Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Inside the VaticanNovember 09, 2023
Palestinians react after seeing the damages at a U.N.-run school sheltering displaced people following an Israeli strike, in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, Nov. 2, 2023. (OSV News photo/Fadi Whadi, Reuters)

As the war in the Holy Land rages on, Pope Francis has made headlines for calling for a ceasefire and intensifying diplomatic outreach to foreign leaders.

In this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell return to their regularly-scheduled programming to discuss the Vatican response to the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza. “Francis’ immediate goal is a stop to the killing,” explains Gerry, which motivates the pope’s advocacy for a ceasefire, entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza and the release of all hostages being held by Hamas. Colleen and Gerry talk about the Vatican’s longstanding advocacy for a two-state solution in Israel and Palestine with a special status for Jerusalem—and whether such a solution remains viable.

Pope Francis has spoken to global leaders across the ideological spectrum to advocate for a ceasefire, including U.S. President Biden, Palestinian Authority President Mahmous Abbas, President Ibraham Raisi of Iran, and President Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. He has also made calls to civilians in the conflict zone; Colleen notes that Pope Francis is “very moved, stirred emotionally by the people suffering in Israel and in Palestine.”

[Listen and subscribe to “Inside the Vatican” on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.]

In the second half of the show, Colleen and Gerry discuss Pope Francis’ announcement that he would travel to Dubai for COP28. This will make him the first pontiff to attend the U.N. climate meeting since it was founded in 1995. They note that this comes just after the release of “Laudate Deum,” an apostolic exhortation which follows his 2015 encyclical on care for the common home, “Laudato Si’.” In “Laudate Deum,” Francis explored the successes and failures of past climate conferences, and he sees COP28 as a “make or break moment” for humanity and the climate, says Colleen. The Pope believes in the need for a “faster transition to clean energy sources like wind and solar and the abandonment of fossil fuels,” explains Colleen, as well as a cultural change in how we treat our planet.

The Pope’s visit to the U.A.E. is also notable because of the recent document on human fraternity signed by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed el-Tayeb, who is a prominent faith leader for Sunni Muslims. Sheikh el-Tayeb and Pope Francis will both travel to Dubai as spiritual leaders, marking a show of interfaith advocacy regarding “what is seen as the greatest threat to humanity in the coming years,” says Gerry.

Links from the show:

Laudate Deum

Interview: Pope Francis’ presence at COP28 climate conference in Dubai is ‘without precedence’

Pope Francis appeals ‘in the name of God’ for a ‘ceasefire’ in the Israeli-Palestinian war

Joe Biden and Pope Francis discuss war in Israel and Gaza in 20-minute phone call

The latest from america

A Homily for the First Sunday of Advent, by Father Terrance Klein
Terrance KleinNovember 29, 2023
Pope Francis joins others in holding a banner during an audience at the Vatican June 5, 2023, with the organizers of the Green & Blue Festival. The banner calls for financing a "loss and damage" fund that was agreed upon at the COP27 U.N. climate conference in 2022. The fund would seek to provide financial assistance to nations most vulnerable and impacted by the effects of climate change. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
With COP28 in the United Arab Emirates imminent, opinion in the developed world on climate change has become deeply polarized. Perhaps exhausted by the digital news cycle, many people have developed compassion fatigue.
David StewartNovember 29, 2023
This 1994 article by Dennis Hamm, S.J., on praying the examen has become a resource in countless classrooms and retreat centers.
Dennis Hamm, SJNovember 29, 2023
Black survivors have been nearly invisible in the Catholic Church sexual abuse crisis — even in Baltimore, home to a historic Black Catholic community that plays an integral role in the nation’s oldest archdiocese.