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Inside the VaticanMay 25, 2023
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, president of the Italian bishops' conference, attends the opening of the interreligious meeting "The Cry of Peace" in Rome Oct. 23, 2022. Cardinal Zuppi will lead Pope Francis' peace mission to end the war in Ukraine. (CNS photo/Remo Casilli, Reuters)

Last Saturday, Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the head of the Italian bishops conference and a consummate diplomat to visit Moscow, to lead a mission “to help ease tensions in the conflict in Ukraine.”

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell explains why Cardinal Zuppi was chosen for this job despite not being a Vatican diplomat.

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

In the second half of the show, Gerry and host Colleen Dulle discuss the pope’s planned trip to World Youth Day in Lisbon, August 2 through 6. The pope plans to spend almost a full week in the country currently grappling with a devastating clerical sexual abuse scandal.

While in Portugal, Pope Francis also plans to visit Fátima, the site of a recognized Marian apparition. Gerry and Colleen explain how the “secrets of Fátima” revealed there relate to the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Links from the show

Cardinal Matteo Zuppi to lead peace mission

Pope Francis plans to visit Fatima for World Youth Day

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