.

The two also look at what mobility challenges Pope Francis may face during his eight Holy Week ceremonies.

Note: After this episode was recorded April 11, news broke that Pope Francis will be washing the feet of inmates at a prison in Civitavecchia, Italy, on Holy Thursday. Two high-profile Ukrainians have also called on Pope Francis to remove a Russian family from co-presenting one of the Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum with a Ukrainian family. More on those stories below.

Read more:

Pope Francis calls for an Easter truce in Ukraine, leading to ‘peace through a true negotiation’

Read: Pope Francis’ homily for Palm Sunday 2022. ‘God can forgive every sin.’

Joe Donnelly, a ‘proud’ Catholic, presents credentials to Pope Francis as U.S. ambassador to Holy See

A Ukrainian and a Russian were invited to lead the Vatican’s Via Crucis. Ukraine wants Pope Francis to reconsider.

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Last week, Pope Francis apologized to representatives of the First Nations, Métis and Inuit people for the Catholic Church’s role in Canada’s residential schools that suppressed Indigenous culture and were often the site of abuse. This week on “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle and Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell discuss what the apology meant to Indigenous leaders.

Pope Francis also told the Indigenous delegations that he hopes to visit Canada this summer, in addition to his already-announced trips to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan in July, and possible trips to Ukraine and Lebanon before that. But this past weekend, the pope struggled to move around during his trip to Malta April 2-3.

On the podcast, Gerry recounts the difficulty Pope Francis has had with his knee in Malta and the questions it raises about the impending Holy Week ceremonies and future papal trips. “Obviously they will have to tailor-make the events for him just as they did for the last years of John Paul II,” Gerry said. “They devised ways of reducing the stress and making mobility more easy.”

Colleen and Gerry also discuss Pope Francis’ revelation that he closely follows the news Elisabetta Piqué—Gerry’s wife and an Argentine war correspondent—has been reporting from Ukraine, calling her a few times a week for updates. “We never said anything publicly. It was he who spilled the beans!” Gerry says. “I think it really shows the pope doesn't just work by ordinary, official channels to get his information. He doesn’t depend on the Curia or on ambassadors or governments or nuncios. He also goes out to ordinary people whose judgment he trusts and whom he knows are in touch with the reality.”

Links from the show:

Pope Francis visits Malta this weekend. Here’s what to expect.

Arriving in Malta, Pope Francis warns of a new Cold War and urges attention to refugees

Read Pope Francis’ address to Maltese authorities, civil society and diplomatic corps

Pope Francis last spoke to Putin before New Year’s, is willing to visit Kyiv but that is ‘up in the air’

Pope Francis is wise to not call out Putin directly. Here’s why.

Pope Francis to visit Lebanon in June during economic crisis, country’s president says

Pope Francis: The blood of innocent victims massacred in Bucha ‘cries out to heaven’

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This week, Pope Francis is meeting with leaders of the First Nations, Metis, and Inuit people who have traveled to Rome from Canada. They want to tell the pope about their experiences at the state-funded, church-run residential schools that took indigenous children from their communities in an effort to assimilate them to the dominant Canadian culture.

Last year, the country and the church were shocked by the discovery of hundreds of human remains that were found buried on the sites of former residential schools. It’s the hope of Indigenous leaders that Pope Francis will travel to Canada this year to apologize for the church’s role in the schools and for the abuse that was perpetrated there.

But this work is part of a larger process of finding truth and reconciliation between indigenous people and the church in Canada, that will take much more than a papal apology. So this week, we’re bringing you an interview with six people from the truth and reconciliation committee that was established within the Archdiocese of Regina in Saskatchewan to uncover the truth of what happened at residential schools in their area and foster a relationship of healing and dialogue, led by Indigenous people. 

Our guests include two residential school survivors, May Desnomin and Susan Beaudin, along with Bishop Donald Bolen, Joanna Laundry, Deacon Eric Gurash, and Lisa Polk.

This week on Inside the Vatican, they tell their stories—and explain their hopes for what healing can look like when the church and indigenous people can face the truth together.

After that, veteran Vatican reporter Gerard O’Connell gives an update from Rome, where the meetings between the pope and the Canadian delegations are already in full swing.

Links from the show:

The Indigenous people of Canada want an apology from Pope Francis

The Canadian church’s leadership is changing. What could it mean for reconciliation with Indigenous peoples?

