Inside The Vatican

“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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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?

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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?

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices