Inside The Vatican

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.

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

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.

In the second half of the show, the panel discusses Vatican officials’ interventions at the bishops’ meeting. Their messages on synodality and sexual abuse, paired with a message Pope Francis shared with the Italian bishops’ meeting this week, paint a picture of a Vatican that is relieved at the resolution to the ‘communion wars’ and hopes to see the bishops unify around other issues.

Links from the show:

Debate over the Eucharist and pro-choice politicians ends in a whimper at bishops’ meeting

Leaked draft of bishops’ document on Communion lacks explicit reference to pro-choice politicians

Inside the Vatican: Eucharistic revival or Communion war? How politics and the pandemic are framing a debate among U.S. bishops

Pope Francis shares 8 Beatitudes for Bishops, giving a model for the 21st-century pastor

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Pope Francis lavished praise on several reporters this week, awarding Televisa’s Valentina Alazraki and Reuters’ Phil Pullela papal knighthoods on Saturday, and praising America’s Michael J. O’Loughlin’s research into Catholic responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in a letter published Monday.

But Pope Francis’ relationship with the press wasn’t always so friendly. Before he became pope, “you could count on two hands all the interviews he'd given in his life,” veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell explains on this week’s “Inside the Vatican.”

On this week’s episode, Gerry and host Colleen Dulle take a look at how the pope’s relationship with the media has changed over time and examine the vision of the media that Pope Francis laid out in his speech to Vatican journalists this weekend.

Links from the show:

Pope Francis’ 3 tips for journalists today

Read Pope Francis’ speech to journalists

Pope Francis thanks America’s Michael J. O’Loughlin for reporting on Catholic responses to H.I.V./AIDS

Inside the Vatican: Pope Francis thanks author for book on LGBT Catholics and the AIDS crisis

Inside the Vatican: Eucharistic revival or Communion war? How politics and the pandemic are framing a debate among U.S. bishops

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Pope Francis sent a letter to America’s national correspondent, Michael J. O’Loughlin, thanking him for his research on the interactions between the Catholic Church and the gay community—and the stories of many gay Catholics—at the heights of the AIDS epidemic. O'Loughlin recently published his research in a new book called “Hidden Mercy: AIDS, Catholics, and the Untold Stories of Compassion in the Face of Fear,” which follows up on America Media's podcast: “Plague: Untold Stories of AIDS and the Catholic Church.”

“Thank you for shining a light on the lives and bearing witness to the many priests, religious sisters and lay people, who opted to accompany, support and help their brothers and sisters who were sick from HIV and AIDS at great risk to their profession and reputation,” the pope wrote to O'Loughin.

On this bonus episode of “Inside the Vatican,” Mike joins host Colleen Dulle to discuss the pope’s letter and its significance, along with Mike’s research into the stories behind the Vatican’s response to the AIDS crisis.

Links from the show:

How the Catholic Worker Movement inspired one couple to open their doors to people with AIDS

Order Hidden Mercy: AIDS, Catholics, and the Untold Stories of Compassion in the Face of Fear

Listen to Plague: Untold Stories of AIDS and the Catholic Church, or subscribe on your podcast app.

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