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Inside the VaticanNovember 18, 2021
Pope Francis meets Philip Pullella of Reuters and Valentina Alazrak of Televisa before a ceremony to honor the two journalists in the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican Oct. 13, 2021. The pope conferred on the journalists the grand cross of the Order of Pope Pius IX, the highest papal honor bestowed on laypeople who are not heads of state. Both journalists have covered the Vatican for more than 40 years. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

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 H.I.V./AIDS epidemic in a letter made public on Monday.

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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.

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