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Voices
Gerard O’Connell

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.

@gerryorome
Articles by Gerard O’Connell
FaithVatican Dispatch
Pope Francis prays for victims of abuse, for families and for peace in Northern Ireland at Knock
Gerard O’Connell

Pope Francis traveled to the Marian shrine of Knock in Ireland’s County Mayo on this rainy Sunday morning and offered prayers for the victims of abuse, for families and for peace in Northern Ireland, three themes that have been at the center of his visit to the emerald isle.

FaithVatican Dispatch
Pope Francis meets with Irish survivors of abuse
Gerard O’Connell
Eight survivors of sex abuse in Ireland had strong words for Pope Francis: "Issue an unqualified apology to all the survivors."
FaithVatican Dispatch
Irish Prime Minister to Pope Francis: Use your office to ensure justice for abuse victims
Gerard O’Connell
Leo Varadkar, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland, encouraged Pope Francis to “use your office and influence” to ensure that justice is done for sex abuse victims in Ireland and around the world.
The Holy Year Cross on the Irish summit of Bray Head between the towns of Bray and Greystones, Ireland. (CNS photo/Clodagh Kilcoyne, Reuters)
FaithVatican Dispatch
After the abuse scandals, “a need for real healing”: An interview with Ireland’s Liz Murphy
Gerard O’Connell
The Irish people "have struggled and come through because they have faith," says Sister Liz Murphy, R.S.M., on the eve of a visit from Pope Francis.
A banner with an image of Pope Francis decorates a street Aug. 13 in Dublin. Pope Francis will visit Dublin and Knock Aug. 25-26, mainly for the World Meeting of Families. (CNS photo/Clodagh Kilcoyne, Reuters)
FaithVatican Dispatch
What Pope Francis faces in Ireland
Gerard O’Connell
Pope Francis visits to meet the Irish people who have been so grievously wounded by the sexual abuse of minors and other related scandals over decades.
Pope Francis speaks during his general audience in Paul VI hall at the Vatican Aug. 1. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
FaithVatican Dispatch
Pope Francis revises Catechism, teaches that death penalty is ‘inadmissible’
Gerard O’Connell
The revised teaching declares that the death penalty is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person, and that the church works "for its abolition worldwide."
FaithVatican Dispatch
Pope Francis accepts resignation of archbishop facing prison time for failure to report sex abuse
Gerard O’Connell
Archbishop Wilson of Adelaide is the highest-ranking Catholic bishop to be convicted and sentenced for failure to report a case of abuse.
FaithNews
Pope Francis accepts Theodore McCarrick’s resignation from the College of Cardinals
Gerard O’Connell
The pope “has ordered his suspension from the exercise of any public ministry, together with the obligation to remain in a house yet to be indicated to him, for a life of prayer and penance until the accusations made against him are examined in a regular canonical trial,” the Vatican and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops announced today.
FaithVatican Dispatch
Pope Francis denounces ‘murderous indifference’ to Middle East woes
Gerard O’Connell
Pope Francis prays for peace with Christian leaders.
Demonstrators line up alongside a fence inside the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego on June 23 during a rally in support of immigrant families who had been separated at the U.S.-Mexico border. (CNS photo/David Maung)
Politics & SocietyVatican Dispatch
As global migration crisis worsens, Pope Francis calls for “mercy and solidarity”; bridges, not walls
Gerard O’Connell
“Before the challenges of contemporary movements of migration, the only reasonable response is one of solidarity and mercy,” Pope Francis said as he celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on July 6 for migrants and refugees.