Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Inside the VaticanSeptember 30, 2021
From left to right: Sister Alessandra Smerilli, interim secretary of the Vatican's Dicastery for Integral Human Development; Sister Nathalie Becquart, undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops; and Cristiane Murray, deputy director of the Holy See Press Office. (Photo illustration by Shawn Tripoli)

Women are rising to new heights in the Vatican, but there is still a long way to go before women’s voices and leadership are satisfactorily integrated in the Vatican.

In this deep dive episode based on Colleen Dulle’s cover story in America Magazine’s October issue, Colleen and producer Maggi Van Dorn take a look inside the corporate culture of the Vatican to examine how things have been changing for women—and why it’s difficult to have conversations about women’s empowerment there.

[Subscribe to "Inside the Vatican" on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.]

You’ll also hear from three prominent women working in or with the Vatican: Cristiane Murray of the Holy See Press Office describes her experience over 26 years working in the Curia’s most female office; celebrity economist Kate Raworth gives voice to a new understanding of women’s contributions that Pope Francis seems to have adopted; and Sr. Nathalie Becquart, undersecretary of the synod of bishops, explains why she sees synodality as the way toward recognizing men and women’s God-given equality.

Links from the show:

Women are rising to new heights at the Vatican. Could they change the church forever?

Read America’s women’s month issue

Doughnut Economics Action Lab

The latest from america

Perhaps even more shocking than the brazen killing of UnitedHealthcare C.E.O. Brian Thompson was the response in some places to this crime: celebration, lionization and valorization of the killer.
James Martin, S.J.December 10, 2024
Bishop John Cummins had a significant and lasting impact on the Catholic Church in his own diocese and elsewhere through his quiet leadership and ministry. He was a reminder to many of what Pope Francis meant when he called for bishops who are “pastors, not princes.”
James T. KeaneDecember 10, 2024
Counting begins for Ireland's General Election at the Royal Dublin Society in Dublin, Ireland, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
When Irish people went to the polls on Nov. 29, there had been concerns that the nation would see a far-right surge in the Dáil, or parliament, in keeping with trends within the rest of Europe. But Ireland continues to be an outlier.
Kevin HargadenDecember 10, 2024
Signs around the Eternal City declare “Roma si trasforma” — “Rome is transformed” as an explanation for the ubiquitous infrastructure projects underway ahead of Jubilee 2025.