Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Inside the VaticanJanuary 16, 2025
(AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

The Vatican has approved new guidelines from the Italian Bishops’ Conference, allowing gay men to enter seminaries if they commit to celibacy, as expected of all seminarians regardless of sexual orientation. This week on “Inside the Vatican,” Colleen Dulle and Gerard O’Connell discuss whether this signals a shift in admissions policy and the potential implications for seminarians worldwide.

They also cover Pope Francis’s annual address to diplomats accredited to the Holy See, where he called for a “diplomacy of hope.”

Later, Gerry shares highlights from his interview with Filipino Cardinal Pablo Virgilio “Ambo” David, who faced death threats for opposing former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs. The cardinal also observes what he sees as contrasting approaches to evangelization between Pope Francis, who calls the church to go outside its doors and seek those on the peripheries, and Pope Benedict, who stressed opening the church’s doors to welcome people in.

Please support this podcast by becoming a digital subscriber to America Media.

Links for further reading

The latest from america

Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni visited the pope today. In an official statement, she said that the pope was “alert and responsive” and “has not lost his legendary sense of humor.”
Gerard O’ConnellFebruary 19, 2025
Doctors say pneumonia in anyone can be serious, but for someone of the pope’s age, it’s potentially life-threatening.
“The conference suddenly finds itself unable to sustain its work to care for the thousands of refugees who were welcomed into our country and assigned to the care of the USCCB by the government after being granted legal status,” said Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the USCCB.
A century ago, Al Smith was a force in American politics—and the first Catholic to mount a major run at the White House. And if he is to be believed, he didn't know what an encyclical was.
James T. KeaneFebruary 18, 2025