Inside Day 1 of the historic encounter between Pope Francis and Canada’s Indigenous communities

What does Our Lady of Fátima have to do with Russia and Ukraine?

Pope Francis: Consecrating Russia and Ukraine to Mary is ‘not a magic formula but a spiritual act.’

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On Saturday, March 19, unexpectedly and with no fanfare, the Vatican published the new 54-page constitution for the Roman Curia, called “Praedicate Evangelium” or “Preach the Gospel.” Among other changes, it made evangelization the Vatican’s top office, opened leadership of top Vatican offices to any baptized Catholic, and made the protection of minors a permanent part of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

In this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell and host Colleen Dulle break down the document’s changes in the context of Pope Francis’ vision of evangelization, and what effects they are likely to have.

Colleen and Gerry also discuss Pope Francis’ second phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Links from the show:

With Pope Francis’ reform of the Roman Curia, nine years of work is coming to fruition

Pope Francis is drawing on Vatican II to radically change how the Catholic Church is governed

Pope Francis just opened the door for lay people to head Vatican departments

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As Russian airstrikes on Ukraine continue and its ground efforts meet fierce resistance from the Ukrainian army, the Vatican is stepping up its efforts for peace.

On this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell and host Colleen Dulle discuss Pope Francis’ latest moves, including Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Pietro Parolin’s call with the Russian foreign minister, Cardinals Michael Czerny and Konrad Krajewski’s mission to Ukrainian refugees, the pope’s call to “Stop this massacre,” and the chance of a papal visit to Kyiv. 

Amid all these efforts, Colleen asks Gerry: Is the diplomatic solution the Vatican is advocating really possible?

In the second part of the show, Gerry tells the story of Sr. Lucia Caram, the heroic nun who drove 4,000 miles to Ukraine and back to rescue six Ukrainian refugees.

Find the latest updates on the Vatican’s anti-war efforts at https://www.americamagazine.org/topic/ukraine. 

Links from the show:

Cardinal Krajewski in Ukraine: ‘Faith can move mountains, not to mention a stupid war.’

Meet Sister Lucía Caram, the nun who drove 4,000 miles in a weekend to save Ukrainian refugees

Inside Cardinal Czerny’s visit to Ukraine

Cardinal Parolin calls for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine: ‘Peace is not a utopia.’

Pope Francis on Ukraine: ‘Stop this massacre’

Ukraine mayor invites Pope Francis to visit Kyiv, asking ‘the world’s spiritual leaders to take a stand’

Read: Pope Francis prays for Ukraine

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When Benedict XVI resigned as pope, he broke with 600 years of tradition and reshaped the papacy—possibly forever. As people live longer, it is likely future popes will be more willing to follow Benedict XVI’s example instead of remaining and dying in office.

But Benedict’s self-professed intention to be “hidden from the world” has hardly gone according to plan. A collection of controversies including Benedict’s 2019 letter attempting to explain the sexual abuse crisis in the church, the sudden removal of his name from a book that Cardinal Robert Sarah claimed to have co-written with him, and his recent, problematic contribution to church abuse investigators in Germany, have raised questions about future emeritus popes and who controls the messages issued in their names.

Outside the Vatican, a small but vocal movement—including the former deputy prime minister of Italy, Matteo Salvini—continues to claim Benedict is still “my pope” and, in so doing, set him up, against his will, as a parallel authority to Pope Francis.

It is likely Benedict resigned, in part, to avoid being subjected to the sort of manipulation and power-grabbing that Pope John Paul II faced in his final years as leader of the worldwide Catholic Church. But in the nine years since his resignation, Benedict’s legacy and the questions raised about his aptitude to govern are no less contested.

On this deep dive episode of “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle talks with Gerard O’Connell, America’s veteran Vatican correspondent; Christopher Lamb, author of “The Outsider: Pope Francis and the Battle to Reform the Church”; and Christopher Bellitto, a church historian at Kean University, in Union, N.J., to peel back the layers of papal politics, precedents and history. Together, they examine the title of pope emeritus—and what might need to change in the future to protect popes who retire from the opportunism and scandal we have witnessed in the nine years since the retirement of Benedict XVI.

