Vatican Insider

Welcome to Vatican Insider on this final weekend of Advent! I know that in these days we’re all getting our homes ready for guests and shared meals and telling stories around a Christmas tree and Nativity scene but we are also getting ready, in a prayerful and joy-filled fashion, to welcome our Lord and Savior on December 25! Christmas is thus special and that is exactly what I offer you this week in what is normally the interview segment – a Special on celebrating Christmas in the Vatican and Rome! I actually researched and recorded this a couple of years ago but it is all so relevant and beautiful and interesting that I want to share it again! And the reaction was quite wonderful so, here we go again!

Welcome to Vatican Insider on this third weekend of Advent, when we mark Gaudete Sunday, a reminder of the joy that comes with the anticipation of Christ’s birth. Join me in the interview segment for Part II of my conversation with Patrick Reilly, a friend of many years and founder in 1993 of the Cardinal Newman Society.

Welcome to Vatican Insider on this first weekend of December 2025. My guest in the interview segment is Patrick Reilly, a friend of many years and founder in 1993 of the Newman Society. We spoke when he was in Rome for the November 1 declaration by Pope Leo of Cardinal John Henry Newman as doctor of the Church.

In this edition of Vatican Insider we present the second part of The Kingship of Christ interview. My guests are Aidan Gallagher, head of EWTN Ireland, and Jesuit Fr. Bernard McCuckian, principal narrator of “The Kingship of Christ,” a documentary produced by EWTN Ireland. Other protagonists of this 4-part documentary on Christ the King that premiered November 18 in the Vatican’s filmoteca or film library include Fr. Mark Lewis, SJ, Rector of the Jesuit-run Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and Fr. Dominic Holtz, OP, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy at the Angelicum, the Dominican university in Rome.

Welcome to a new edition of Vatican Insider on this penultimate weekend in November!

My guests in the interview segment this weekend are Aidan Gallagher, head of EWTN Ireland, and Jesuit Fr. Bernard McCuckian, principal narrator of “The Kingship of Christ,” a documentary produced by EWTN Ireland.

Other protagonists of this 4-part documentary on Christ the King that premiered November 18 in the Vatican’s filmoteca or film library include Fr. Mark Lewis, SJ, Rector of the Jesuit-run Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and Fr. Dominic Holtz, OP, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy at the Angelicum, the Dominican university in Rome.

This Sunday, of course, November 23, 2025 is the feast of Christ the King. This year, in fact, marks the 100th anniversary of its institution by Pope Pius XI on Dec. 11, 1925 at the end of that Jubilee Year. The four parts explore the meaning and origins of the term “kingship” in Sacred Scripture, the nature of Christ’s kingship, its rise to prominence in the 19th and 20th centuries, and how His reign continues to be realized in the world today.

In part II of our conversation, my special guests are Marlene Watkins, founder of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospitality – North American Volunteers, and Bishop Douglas Lucia of Syracuse, New York, who is the chaplain for the group. Don't miss on this special edition of Vatican Insider.

My special guests this week in the interview segment are Marlene Watkins, founder of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospitality – North American Volunteers and Bishop Douglas Lucia of Syracuse, New York, who is the chaplain for the group. Join us!

Stay tuned for Part II of my conversation with Jesuit Fr. Thomas Merkel, president of the D.C.-based Gregorian University Foundation. This was established in 1972 with the aim of supporting Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University through raising much-­needed funds for scholarships, academic chairs, libraries and capital improvements.

Some big news stories this week to tell you about but now I want you to know that my guest in the interview segment is Fr. Thomas Merkel, president of the D.C.-based Gregorian University Foundation that was instituted in 1972 with the mission to support the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, through raising much­-needed funds for scholarships, academic chairs, libraries and capital improvements.

Welcome to Vatican Insider on this third weekend of October. Lots of events this week at the Vatican as you will hear in the opening news segment. After the news highlights, you’ll want to stay tuned for my weekly interview segment when my guest is Lisa Petrocelli, an American who spent a week in Rome as a volunteer for the Jubilee Year of Hope.