In this episode of "The Vatican Briefing," expert journalist Christopher White speaks with Australia's Ambassador to the Vatican, Chiara Porro, to discuss the recent 50th anniversary of Australia and the Holy See formally establishing diplomatic ties. In the interview, the Australian diplomat assesses how the Catholic Church is progressing on issues of women's leadership and child protection and looks ahead to Pope Francis' upcoming September visit to four countries in Asia Pacific and Oceania. ...
May 13, 2024•31 min•Season 1Ep. 16
In this episode of "The Vatican Briefing," a leading Catholic bishop on the U.S.-Mexico border expresses "grave concern" that the 2024 presidential race could lead to further demonization of migrants seeking to enter the country. "I'm concerned about the election period very much," El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz tells expert journalists Joshua J. McElwee and Christopher White. "It seems that politicians have latched on to immigration as a way to mobilize their bases." Seitz, who has served in El Paso...
Apr 30, 2024•30 min•Season 1Ep. 15
In this episode of "The Vatican Briefing," expert journalists Joshua J. McElwee and Christopher White discuss a major new Vatican document that has attracted controversy over its condemnation of gender-affirming surgery for trans individuals and the growing practice of surrogate motherhood. They also speak with a Spanish-language Vatican journalist, Javier Martínez-Brocal, who is the author of a new book-length interview with Pope Francis. Martínez-Brocal, who spoke with the pope about behind th...
Apr 16, 2024•30 min•Season 1Ep. 14
A prominent U.S. Ukrainian Catholic leader has sharply criticized Pope Francis' recent suggestion that Ukraine might enter negotiations to end its brutal, two-year war with Russia, calling the pontiff's remarks "very problematic." In this episode of "The Vatican Briefing," expert journalists Joshua J. McElwee and Christopher White interview Archbishop Borys Gudziak, who represents Ukrainian Catholics across much of the eastern U.S. Gudziak says he and people across Ukraine "were really knocked o...
Mar 19, 2024•24 min•Season 1Ep. 13
San Diego Cardinal Robert McElroy, a key ally of Pope Francis, says U.S. Catholic bishops are not giving enough attention to the pope's call for the world to address global climate change. In this episode of "The Vatican Briefing," expert journalist Christopher White interviews McElroy about how the U.S. bishops' conference has (and has not) implemented the teachings of pope's 2015 environmental encyclical Laudato Si', which called for dramatic action to confront global warming. The need to addr...
Mar 11, 2024•27 min•Season 1Ep. 12
This February marked the fifth anniversary of one of Pope Francis' seminal efforts to confront clergy sexual abuse: a first-of-its-kind 2019 Vatican summit with global Catholic bishops about abuse prevention. In this episode of "The Vatican Briefing," expert journalist Christopher White interviews one of the leading U.S. advocates for clergy abuse survivors about the impact of that summit, and about Francis' wider legacy in confronting clergy sexual abuse. Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of the ...
Feb 26, 2024•29 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Xavière Sr. Nathalie Becquart is one of the main organizers of Pope Francis' Synod of Bishops, a two-part summit about the very future of the Catholic Church. She says the pope is creating "a new style of leadership" for the global faith. In this episode of "The Vatican Briefing," expert journalists Joshua McElwee and Christopher White interview Becquart inside the Vatican's office for the Synod of Bishops. Becquart discussed in particular the synod's consideration of women's leadership in the c...
Feb 12, 2024•33 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Archbishop Charles Scicluna, one of the Catholic Church's leading investigators of clergy sexual abuse, says the church should reconsider its millennia-long practice of mandating priestly celibacy. In this episode of "The Vatican Briefing," expert journalists Joshua McElwee and Christopher White interview Scicluna from inside the Vatican's powerful Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. Scicluna, who is also one of the global church's leading doctrinal officials, says that allowing priestly ...
Jan 29, 2024•27 min•Season 1Ep. 9
In his annual "State of the World" address on Jan. 8, Pope Francis made a firm call for a total ceasefire in the Middle East, amid the ongoing Israeli-Hamas war. In this episode of "The Vatican Briefing," Vatican expert Christopher White interviews the U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, Joe Donnelly, who said the United States is working "nonstop" to prevent civilian deaths in Gaza but stopped short of backing the pope's call for a ceasefire. "Israel has a complete right to defend itself," said Do...
