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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.

Pope Francis greets new Cardinal Soane Mafi of Tonga during the February 2015 consistory at St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
Vatican Dispatch
Gerard O’Connell
In choosing new cardinals, Francis has been guided by five criteria.
Pope Francis prays in the Portiuncola, the chapel inside the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, in Assisi, Italy, Aug. 4. (CNS photo/L'Osservatore Romano via Reuters)
Dispatches
Gerard O’Connell
“How truly difficult it is for us to pardon those who have done us wrong!”
Signs Of the Times
Gerard O’Connell
Pope Francis bade farewell on July 31 to an estimated 1.6 million young people from 187 countries in Krakow, Poland, for World Youth Day. In his homily at the festival Mass, he challenged them “to have the courage to be more powerful than evil by loving everyone, even our enemies.”Franci
China's flag waves as Pope Francis greets the crowd during his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican in June. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
Dispatches
Gerard O’Connell
Cardinal Tong seeks to respond to those who wonder whether an agreement between the Holy See and Beijing “may be going against the principles of the church.”
FaithDispatches
Tim ReidyGerard O’Connell
The commission includes six women among its twelve members, including Phyllis Zagano, who has written widely on the subject of women deacons.
Dispatches
Gerard O’Connell
“I feel the desire to go on mission and ‘shake things up’ (Hagan lio!), as Francis told us.”
Pope Francis enters a plane following the July 31 World Youth Day farewell ceremony at John Paul II International Airport in Krakow, Poland. (CNS photo/Kacper Pempel, Reuters)
Dispatches
Gerard O’Connell
The pope also addresses problems in Turkey and Venezuela, and allegations against Cardinal Pell.
Bishops wait for the start of Pope Francis' celebration of the closing Mass of World Youth Day at Campus Misericordiae in Krakow, Poland, July 31. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
Dispatches
Gerard O’Connell
After the homily centered on the story of Zacchaeus, the pope announced the next W.Y.D. in Panama in 2019.
World Youth Day pilgrims kneel in prayer July 30 as Pope Francis leads the benediction during a prayer vigil at the Field of Mercy in Krakow, Poland. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
Dispatches
Gerard O’Connell
"God expects something from you," the pope says at a prayer vigil of 1.6 million in Krakow.
Pope Francis rides with pilgrims as part of World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland, on July 30. While in Krakow, he offered a prayer for protection from terrorism. (CNS photo/Paul Haring).
Dispatches
Gerard O’Connell
In Krakow, the pope honors two Polish priests killed by the Shining Path terrorist group in Peru.