Links from the show:

Austen Ivereigh: Pope Benedict’s letter on sex abuse is not an attack on Francis (or Vatican II)

Editorial: Discerning when and how a pope emeritus should speak

The Gloria Purvis Podcast: Do Pope Francis and Pope Benedict disagree about Vatican II and the traditional Latin Mass?

David Gibson: Pope Benedict likely won’t be punished for his handling of sex abuse. But his record can point the way forward.

More from our guests:

The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Account of the Conclave That Changed History by Gerard O’Connell

The Outsider: Pope Francis and His Battle to Reform the Catholic Church by Christopher Lamb

Website: Christopher M. Bellitto, Ph.D.

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As a Russian military convoy, 40 miles long, makes its way to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, Pope Francis is fighting for peace in Rome. The pope warned against going down the road of conflict, appealed for negotiated settlements, and called for believers worldwide to fast and pray for peace in Ukraine on Ash Wednesday. And it’s not only the pope’s words that speak here, but his actions. 

Pope Francis, without notifying the press, made a personal visit to Alexander Avdeev, the ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Vatican, who is also the personal representative of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Holy See. He expressed his deep concerns about the war, especially for the elderly, the sick, and the hundreds of thousands of people who will be displaced. Pope Francis then asked the Russian ambassador for a cessation of fighting to allow for negotiations.  

On this “Inside the Vatican” episode, Ricardo da Silva, S.J., standing in for Colleen Dulle, and veteran Vatican reporter Gerard O’Connell discuss the actions Pope Francis has taken in the days since Russian military forces invaded Ukraine. The Vatican believes it can be a mediator for peace in this war, but it also has to negotiate through the oft-treacherous and sensitive terrain of interchurch politics as Putin moves to manipulate the split between Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox believers in Russia and Ukraine.

Links from the show: 

Pope Francis on the war in Ukraine: ‘Let the guns be silenced.’

Pope Francis calls Ukrainian archbishop: ‘I will do everything I can’ to help.

Pope Francis speaks with Ukrainian President Zelensky: I pray ‘for peace and a ceasefire.’

Pope Francis visits Russian embassy as invasion of Ukraine continues

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Russian troops entered two breakaway regions of Eastern Ukraine on Monday, Feb. 21 and launched a full-scale invasion on Thursday, Feb. 24. The day before Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia took the decision to initiate war in Ukraine. Pope Francis called for all people to pray and fast for peace in Ukraine on Ash Wednesday, March 2. It was the second time the pope has called for a day of prayer for peace.

On this “Inside the Vatican” episode, host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell examine the religious aspects of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Colleen asks Gerry, why has Pope Francis refrained from calling out Russia by name?

In the second half of the show, Gerry and Colleen discuss the recent exemption Pope Francis granted to a group of traditionalist priests, giving them permission to continue celebrating the pre-Vatican II Mass.

Finally, Pope Francis spoke at a conference on the priesthood held in the Vatican last week. Gerry recaps the key takeaways from the pope’s speech.

UPDATE 2/25/2022: Pope Francis personally visited Russia's embassy to the Holy See in a highly unusual diplomatic move. Read Gerry's report: Pope Francis visits Russian embassy as invasion of Ukraine continues

Read more:

Pope Francis declares Ash Wednesday a day of fasting and prayer for peace in Ukraine

Praying for peace in Ukraine—even when it feels useless

Pope Francis approves use of Latin Mass for group of traditionalist priests

Pope Francis: Priests need to have these 4 traits in the world today

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Pope Francis has restructured the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican’s central doctrine office, which also investigates sexual abuse cases that are reported to Rome. With the pope’s Feb. 14 declaration, which goes into effect immediately, the discipline part of the Congregation will become its own section, with its own secretary, separate from the doctrine section. And the doctrine section will have an updated purview that’s geared more towards evangelization, in line with the pope’s ongoing reforms of the Roman Curia.

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell and host Colleen Dulle explain the changes to the C.D.F. and how they fit into Pope Francis’ larger goal of evangelization.

“[The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith] has two tasks, one to deal with the discipline, with the abuse question, which is torpedoing the real possibility of evangelization. The second is to develop new thinking in the theological field, to enable it to address the challenges that are coming from the world of science, the development of peoples, the cultures, and that are challenges to the church,” Gerry explains.

Colleen and Gerry also examine the urgency of the changes, particularly as the C.D.F. faces a backlog of 4,500 sexual abuse cases with only 18 staff members to investigate them.