Jan 16, 2024•30 min•Season 1Ep. 8
In a monumental shift, the Vatican's powerful doctrinal office on Dec. 18 declared it possible for Catholic priests to bless same-sex unions. In this episode of "The Vatican Briefing," Vatican experts Joshua McElwee and Christopher White discuss the unexpected decree and its possible long-term implications. They also have a conversation with Kerry Robinson, president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA. Robinson, the first laywoman to lead her organization, expresses praise for Pope Francis' effor...
Dec 20, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 7
For the first time in his 10-year papacy, Pope Francis has had to cancel a previously announced trip abroad due to health issues. In this episode of "The Vatican Briefing," Vatican experts Joshua McElwee and Christopher White discuss the pope's health, and the significance of the cancellation of his planned trip to Dubai for the UN Climate Change Conference. They also have an exclusive conversation with Brownsville, Texas Bishop Daniel Flores, the lead coordinator of the U.S. bishops' national c...
Nov 30, 2023•26 min•Season 1Ep. 6
In this episode of "The Vatican Briefing," Vatican experts Joshua McElwee and Christopher White have an exclusive conversation with Jesuit Fr. Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator, one of the leading African voices at Pope Francis' 2023 Synod of Bishops. Orobator says that although the synod's final document did not mention better inclusion of the faith's LGBTQ members, it also made sure that "no issue is finalized" ahead of the next assembly in 2024. "Nothing is closed," said Orobator, a former president o...
Oct 31, 2023•51 min•Season 1Ep. 5
In this episode of "The Vatican Briefing," Vatican experts Joshua McElwee and Christopher White have an exclusive conversation with Cardinal Michael Czerny about Pope Francis' moving Oct. 19 prayer vigil in St. Peter's Square for migrants and refugees. Czerny, a key papal ally and the head of the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, also speaks briefly about the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. "The needs of God's people … are very acute and very pressing," he says. In...
Oct 24, 2023•37 min•Season 1Ep. 4
In a special episode of "The Vatican Briefing," Vatican experts Joshua McElwee and Christopher White have an exclusive conversation with Loretto Sr. Jeannine Gramick about her historic meeting with Pope Francis. Gramick, a longtime advocate for LGBTQ Catholics, has long operated at the margins of the global Catholic Church. But on Oct. 17, she was welcomed into the Vatican for an historic 50-minute meeting with Francis. The pope, says Gramick, "has a warmth and a wanting to embrace everyone, not...
Oct 18, 2023•20 min
In this episode of "The Vatican Briefing," Vatican experts Joshua McElwee and Christopher White interview one of the 13 members of the committee expected to draft the hotly anticipated final document from Pope Francis' ongoing summit on the future of the Catholic Church. Australian Bishop Shane Mackinlay, elected by his peers to be part of the Synod of Bishops' Commission for the Synthesis Report, expresses openness to ordaining women as Catholic deacons. "I'm glad it's going to be discussed," s...
Oct 17, 2023•35 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Vatican experts Joshua McElwee and Christopher White discuss the opening of a major summit in Rome that could determine the very future of the Catholic Church. They interview Mercedarian Sr. Filo Hirota, one of seven members of the high-level commission that organized the ongoing October 2023 Synod of Bishops. Sr. Hirota says the synod, which Pope Francis has asked to confront big topics such as women's ordination, is helping the church "become normal" and "really touch the depths of our humanit...
Oct 10, 2023•33 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Vatican experts Joshua McElwee and Christopher White discuss the opening of a major meeting in Rome that could determine the very future of the Catholic Church. They interview renowned church historian and theologian Dr. Catherine Clifford, who calls the October 2023 Synod of Bishops a "huge" and "remarkable" experiment. An earlier interview of Catherine Clifford by Brian Fraga: Lay synod member Catherine Clifford praises Pope Francis' method of dialogue, participation Christopher White's profil...
Oct 03, 2023•30 min•Season 1Ep. 1
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