Inside The Vatican

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 ext...

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 bo...

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...

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...

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.” Me...

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 Va...

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...

“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 standar...

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...

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...

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 e...

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,...

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...

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...

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....

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 poli...

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 situatio...

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 b...

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...

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 Puti...

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 betwee...

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 Rus...

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 ho...

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...

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 sh...