Links from the show:

Pope Francis issues major overhaul of the C.D.F.

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Two weeks after the release of a report that accused Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI of mishandling sexual abuse cases when he was the archbishop of Munich and Freising, the former pope responded in a brief letter published Feb. 8 by the Vatican. "I have had great responsibilities in the Catholic Church,” Benedict XVI writes. “All the greater is my pain for the abuses and the errors that occurred in those different places during the time of my mandate.”

On this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell and host Colleen Dulle analyze the emeritus pope’s letter and the accompanying, more technical, explanatory note drafted by his lawyer friends. The letter confirms, on the record, that Benedict did not write his 82-page testimony to the German investigators and that the factual error about him attending a 1980 meeting where an abuse case was discussed was not intentional.

Although Benedict expresses regret that abuse happened on his watch, he does not take responsibility for any specific cases and his lawyers maintain his innocence. On the podcast, Colleen and Gerry discuss how the letter has been received and how the events of recent weeks will affect his legacy.

Links from the show:

Pope Benedict asks for forgiveness in a ‘confession’ responding to Munich sex abuse report

Read: Pope Benedict XVI’s penitential letter on Munich sexual abuse report

Pope Francis: I’m no saint. I couldn’t be pope without my friends.

Pope Francis, Joe Biden and Grand Imam of Al-Azhar all issue statements promoting human fraternity

Cardinal Marx: Having married priests ‘would be better for everyone’

Top European cardinal: Church teaching on gay people ‘no longer correct’

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Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has responded to accusations that he mishandled four cases of clerical sexual abuse when he was archbishop of Munich and Freising. His response came 20 days after a German law firm released its investigation into how abuse cases in the diocese were handled over a 74-year period. Benedict’s response today is brief, 1.5 pages, most of it dedicated to asking for forgiveness.

While Benedict apologizes for abuse that happened on his watch, he does not take personal responsibility for any specific cases. He thanks those who have supported him, including Pope Francis, and discloses that his 82-page testimony to the investigators was prepared with the help of four lawyer friends.

The letter is also accompanied by a statement from his legal advisors. In the three-page statement, the lawyers take responsibility for a factual error in the testimony, in which they wrote that Benedict did not attend a 1980 meeting where an abuse case was discussed. They also take responsibility for one of the most criticized arguments in Benedict’s testimony—that a priest who exposed himself to minors was not committing abuse because he did not physically touch them.

For more on this story, visit americamagazine.org.

Links from the show:

Pope Benedict asks for forgiveness in a ‘confession’ responding to Munich sex abuse report

Read: Pope Benedict XVI’s penitential letter on Munich sexual abuse report

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An investigation, last month, into sexual abuse in the German archdiocese of Munich and Freising found that when Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI served as its archbishop he had mishandled cases of sexual abuse committed by members of his clergy. His successors in Munich, Cardinal Friedrich Wetter and Cardinal Reinhard Marx, have also been accused of mishandling cases of sexual abuse.  

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell continue their analysis into the allegations made in the report and Cardinal Marx’s subsequent response. They also discuss Gerry’s interview with Hans Zollner, S.J., a leading abuse prevention expert based at the Vatican.

Gerry reveals the pope emeritus’ contribution to the report was assembled by at least two German lawyers who were given a document that proved Benedict attended a 1980 meeting where one of the four abuse cases was discussed. Despite having the evidence, the lawyers wrote that Benedict was not present at the meeting, and Benedict signed their report. In a statement, Benedict attributed the mistake to an editing error.

Colleen and Gerry also recap Pope Francis’ recent address where he counseled parents of L.G.B.T. children to never condemn their child, and the broader context within which this advice was given.

Links from the show:

Inside the Vatican: The German Synodal Way, Explained

Inside the Vatican: What you need to know about Pope Benedict’s record on sexual abuse

Father Hans Zollner on the German sex abuse report, Pope Benedict and the future of the church

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An investigation into sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising released Jan. 21 found that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the current archbishop, had mishandled cases of clergy sexually abusing minors during each man’s time as archbishop of Munich.

On Jan. 24, Pope Emeritus Benedict issued a statement correcting a key part of his 82-page contribution to the investigators, raising questions about how the aging former pontiff’s contribution was assembled.

