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.
FaithVatican Dispatch
In his homily for the sixth World Day of the Poor, the pope advised Christians not to yield to resignation but instead to “seize opportunities” to spread the Gospel and help the weakest.
FaithVatican Dispatch
Pope Francis received James Martin, S.J., for the second time in private audience in the papal library of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace this morning, Nov. 11.
FaithInterviews
“Even if you leave the ordination question aside for a moment, there is still a great need to explore ways of engaging women in all other levels of the life of the church in significant roles. There is still a lot of work to be done.”
FaithVatican Dispatch
In their first private one-on-one conversation, the president of the Australian Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, S.D.B., told Pope Francis, “The church in Australia is alive!”
FaithVatican Dispatch
The pope will meet with the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, at the interreligious meeting “Bahrain Forum for Dialogue: East and West for Human Coexistence."
Politics & SocietyInterviews
“Jerusalem, especially the Old City with its shrines holy to Muslims, Jews and Christians, is like a powder keg waiting to explode! However, until it does explode, many prefer to simply ignore it.”
Politics & SocietyInterviews
Israelis will go to the polls on Nov. 1 for the fifth time in less than four years. Will the elections bring any significant change in this divided country, or offer any hope for a resolution to the more than 70-year-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
FaithVatican Dispatch
In a surprise announcement this morning, Pope Francis has announced that the final, Roman phase of the ongoing Synod on Synodality will extend over two sessions from October 4-29, 2023, and in October 2024.
FaithDispatches
There is much speculation about how Pope Francis and Giorgia Meloni, the future prime minister of Italy, will relate to each other. Their positions on the migrant question appear to be diametrically opposed.
FaithVatican Dispatch
Cardinal Pedro Barreto Jimeno, S.J., explained that the now officially recognized body “involves bishops, priests, women and men religious and the lay faithful from the nine countries of the Amazon region.”