Inside The Vatican

Last week’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith document marked a departure from Pope Francis’ usual pastoral tone on LGBT issues, even though the pope had approved its publication. This weekend, the pope spoke against “theoretical condemnations,” posing “gestures of love” as an alternative. America Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell spoke with several Vatican officials who told them that the pope’s comments were an effort to distance himself from the document.

Why use anonymous sources for this claim? This week on “Inside the Vatican,” Gerry and host Colleen Dulle discuss the pope’s comments and why Vaticanistas use anonymous sources so often.

In the latter half of the show, the hosts discuss Gerry’s recent interview with Vatican foreign minister Archbishop Paul Gallagher, which America will be publishing in three parts this week. (Read part 1 on the Middle East here and part 2 on China here.) Archbishop Gallagher spoke about Pope Francis’ diplomatic goals for his recent Iraq trip and the Vatican’s larger goals for influencing the region.

Links from the show: 

Vatican sources suspect Pope Francis was distancing himself from CDF statement on same-sex unions in address

Pope Francis’ trip to Iraq was a historic breakthrough. But will it lead to greater peace in the Middle East?

Pope Francis spoke out against oppression in Myanmar. Why is he silent on China and Hong Kong?

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This week, a statement from the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith made global headlines, saying that the church cannot bless gay unions and reiterating that they are “not ordered to the Creator’s plan.” The document said Pope Francis “assented” to its publication, which disappointed LGBT Catholics who had come to appreciate the pope’s more supportive tone.

But how closely did Pope Francis really examine the document? This week on “Inside the Vatican,” America’s Rome correspondent Gerard O’Connell reveals that the document was drafted by a much smaller group of people than would ordinarily be involved in writing this type of statement and that Pope Francis reviewed it just before his Iraq trip. 

While it is unclear how much attention Pope Francis gave the document, Gerry says that it is significant that the document said the pope was “informed” and “assented to its publication,” a more hesitant phrasing than “approved” and “ordered its publication,” the terms the Vatican normally uses.

On this week’s show, Julia Erdlen, a Boston College graduate student in theology who identifies as queer, shares her reaction to the new document on blessing gay unions.

After that, Gerry and host Colleen Dulle discuss a recent guideline banning priests from celebrating Masses alone at the side altars in St. Peter’s Basilica and restricting celebrations of the Tridentine Latin Mass to one chapel in the basilica’s crypt. The two explain how these moves align with Pope Francis’ goal of implementing the reforms of the Second Vatican Council and explain why the pope has ordered an outside review of the Congregation for Divine Worship.

Links from the show:

Gerard O’Connell | Vatican, with Pope Francis’ approval, says priests cannot bless same-sex couples

Michael J. O’Loughlin | ‘It just hurts’: Catholics react to Vatican ban on blessings for same-sex couples

Gerard O’Connell | The Vatican restricts Traditional Latin Mass and suppresses private Masses at St. Peter’s Basilica

Before naming Cardinal Sarah’s replacement, Pope Francis wants an outside review of the congregation for worship

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Pope Francis visited Iraq March 5-8, and America’s Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell traveled with him. Fresh off the trip, Gerry joins host Colleen Dulle on “Inside the Vatican” to discuss what it was like to travel with the pope on his riskiest trip yet.

Pope Francis was determined to visit Iraq despite the increases in violence and coronavirus cases there because he wanted to encourage Iraqis to believe in their country’s future after decades of conflict. In particular, he hoped to bring hope to Iraq’s Christian minority, which shrunk by 75 percent as Christians fled persecution by Islamic State extremists.

This week on the podcast, we hear from a young Iraqi Christian woman, Rashel, who has had difficulty imagining a future for herself in her country. She went to see Pope Francis this weekend with her family. “He said so many words in each town [where] he went,” Rashel said. “All these words were...about the peace. This is what we need.” As Gerry said on this week’s show, “Peace means a future.”

That peace will require reconciliation between the different communities in Iraq, particularly between the Shia Muslim majority and religious and ethnic minorities, like the Christians. Pope Francis worked in this trip to strengthen Christian-Muslim relations by visiting with Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, one of the most revered clerics in Shia Islam. Gerry describes how Iraqi Christians and Muslims reacted to the leaders’ meeting positively, believing it would be a step towards peace in the country.

As for Rashel, while she said it was difficult to know exactly what effect the pope’s visit would have long-term, “I feel that something good is going to happen, really. I don’t know when, but I think it’s going to happen. I’m sure from this [visit].”

