"Sometimes there is a disconnect..."

It’s amazing how many commentators seem fixated on judging religious institutions through poll questions, but Cardinal Timothy Dolan pointed out the obvious in his Easter appearance on ABC’s This Week. George Stephanopoulos challenged Dolan about a recent poll of Catholics, which showed that 60% felt that the church had fallen out of touch with the [...]

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Reminiscing.

(VATICAN CITY) It’s 2013, and it’s 6:15 in the morning in Rome, but the scene puts me right back to the 2011 beatification of John Paul II.  Transportation services stop well short of their destinations, unable to compete with the foot traffic streaming toward St. Peter’s Square.  The sun — absent the last few days [...]

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Plus, Cardinal George to David Gregory: "The categories you use are conservative and liberal ... our categories are what is true and what is false.”

(VATICAN CITY) Earlier today, Pope Francis offered the traditional Sunday Angelus prayer, as well as blessings on the citizens of Rome.  At least 150,000 crowded into St. Peter’s Square and the Via Conciliazione to hear the new pontiff offer some spontaneous thoughts before and after the Angelus prayer, speaking only in Italian — a bit [...]

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“Don't forget the poor!”

(VATICAN CITY) Pope Francis gave his first public audience yesterday morning, speaking for twelve minutes to some of the gathered media and a few of their guests.  As you will see in the very beginning of the video, the line to get into the hall for the audience stretched forward from roughly my place in [...]

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Plus, two views on Curia reform, and how a rumor got propagated in the media.

(VATICAN CITY) Of all the questions I’ve fielded since the election of former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope Francis, the one that has been most difficult to answer clearly is the direction in which the new pontiff will take the Catholic Church on economics.  It’s no secret that while Pope Francis clashed with the [...]

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Signals.

(VATICAN CITY) It’s been three days since I’ve been able to tape a Vatican Dispatch, thanks to enhanced security measures at the Vatican during the conclave and the election of Pope Francis last night.  The only video update I have been able to do was the quick and noisy video in St. Peter’s Square with [...]

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What could go wrong?

(VATICAN CITY) Last night, after unexpectedly working a 14-hour day at the Vatican media center, I trudged back to my hotel exhausted, ate a quick dinner, and went to bed.  For most of my trip back, I wondered what more there might be to report on the election of Jorge Mario Borgoglia as Pope Francis [...]

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Answering for Mahony.

(VATICAN CITY) The cardinals have returned to the Sistine Chapel for two more votes after lunch, and after an unusual press briefing from La Sala Stampa.  The Vatican moved the briefing for the first time to the center in which I’ve been working for the last few days, and apparently will keep the 1 pm [...]

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Thousands of journalists wonder.

(VATICAN CITY) I’ve been in Rome since Friday, reporting from the Vatican and one of its media centers.  I didn’t find out until yesterday that there are actually two media centers, packed with credentialed journalists, reporting on the papal conclave.  I found out about the other when they closed it at 5 pm local time [...]

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Vigil.

(VATICAN CITY) Rome awoke to a cold, gray, and wet morning today as the cardinals began their first full day in the papal conclave.  The weather seems to have reduced the turnout, as a much smaller crowd than last night gathers for the signal from the morning vote.  Of course, this is a work and [...]

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C'e il Papa Americano?

It’s been a busy day here at the Vatican.  The press briefing for today ran longer than usual, as there won’t be time for a press briefing tomorrow, and Fr. Lombardi and his team wanted to give as much detail as possible.  I review that and some of the other events of the day in [...]

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Hot Air gets the scoop.

(VATICAN CITY) The cardinals have just announced that the date for the start of the papal conclave will be March 12th, next Tuesday: “The eighth General Congregation of the College of Cardinals has decided that the Conclave will begin on Tuesday, 12 March 2013. “A “pro eligendo Romano Pontifice” Mass will be celebrated in St. [...]

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