Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Inside the VaticanNovember 18, 2021
Pope Francis meets Philip Pullella of Reuters and Valentina Alazrak of Televisa before a ceremony to honor the two journalists in the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican Oct. 13, 2021. The pope conferred on the journalists the grand cross of the Order of Pope Pius IX, the highest papal honor bestowed on laypeople who are not heads of state. Both journalists have covered the Vatican for more than 40 years. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Pope Francis lavished praise on several reporters this week, awarding Televisa’s Valentina Alazraki and Reuters’ Phil Pullela papal knighthoods on Saturday, and praising America’s Michael J. O’Loughlin’s research into Catholic responses to the H.I.V./AIDS epidemic in a letter made public on Monday.

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

But Pope Francis’ relationship with the press wasn’t always so friendly. Before he became pope, “you could count on two hands all the interviews he'd given in his life,” veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell explains on this week’s “Inside the Vatican.”

On this week’s episode, Gerry and host Colleen Dulle take a look at how the pope’s relationship with the media has changed over time and examine the vision of the media that Pope Francis laid out in his speech to Vatican journalists this weekend.

Links from the show:

The latest from america

Pope Leo XIV greets religious sisters during a meeting with officials and employees of the Roman Curia, Vatican City State and the Diocese of Rome in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican May 24, 2025. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Describing the Curia as the institution that preserves “the historical memory of the church,” Pope Leo called on these Vatican employees to “work together” with him “in the great cause of unity and love.”
Gerard O’ConnellMay 24, 2025
Paola Ugaz, a Peruvian journalist who helped expose the abuse committed by leaders of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, gives Pope Leo XIV a stole made of alpaca wool, during the pope's meeting with members of the media May 12, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Pope Leo offered a heartening message for a global media that has endured a pretty awful year.
Kevin ClarkeMay 23, 2025
If you think our enthusiasm for our basketball team was intense, just wait until you see our support for Pope Leo XIV.
Jack DoolinMay 23, 2025
“I don’t think he’s the kind of man who sends coded messages,” Cardinal Michael Czerny says in this exclusive interview with Gerard O’Connell.
Gerard O’ConnellMay 23, 2025