Links from the show:

Inside the Vatican’s Deep Dive into Pope Francis’ trip to Iraq

Gerard O’Connell: Pope Francis makes history by meeting Ayatollah al-Sistani, spiritual leader of Iraqi Shia Muslims

Gerard O’Connell: ‘Peace more powerful than war’: Pope Francis ends his Iraq trip in the land once ruled by ISIS

Gerard O’Connell: Pope Francis says Iraq trip brought him ‘back to life’ after a year in Covid prison

Find all of America’s coverage of Pope Francis’ historic visit to Iraq here

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Pope Francis takes off for Baghdad on Friday, March 5. Once he arrives in Iraq, he will zigzag the country at breakneck speed visiting civic and religious leaders and touring places that are still recovering from the destruction wrought by the Islamic State.

Since ISIS’ takeover of the Nineveh Plain, the area where most Iraqi Christians lived, three-quarters of those Christians have left the country. Pope Francis is intent on encouraging them and affirming the choice of those who have remained. Along the way, he wants to continue strengthening relationships with Muslims, visiting for the first time a Shia-majority country.

But why go now, when coronavirus cases and violence are both increasing in Iraq? What has given Pope Francis such a sense of urgency around this trip?

On this special deep dive episode of “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle speaks with Dr. Amir Harrak, a professor of Aramaic and Syriac studies at the University of Toronto; Rashel Groo, a university student who lived through the ISIS takeover; Jordan Denari Duffner, a scholar of Muslim-Christian relations at Georgetown University; and Gerard O’Connell, America Media’s Vatican correspondent, to explain what the situation in Iraq is like now and why the pope is insistent on visiting, despite the risks.

Find all of America’s coverage of Pope Francis’ trip to Iraq at americamagazine.org/iraq2021

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On Sunday, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Cardinal Robert Sarah, the Guinean prelate with whom he has publicly clashed on a few occasions. Pope Francis was widely expected to accept Cardinal Sarah’s resignation soon after his 75th birthday in June, but the pope surprised Vatican watchers this week by declining to fill Cardinal Sarah’s now-vacant post as head of the Congregation for Divine Worship.

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle gives a brief update on this news, along with the Vatican’s $60.3 million budget shortfall and its newly-announced penalties for employees who decline the Covid-19 vaccine.

Links from the show:

Pope Francis accepts the resignation of Cardinal Sarah as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship

Vatican expects multi-million dollar budget deficit for 2021

Vatican tells its employees to get a Covid vaccine, or risk getting fired

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Pope Francis’ trip to Iraq, scheduled for March 5-8, has been thrown into further question in recent days. Following the discovery of the new UK-based strain of the novel coronavirus, Iraqi authorities closed businesses and places of worship, including those where the pope was expected to hold events during his visit.

A rocket attack near the Erbil airport on Feb. 15 has also heightened security concerns, as the pope was expected to meet leaders from Iraqi Kurdistan at the airport and depart from there for Rome. Despite the concerns, the Vatican insists that the trip is going forward.

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle and Gerard O’Connell look at the challenges of planning this papal trip. “When I asked some people in the Vatican, ‘Well, how is this going to be possible with the lockdown?’ They said, well, you know, there's always an exception to a rule,” Gerry said.

Gerry and Colleen also give updates on the church’s involvement in protests in Myanmar, Pope Francis’ praise for a new Colombian law granting protections to Venezuelan refugees, and the plans for Ash Wednesday services in the Vatican.

Links from the show:

Iraq announces Covid-19 restrictions ahead of papal trip

Cardinal Charles Maung Bo on Twitter

America Magazine’s documentary on Venezuelan refugees

America Magazine’s Lent 2021 Reflections, podcasts and more

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For the first time, a woman will have the right to vote in the Synod of Bishops.

Sister Nathalie Becquart, a Xaviere sister, became the first woman to be named undersecretary of the Vatican’s Synod of Bishops, a position previously reserved to bishops. As is customary for the undersecretary, Sister Becquart is expected to be a voting member of the 2022 synod. Until now, women have been barred from voting in synods.

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle and Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell explain the significance of Sister Becquart’s appointment and what it could mean for future synods. As for whether other women could be able to vote in upcoming synods, Gerry said, “I think we may even see that in the synod on synodality. It is under consideration.”

Colleen and Gerry also discuss Pope Francis’ trip to Iraq, which was confirmed this week, and his address to the world’s ambassadors to the Vatican. The pope described seven global crises that have been worsened by the coronavirus pandemic and said the “crisis of politics” underlies them all.