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican reporter Gerard O’Connell explain what we know so far about the four cases Pope Emeritus Benedict was implicated in. Gerry and Colleen also discuss some of the issues with Benedict’s contribution to the investigation, including the factual error, and how the contribution might have been handled differently.

Links from the show:

Pope Francis vows justice for sex abuse victims after German audit faults Pope Benedict

Pope Benedict corrects statement to German abuse report, was present at meeting where abusive priest was discussed

Pope Benedict’s correction to the Munich abuse report sparks a debate among German Catholics

Vatican editorial on abuse report: Don’t use Pope Benedict as an ‘easy scapegoat’

‘Deliver Us’ podcast: What Can We Do to Hold Bishops Accountable?

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In 1977, driving on a rural, dusty road between Aguilares and El Paisnal, a Jesuit priest named Rutilio Grande S.J. was shot and killed by El Salvador’s government security forces. The assassination helped escalate a bloody period of civil war in which Catholics like Oscar Romero (1985), six Jesuits at the Central American University in San Salvador (1989), and four American churchwomen (1980) were martyred. While Romero became a Catholic household name and celebrated saint, not many know the story of his friend and fellow priest, Rutilio Grande S.J.

That’s about to change. On January 22, 2022, Rutilio Grande will be beatified, after his cause for canonization was delayed by what Pope Francis called “misunderstandings and slander.”

In this “Inside the Vatican” deep dive, host Colleen Dulle talks with scholars, friends and relatives of Grande to learn what inspired this Jesuit’s ministry among the people which led, ultimately, to his martyrdom.

Read more:

Father Rutilio Grande: the (future) patron saint of breaking mental health stigma?

Padre Tío Tilo: Rutilio Grande’s niece talks about her childhood with her martyred uncle

4 lessons from Rutilio Grande, priest, prophet and martyr

Eileen Markey’s book: A Radical Faith: The Assassination of Sr. Maura

Sr. Ana Maria Pineda’s book: Rutilio Grande, Memory and Legacy of a Jesuit Martyr

Rodolfo Cardenal’s book: The Life, Passion, and Death of the Jesuit Rutilio Grande

Radio YSUCA at the Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas, UCA

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A long-awaited report on how sexual abuse cases were handled in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising between 1945 and 2019, was released today, and it accuses both Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Cardinal Reinhard Marx, one of Pope Francis’ top advisers, of mishandling abuse cases.

The report looks back at abuse cases spanning more than 70 years, which includes Pope Emeritus Benedict’s five-year tenure as archbishop of the diocese. The lawyers accuse Benedict of mishandling four abuse cases, saying that he allowed two priests who were criminally prosecuted for abuse to continue working as priests, and that no action was taken against them under church law.

Pope Emeritus Benedict denies all allegations of wrongdoing. His personal secretary responded to questions from journalists today, saying Benedict would “examine the text with the necessary attention.”

Cardinal Marx, the current archbishop of Munich and Freising, is also accused of mishandling two cases of sexual abuse. He was not present at  the presentation of the document, but said he watched the livestream. In a statement a few hours later, Cardinal Marx asked for forgiveness and said that while the report is important for coming to terms with the past, the priority should be on care for the victims. He said that the diocese would carefully study the report and discern a way forward.

A Vatican spokesman told journalists today that the Vatican would study the almost 1,900-page report, which detailed the cases of 497 victims and 235 abusers. The spokesman said “The Holy See believes it has an obligation to give serious attention to the document” and reiterated the Vatican’s sense of shame and remorse for the abuse of minors by clerics and its commitment to ensuring safe environments for young people.

Read more:

Vatican to study German abuse report that faults Pope Benedict

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Pope Francis addressed ambassadors from the 183 countries that have diplomatic relations with the Holy See about his top international priorities on Monday and, surprisingly, devoted a portion of his talk to the problems he sees with “cancel culture.”

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell take a look at the pope’s talk and why he thinks cancel culture is a threat to international cooperation.

“Under the guise of defending diversity, it ends up canceling all sense of identity,” the pope said, “with the risk of silencing positions that defend a respectful and balanced understanding of various sensibilities.”

Gerry also recaps how Pope Francis baptized 16 children in the Sistine Chapel this weekend—which brought back memories of when then-Cardinal Bergoglio baptized Gerry and his wife’s children in Buenos Aires.

