Being a Vatican correspondent for more than three decades meant being in the presence of popes, presidents, future saints and thousands of people who would be what Pope Francis called “the saints next door.”

I was based in Rome for 36 years, covering three papacies with three different modes of operating. Broadly, St. John Paul II tried to gather Catholics together after the well-intentioned trial and error that followed the Second Vatican Council; Pope Benedict XVI used his skills as a teacher—not just as a scholar—to instruct Catholics on the basics of the Christian faith and of Christian living in the modern world; and Pope Francis sent them out, reminding them of their primary mission to share the Gospel in deed and word. In each case, some Catholics felt left out, and some felt pushed out.

The early days of Leo XIV’s pontificate seem to be a calm, deliberate continuation of the direction set by Francis in several key areas, including a commitment to a synodal outreach to those who felt alienated from the church and an insistence on the missionary gifts and responsibilities of all Catholics. He also seems to be reaffirming Pope Francis’ recognition of the teaching authority of national bishops’ conferences and relying on them to speak first and most clearly about challenges to Gospel living in their nations, as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is doing on immigration issues.

In preparing to return to the United States after decades abroad, I sorted through years of accumulated press passes, photos and press clippings. But some memories do not need those visual reminders.

I will never forget the look of pain on Pope Francis’ face in 2016 when I mentioned during an in-flight press conference the massacre of 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla. I asked him if he thought the church should apologize for contributing to the marginalization of members of the L.G.B.T.Q. community.

“The church must say it is sorry for not having behaved as it should many times, many times,” the pope replied. “We Christians must say we are sorry.”

On that flight back to Rome from Armenia, Pope Francis took his famous phrase from 2013—“Who am I to judge?”—and changed it to the plural, asking “Who are we to judge?” about a gay person “who has good will and is seeking God.” 

There were lighter moments on papal trips as well, like the massive pillow fight that broke out in the press section of the plane on Francis’ trip to Mexico in 2016, during a nighttime trip from Morelia back to Mexico City after a workday that began at 5 a.m. And Pope Benedict publicly wished me a happy birthday on a very long papal flight in 2008. My birthday lasted 36 hours that year as we left World Youth Day in Sydney, flew more than 20 hours and landed in Rome at 11 p.m.

I also accompanied Pope John Paul II on his last foreign trip—an overnight visit to the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France in 2004. He already was severely affected by Parkinson’s disease and clearly shared the physical weakness of thousands of his fellow pilgrims. 

But covering “the church” for Catholic News Service, which I did from mid-1989 until Dec. 31, 2025, was about much more than who was on the Seat of Peter. While each pope said and did things that inspired me or puzzled me or challenged me or disappointed me, so did other Catholics.

I have had countless opportunities to speak with Catholics who saved for years for a chance to see St. Peter’s Basilica and to wave at the pope from afar at a general audience. I have met amazing religious sisters who feed the hungry, clothe the naked and welcome the stranger, even when their governments say those strangers are “illegal.” I have prayed with Catholics from Beijing and visited a Catholic school in remote Gujarat, India, where the kids were fascinated by my pasty white skin.

Being a Vatican-based journalist for these years has taught me repeatedly that the church really is the people of God. Yes, there are denominations, structures, organizations, rules, traditions, leaders, rites and rituals—and personal preferences in each of those categories. But hyper-focusing on just one aspect gives you tunnel vision. What you need is peripheral vision to see most of what God is doing and to recognize the people God is working through.

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Cindy Wooden retired on Jan. 1 as the editor in chief of Catholic News Service in Rome.