Links from the show:

Gerard O’Connell | For the first time, Pope Francis appoints a woman with the right to vote as undersecretary of the synod of bishops

Colleen Dulle | Why can’t women vote at the Synod on Young People?

Gerard O’Connell | Pope Francis offers a roadmap for overcoming the pandemic—and the 7 other crises it exposed

Pope Francis: In 2021, vaccines, fraternity and hope are the medicine we need.

Full text of Pope Francis’ address to the diplomatic corps

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Pope Francis made clear this week that he was keeping a close eye on the divisions in the U.S. church, which showed up most recently in the controversy over Archbishop Jose H. Gomez’s statement on the inauguration of President Joseph R. Biden. The statement was seen as being inappropriately confrontational by the Vatican, and stateside sparked responses both of support and opposition among other bishops.

Cardinal Blase Cupich, who said on Twitter that the statement had not followed the bishops’ conference’s protocol, met with Pope Francis on Saturday. Though it is unclear what the two men talked about, it is evident that the Vatican went out of its way to publicize the fact that the meeting happened. America’s Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell also reported on Saturday that the pope had been briefed on the back and forth over the statement.

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” Gerry and host Colleen Dulle discuss Pope Francis’ strategy for bringing the bishops together in spite of their differences. “You know its defects better than I do,” the pope said to a group of American journalists this week, but “I look at the U.S. church with hope.”

In the second part of the show, Colleen and Gerry look at Cardinal Bo’s efforts to advocate nonviolence in Myanmar following that country’s military coup this week. Colleen and Gerry also give an update on the plans for Pope Francis’ scheduled trip to Iraq next month and what his scheduled meeting with Shiite Ayatollah Al-Sistani could mean for intra-Muslim relations.

Links from the show:

Inside the Vatican | Inside the U.S. bishops’ clash with the Vatican over Joe Biden’s Inauguration

Gerard O’Connell | Pope Francis meets with Cardinal Cupich, who criticized fellow U.S. bishops for confrontational approach to Biden

Catholic News Service | Pope Francis talks Iraq trip, Catholic journalism and the church in U.S.

Gerard O’Connell | The military again seize power in Myanmar despite pleas from Cardinal Bo

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Last week, the United States’ second Catholic president was sworn in. The day was tinged with controversy for some U.S. Catholics, though, when the president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, Archbishop José H. Gomez, issued a statement that was seen by the Vatican as being too confrontational towards the new president.

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell look at explain the questions that have arisen around the controversial document: Is there a precedent for this type of statement on inauguration day? Did the Vatican really intervene to stop the bishops from publishing the statement, as one outlet reported? And were the proper protocols followed to gather the bishops’ input?

Most importantly, what does the contrast between Pope Francis’ letter to President Biden and Archbishop Gomez’s statement reveal about divisions among the U.S. bishops and with the Vatican?

Colleen and Gerry also give an update on Pope Francis’ recent sciatica flare-up, which caused him to miss three events this week.

Links from the show:

Gerard O’Connell | Pope Francis sends greeting to President Biden, contrasting with sharper message from head of U.S. bishops

In rare rebuke, Cardinal Cupich criticizes USCCB president’s letter to President Biden

How Joe Biden’s Catholic faith will shape his relationship with Pope Francis—and the U.S. bishops

Gerard O’Connell | Pope Francis will miss three events this week due to painful sciatica

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The Vatican’s judicial system is entering a busy season: Soon, it will deliver a verdict in the trial of the former head of the Vatican Bank who was accused of embezzlement; it will hear the abuse trial of a former St. Peter’s Basilica altar server; and it’s expected to bring charges against a woman accused of embezzling more than 500,000 Euros from the Vatican while employed under Cardinal Angelo Becciu.

This week, the Vatican dropped its effort to extradite the woman from Italy to Vatican City, which has raised questions about whether the extradition could stand: Some argue that her lawyers could have made the case against extradition because the woman was not guaranteed a fair trial in the Vatican.

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell unpack this question: What makes the Vatican’s judicial system different from a modern democratic one, like Italy’s, and what are its pros and cons?

The hosts also discuss Australia’s recent admission that it overestimated the amount of money transferred from the Vatican to Australia by $1.5 billion. Colleen and Gerry discuss how such a big blunder could have been made and what questions remain about the transfers.

Links from the show:

Gerard O’Connell | Australia admits $1.5 billion error in investigation into suspected Vatican money laundering

Can defendants get a fair trial at the Vatican? The Vatican decides it doesn’t want to hear Italy’s answer

Inside the Vatican | The Vatican’s $200 million London real estate scandal, explained

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