Voices
Gerard O’Connell is America’s Vatican correspondent and author of The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Story of the Conclave That Changed History. He has been covering the Vatican since 1985.
Politics & SocietyVatican Dispatch
Pope Francis sent “cordial greetings” and “assurance of my prayers” to Donald J. Trump on Jan. 20, the day of his inauguration as the 47th president of the United States.
FaithVatican Dispatch
Pope Francis expressed the hope that the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that came into effect on Sunday, Jan. 19, “would be respected immediately by all the parties [involved]” and would lead to “the release of all the hostages” and the rapid provision of urgently needed humanitarian aid to the population of Gaza.
FaithVatican Dispatch
“I think the synod is Francis’ way of concretizing his challenge to get [us] out of self-referentiality in the church, that we don’t just stick to our churchy language and deal only with fellow Catholics,” Cardinal David tells ‘America.’
FaithVatican Dispatch
The fall resulted “in a contusion to the right forearm, without any fracture,” but “the arm has been immobilized as a precautionary measure,” the Vatican stated.
FaithVatican Dispatch
In an exclusive interview with Gerard O’Connell, Cardinal Pablo ‘Ambo’ David describes serving the poor in the Philippines during President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly war on drugs.
Politics & SocietyVatican Dispatch
Warning of “the increasingly concrete threat of a world war,” Pope Francis called for “the diplomacy of hope” in his address to the ambassadors of the 184 countries that have diplomatic relations with the Holy See.
FaithVatican Dispatch
In a groundbreaking decision, Pope Francis has appointed the Italian missionary nun, Simona Brambilla, M.C., as prefect of the Dicastery for Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
FaithVatican Dispatch
Pope Francis has appointed San Diego’s Cardinal Robert W. McElroy—seen in Rome as one of the intellectual heavyweights in the U.S. hierarchy—as the new archbishop of Washington D.C.
FaithVatican Dispatch
Pope Francis prayed that the Jubilee Year may become “a season of hope” and reconciliation in a world at war and suffering humanitarian crises as he opened the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve.
FaithVatican Dispatch
In Francis’ 12th Christmas address to the Roman Curia, he reminded them, “An ecclesial community lives in joyful and fraternal harmony to the extent that its members walk the path of humility.”