Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Inside the VaticanDecember 13, 2018
Pope Francis visits Il Messaggero daily newspaper office in Rome Dec. 8.Pope Francis visits Il Messaggero daily newspaper office in Rome Dec. 8. (CNS photo/Vatican Media) 

This week before “Inside the Vatican” goes on break, we are giving you a round-up of this year’s top Vatican news—and digging into the questions that remain about these stories going into the new year.

We examine whether Pope Francis’ document on holiness “Gaudete et Exsultate” has had an impact beyond its short appearance in the news cycle. We also look at the open questions from this year’s sexual abuse scandals in both the United States in Chile—and ask when those questions might finally be answered.

We also cover whether worrying developments in China will affect this year’s major provisional deal between the Vatican and the People’s Republic, and we discuss how the Vatican plans to follow up on the Synod on Young People.

Gerry and I also share some the stories we wish had gotten more attention in 2018.

“Inside the Vatican” will be on a Christmas break until Jan. 8. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the entire team!

Read more:

Overlooked stories of 2018:

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

Pope Leo told his ecumenical audience: “By celebrating together this Nicene faith and by proclaiming it together, we will also advance towards the restoration of full communion among us.”
Gerard O’ConnellJune 07, 2025
Blessed Carlo Acutis offers a counterexample for our digital age: a teenager who embraced technology not as an escape, but as a tool for communion—with others, and with God.
Grace LenahanJune 06, 2025
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney attends an event at the Liberal Party election night headquarters in Ottawa April 29, 2025. (OSV News photo/Jennifer Gauthier, Reuters)
“Carney is responding to the [immigration] backlash but also to the Trump effect, which is placing more pressure on Canada to tighten its border.”
Grace CoppsJune 06, 2025
The war in Gaza has become one in which “the heart-rending price is being paid by children, the elderly and the sick.” Israel, along with its allies, especially including the United States, must reckon that cost as well.
The EditorsJune 06, 2025