Vatican Insider

Greetings from Rome on this Palm Sunday weekend! Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week, that extraordinarily solemn time of the year leading up to the Easter of the Resurrection. In the interview segment this weekend, I present Part I of a Special I ‘ve prepared on a piece of cloth linked to the Resurrection, a piece of linen called the Shroud of Turin that many believe to be the cloth that wrapped the body of Christ in the tomb.

On April 2 we marked the 20th anniversary of the death of Pope St. John Paul at 9:37 pm on April 2, 2005, vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday, the new name given to the Second Sunday of Easter by John Paul! To commemorate that day and those years I have prepared a special about a man – a priest, a pope and a saint. It is about a life and legacy, seen through my memories and those of Cardinal Pietro Parolin, secretary of State, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, secretary to John Paul for 40 years, now archbishop emeritus of Krakow, Poland, and Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, papal liturgical ceremonial official under John Paul and now, papal almoner under Francis.

On Tuesday, March 25, we marked one of most important feast days of the Church, the Annunciation, the day when Mary said ‘Yes’ to the Angel Gabriel – thus to God’s plan for her life – and the Word was made flesh, and our Redeemer was conceived – the one whose passion, death and Resurrection we will commemorate in Holy Week and Easter Sunday. I mention this because this week, instead of an interview, I present a special on the Holy House of Loreto – a beautiful and historical shrine in Italy built to house the dwelling in which Mary received the Angel Gabriel, in which the Annunciation took place. How did that home come to Italy from the Holy Land? (Re-Air)

Thanks for tuning in to Vatican Insider on this thrd weekend of Lent. Instead of a guest this weekend in the interview segment, I’m airing a special I’ve prepared on a Lenten tradition that is unique to Rome – the Lenten station churches. I offer a mini-pilgrimage of sorts as we visit some of the Station churches in Rome, very special churches that tell a beautiful story over the 40 days of Lent, a story found only in Rome.

Welcome to Vatican Insider on this second weekend of Lent 2025! Challenging times at the Vatican so there’s a lot of news this week but I do have a very uplifting story in the interview segment of VI and my conversation with Deacon Andy Orosco of the diocese of San Bernardino in California. As you heard in Part I of our conversation last week, Andy is a Native American who works in the Native American Ministry in the diocese and tells a fascinating story about his ministry and his people You will also hear from his wife Roseanne as both were in Rome recently for the Jubilee of Deacons. You met Deacon Andy previously on Vatican Insider when he and Roseanne were in Rome two years ago. We met at La Vittoria restaurant (where else!), and when I learned his story, I said ” you must be my guest” on Vatican Insider and we taped an interview that was entirely off the cuff. This week we focus on their time in Rome for the Jubilee of Deacons.

Welcome to Vatican Insider on this second weekend of March and the first days of Lent 2025! Challenging times at the Vatican so there’s a lot of news this week but I do have a very uplifting story in the interview segment of VI and my conversation with Deacon Andy Orosco of the diocese of San Bernardino in California. Andy is a Native American who works in the Native American Ministry in the diocese and tells a fascinating story about his ministry and his people You will also hear from his wife Roseanne as both were in Rome recently for the Jubilee of Deacons.

This week, in what is normally the interview segment of Vatican Insider, I’ve prepared a Special on the beautiful Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii, just south of Naples. Why this shrine this week? Well, just this week Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of the decree of canonization of Blessed Bartolo Longo who founded this shrine in the 19th century. Bartolo Longo’s life story should be told in a full length movie. Born into a very wealthy and very Catholic family, Bartolo studied law and in his university years was a follower of satanism. We learn of his conversion – his return to the faith – his love for Mary and the rosary, how he founded this shrine, his beatification by St. John Paul and his canonization, now on the horizon.

Welcome to Vatican Insider! After this week’s news report, you will not want to miss the interview segment and Part II of my conversation with Tess Livingstone, veteran Australian journalist, as we talk about her latest best seller, “Pax Invictus,” on the life, times and legacy of the late, great Australian Cardinal George Pell.

