Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Inside the VaticanMarch 28, 2020
Pope Francis leads a prayer service in an empty St. Peter's Square at the Vatican March 27, 2020. At the conclusion of the service the pope held the Eucharist as he gave an extraordinary blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city and the world). The service was livestreamed in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. (CNS photo/Vatican Media) 

In the first special coronavirus update episode of “Inside the Vatican,” veteran Vatican reporter Gerard O’Connell and producer Colleen Dulle discuss Pope Francis’ unprecedented “urbi et orbi” blessing given Friday, March 27.

Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Colleen spoke with Gerry just after Pope Francis blessed “the city and the world.” Pope Francis spoke about how the world currently feels the way Jesus’ disciples felt when a storm threatened to flood their boat but Jesus stayed asleep. “We have realized that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, but at the same time important and needed, all of us called to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other,” the pope said.

Earlier in the show, Colleen gives an update on the known coronavirus cases in Vatican City, including one priest who lives in the same Vatican guesthouse as Pope Francis.

Follow us on Twitter: @InsdeVaticanPod

Links from the show:

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

The latest from america

Pope Francis trusted the imagination and regarded it as a gift from God. Instead of being suspicious and fearful of its power, he urged artists to follow its promptings.
I discovered that Catholicism could speak meaningfully to contemporary issues, that it could challenge power rather than embody it. I began to pay attention again.
Robert BucklandApril 25, 2025
The language of our faith was Spanish. So you can imagine the fervor that erupted in our home when Papa Francisco was elected to the papacy on March 13, 2013. I was only 10 years old at the time, but I already understood why this meant so much to us. 
Leilani FuentesApril 25, 2025
I never met Pope Francis, but I was one of millions who admired his work.
Amir HussainApril 25, 2025