Read more:

Pope Francis critiques ‘cancel culture’ in address to diplomats from around the world

Pope Francis removes from Vatican doctrine office archbishop who is believed to have banned same-sex blessings

Pope Francis stopped by his favorite record store to say ‘hello’

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Pope Francis has an “action-packed” agenda this year, but the relentless spread of Covid-19 worldwide could complicate his plans to visit countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. 

But whether or not the pope is able to travel internationally this year, Gerry says he “is clearly not planning to slow down,” and has much work to do from his desk at the Vatican. Chief among the pope’s tasks this year is the completion of the reform of the Roman Curia which will culminate with the issuing of “Praedicate Evangelium,” a document that will serve as a blueprint for not only a revamp of some of the more dated structures at the Vatican but also intends to usher a change in culture within the Roman Curia.

This year is also expected to bring other significant changes at the Vatican including the appointment of several new high-ranking officers, as some cardinals reach the age of retirement and those over 80 become ineligible to vote in the next papal conclave. 

This year, “Francis will really leave his mark on the church in a big way,” Gerry tells Ricardo. “These will be men chosen by him alone, not inherited from a previous pontificate.”

Links from the show:

Pope Francis’ action-packed agenda for 2022

Volunteer, stop judging and get off Twitter: 8 New Year’s Resolutions Inspired by Pope Francis

Video: 8 New Year’s Resolution from Pope Francis

Podcast: Inside the top secret process of appointing a Catholic bishop

The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Account of the Conclave That Changed History 

Pope Francis on New Year’s Day: “To hurt a woman is to insult God.”

Pope Francis at Midnight Mass: God comes into the world in littleness.

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Pope Francis’ Christmas messages to “the church and the world” (“Urbi et Orbi”) and to the Roman Curia focused this year on the theme of humility.

“He is the word of God who became an infant, capable only of crying, and in need of help for everything,” the pope said. “He wished to learn how to speak, like every other child, so that we might learn to listen to God, our Father, to listen to one another and to dialogue as brothers and sisters.”

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle gives a summary of the pope’s Christmas messages. You can find links to read them, along with Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell’s reporting on the pope’s Curia address, below.

Pope Francis’ Christmas Urbi et Orbi message

Pope Francis’ address to the Roman Curia

Pope Francis tells Roman Curia ‘Be humble, not proud’ in another humdinger of a Christmas talk

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On Saturday, Dec. 18, the Vatican issued some clarifications about its restrictions on the pre-Vatican II Latin Mass. These restrictions had been published in July in Pope Francis’ letter “Traditionis Custodes,” or “Guardians of the Tradition.” Since then, The Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship had received some questions about the restrictions, so they put together the most common ones and provided yes or no answers—a format the Vatican sometimes uses called a “responsum ad dubium” or “response to doubts/questions.”

The new clarifications basically double down on the restrictions that were put in place in July: They make it clear that the Tridentine Latin Mass can still be celebrated in oratories and by priests who are specifically tasked with celebrating Mass in the old rite, but it tightens restrictions on old rite Masses outside of those situations.

On this special update episode, host Colleen Dulle explains the new clarifications around the old Latin Mass.

Links from the show:

Vatican clarifies rules for the celebration of the Tridentine Latin Mass

Inside the Vatican Deep Dive: Why Pope Francis restricted the Latin Mass

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This week on “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle and Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell take a look back at this year in Vatican news.

This year brought three risky papal trips to Iraq, Hungary and Slovakia, and Cyprus and Greece, all undertaken during the Covid-19 pandemic. In the meantime, Pope Francis’ health came into question when he underwent surgery on his colon in mid-July. Gerry recaps the pope’s trips and gives an update on his recovery.

Within the Vatican, the pope continued his reforming efforts: This year saw the opening of the first-ever Vatican trial of a cardinal for financial crimes, and Pope Francis opened the global “synod on synodality” in an effort to move the church toward greater collaboration between leadership and lay people.

Looking across the Atlantic, the pope stepped into the U.S. bishops’ debate around communion for pro-choice politicians, telling Gerry aboard the papal plane that he had never denied communion to anyone. Colleen and Gerry recap the story and look at where the Vatican would like to see the U.S. bishops go from here.