Welcome to Vatican Insider at this midpoint in February, the shortest month of the year! And Happy Valentine’s Day! After this week’s news report and Q&A, you will not want to miss the interview segment and my conversation with Tess Livingstone, veteran Australian journalist, as we talk about her latest best seller, “Pax Invictus,” on the life, times and legacy of the late, great Australian Cardinal George Pell.

Welcome back to Part II of my conversation with Fr. Ryan Brady, a priest and dear friend from Chicago, who talks with great beauty and profound love about his priesthood and where life has taken him since his May 2021 ordination. We spoke recently when he was in Rome on a Jubilee Year visit with the Chicago Chapter of the PAVM, Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums. We talk about that visit, about his ordination, the first parish where he worked and how he ended up as pastor of the church where he grew up, St. Christina in Chicago! The Lord has placed Fr. Ryan on a path that includes fascinating twists and turns – as you will hear this week! – the gifts and people and responsibilities that the Lord has placed on his path. Last week he told us how he helped find a parish for Arabic-speaking Latin Rite Catholics in one of the first churches where he served in Chicago. I open this week’s conversation reprising some of his words last weekend about this marvelous group!

Welcome to Vatican Insider on this first weekend of February 2025! I have a great story for you this week and next when my guest in the interview segment, Fr. Ryan Brady, a priest and dear friend from Chicago, talks about his priesthood and where life has taken him since his May 2021 ordination.

Don’t forget to tune in to Vatican Insider this last weekend of January, a weekend after the March for Life in Washington, D.C. My guest in the interview segment is Alveda King, a prominent figure on pro-life issues, and the niece of Martin Luther King, Jr. The campaign for a federal holiday in King’s honor began soon after his assassination in 1968. This holiday was signed into law by President Reagan in 1983, and first observed three years later on January 20, 1986. As you know, Martin Luther King, Jr. made his historic I have a dream speech on August 28 1963, a dream of justice and dignity for the African-American community and for all minorities This past Monday, January 20, 2025, a new U.S. president was inaugurated on Martin Luther King Day, the first time that has happened since 1997. Over the years, Alveda King and I have met and shared our own dreams – dreams of peace, for a world that protects life at every moment, for a world of justice, of protection for man’s innate human dignity. Several years ago, on a visit to Rome, I interviewed her for “Vatican Insider.” We had met earlier in the morning in my home and started the day with breakfast with two friends. Alveda said at one point she wanted to see the office and “sit in the chair” in which I wrote my columns and prepared my radio shows. She sat in that chair and even did a Facebook live, telling everyone she was at the ‘famous’ desk of her friend, Joan of Rome! This weekend I reprise that conversation as we talk about the pro-life movement. Happy belated Jan. 22 birthday, Alveda. And thanks for your work and life!

Welcome to Vatican Insider on a weekend that precedes a presidential inauguration, Martin Luther King Day and the football game between Notre Dame and Ohio that will determine the US collegiate football championship! The news segment starts in a moment and after that, stay right here for Part II of my conversation with Benedictine Fr. Edward Linton, Director of the Institute for Continuing Theological Education (ICTE) at the Pontifical North American College.

This week, we revisit my interview with American seminarians Patrick Ernst and Nicholas Monnin of the diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend in Indiana. These remarkable young men talk of their call to the priesthood – how they heard ‘the call’, what they expect of priesthood but most importantly, the very joy they feel at the mere idea of being a priest! They talk of some of the highlights of living in Rome and, given that Lent has just begun, they highlight something very special to the eternal City, Rome’s Lenten station churches. Do not miss that uplifting conversation! You will feel so positive about the future of the Church in the U.S.!

I want to welcome you this weekend to the first edition of Vatican Insider in this New Year, in this 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope. May it be a wonderful happy, hope-filled year for all of you! As usual, at the start of VI, you’ll hear lots of news highlights and then you’ll meet my special guest in the interview segment…Fr. Edward Linton, the Director of the Institute for Continuing Theological Education (ICTE) at the Pontifical North American College, our American seminary here in Rome.