Links from the show:

Pope Francis in Iraq: Everything you need to know about the historic trip

What to expect from Pope Francis’ trip to Hungary and Slovakia

Pope Francis is about to visit Greece and Cyprus — and he’s expected to invite some 50 migrants to come to Rome

Pope Francis returns to Vatican 10 days after successful operation

In a historic first, a cardinal stood trial at the Vatican over involvement in a real estate scandal

Podcast: The Synod on Synodality will be an uphill battle — but it’s worth it

Debate over the Eucharist and pro-choice politicians ends in a whimper at bishops’ meeting

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Pope Francis traveled to Cyprus and Greece from December 2-6, casting a spotlight on two nations that receive tens of thousands of migrants and refugees each year. On his flight from Rome to Cyprus, Pope Francis told journalists that he was making the trip to “touch the wounds of humanity.”

America’s Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell was among the reporters traveling with the pope. This week on “Inside the Vatican,” he speaks with host Colleen Dulle about the experience, and how Pope Francis was visibly moved by seeing the barbed-wire-topped wall that has divided the Cypriot capitol of Nicosia into an independent half and a Turkish-controlled half since 1973.

The pope’s goals for this trip included delivering a message of hope to the divided country, encouraging the small Catholic population in the region, bridging divisions with the Greek Orthodox community who make up the majority of these nations’ believers, and speaking out about threats to democracy while visiting democracy’s birthplace.

Gerry also describes visiting a migrant reception center on the Greek island of Lesbos, where Pope Francis delayed his meeting with the president by 30 minutes, instead opting to walk and greet the asylum seekers living in the camp. The Holy See is expected to host 50 refugees from Cyprus after the trip and sponsor their resettlement in Italy.

Links from the show:

In Cyprus, Pope Francis has a message for all of Europe: We need dialogue and open doors—not walls.

Pope Francis: Don’t let ‘small-t traditions’ divide Catholic and Orthodox Christians

Full text of Pope Francis’ speech in Nicosia

Pope Francis in Greece: ‘We are witnessing a retreat from democracy.’

Pope Francis in Lesbos: The root causes of the migration crisis ‘should be attacked,’ not migrants (Full Text)

Pope Francis: ‘I accepted the resignation of the archbishop of Paris not on the altar of truth but on the altar of hypocrisy’

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Papal biographer Austen Ivereigh covered and participated in the Latin American ecclesial assembly in Mexico City last week. It was the first meeting of its kind, bringing together about 1,000 bishops, priests, religious and lay people to discuss the region’s pastoral needs in a synodal way.

On “Inside the Vatican,” Austen joins host Colleen Dulle to discuss his experience at the meeting and what lessons the Latin American church can teach the rest of the world about synodality.

Colleen and Austen also discuss how this assembly built on the last meeting of the Latin American and Caribbean bishops in Aparecida, Brazil in 2007. “Aparecida calls for missionary pastoral conversion; it calls for the Church to realize that Christianity is no longer spread through law and culture, that we have to go back to, as it were, the early church understanding, which is that we’ve had an experience of encounter with Christ, and therefore, everything we do as a church needs to be about facilitating that encounter,” Austen explained.

Pope Francis was a key player in the Aparecida meeting and hoped that this year’s Latin American ecclesial assembly would revive its legacy. Austen describes why the implementation of Aparecida wasn’t as far-reaching as originally hoped and how, despite that, the Latin American church remains a worldwide leader in synodality.

Links from the show:

Crux: Pope Francis calls for ‘prayer and dialogue’ as Latin American Ecclesial Assembly opens

Vatican News (Spanish): La Iglesia es líder en la sinodalidad con diversos métodos de escucha

National Catholic Reporter: First of its kind assembly to address future of Latin American Catholic Church

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The U.S. bishops approved their long-awaited and much-debated document on the Eucharist at their November meeting last week. This week on “Inside the Vatican,” America’s national correspondent Michael O’Loughlin, who covered the meeting in Baltimore, joins Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell and host Colleen Dulle for a conversation about what the bishops decided and what the Vatican hopes they will do next.

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The final document, which passed with an overwhelming 222 votes, focused primarily on the theology of the Eucharist and only made oblique reference to pro-choice politicians. But the bishops stepping back from a contentious debate in favor of unifying around the pastoral need they see for better catechesis on the Eucharist was the kind of show of unity the Vatican had hoped to see, Gerry said on the podcast.