Vatican Insider - Hallgatás Online

Welcome to a new edition of Vatican Insider this weekend when I present two special guests in the interview segment which, by the way, was interesting this week because we did it via Zoom. My guests are Father Joseph Fessio, founder of Ignatius Press, and Mark Brumley, president of Ignatius Press. We met to talk about the latest edition of Ignatius Press’ YOUCAT series. YOUCAT stands for Youth Catechism. The original came out in Madrid at World Youth Day in 2011. The latest volume, “YOUCAT Love Forever,” is for young people looking at love, thinking about marriage or perhaps those who have just been married. We talk about how society has changed over the years, changes that contribute to how young people view marriage, especially the idea of a commitment that is, as the book’s title says, love forever. Part 1 of that interview airs this weekend.

Welcome to a new edition of Vatican Insider – lots of news this week, and some really great stories, and the best one may well be my conversation with a friend of many years, Bishop Daniel Thomas of Toledo, Ohio! Part II this weekend….. After years of promising to visit Toledo, my trip to Ohio finally happened on September 20th, spending 9 wonderful days (as you read on my blog yesterday) with friends of many years and making a lot of new friends along the way! Bishop Thomas and I have been friends since 1991 when we both worked in Rome at the Vatican, along with other American priests whom Pope John Paul had called to Rome, a number of whom, like Fr. Thomas, have since become bishops, names you’d know such as Archbishops Bernard Hebda and Salvatore Cordileone, and many others!

After years of promising to visit Toledo, my trip to Ohio finally happened on September 20th, spending 9 wonderful days (as you read on my blog yesterday) with friends of many years and making a lot of new friends along the way! Bishop Daniel Thomas and I have been friends since 1991 when we both worked in Rome at the Vatican, along with other American priests whom Pope John Paul had called to Rome, a number of whom, like Fr. Thomas, have since become bishops, names you’d know such as Archbishops Bernard Hebda and Salvatore Cordileone. We talk about how we all met in the early 90s, and there’s some delightful stories in our conversation. You’ll enjoy how we reminisce! My oh my, the stories and laughs we shared over the years at my dinner table!! Obviously, I also take a good look at the diocese that Bishop Thomas shepherds, so stay tuned for Part I of our conversation after Vatican Insider’s News segment.

My guest on Vatican Insider this weekend so let me remind you that my guest in the interview segment is again Bishop Emmanuel Badejo of Oyo, Nigeria. A friend of many years, we spoke when he was in Rome with fellow bishops of Nigeria for their ad limina visit. He is a positive, hopeful person as we speak more about the situation in the country – the persecution of Christians, the economic situation, how the bishops work with the government and other religions, and his work with the young people whom he defines as the hope of Nigeria.

As you know, in recent weeks, for your travel and vacation time edification, I have been providing special reports on what is normally the interview segment of VI on what to see and do in and around Rome. This week is no different! In fact, I’m going to bring you to some of the most celebrated landmarks of Rome visited by millions of tourists – the amazing, mysterious, historical and yes, inspiring Catacombs. In Part I last weekend I present an overview of the catacombs – their history, where they are, how many there were in ancient times, and particularly how they were built – fascinating engineering skills! In Part II this week, I look at the specific catacombs open today to visitors. So stay tuned for that Special after the news summary.

As you know, in recent weeks, for your travel and vacation time edification, I have been providing special reports on what is normally the interview segment of VI on what to see and do in and around Rome. This week is no different! In fact, I’m going to bring you to some of the most celebrated landmarks of Rome visited by millions of tourists – the amazing, mysterious, historical and yes, inspiring Catacombs. In Part I this weekend I present an overview of the catacombs – their history, where they are, how many there were in ancient times, and particularly how they were built – fascinating engineering skills! In Part II next week, I’ll look at the specific catacombs open today to visitors.So stay tuned for that Special after the news summary and a Q&A.

It’s summer and vacation time, of course, and in recent weeks, on what is normally the interview segment of VI, I’ve been providing glimpses into what one should see and how to visit various places in and around Rome: Castelgandolfo, the Vatican Observatory and look at how Italians celebrate the lazy, hazy days of August! Join us for this edition of Vatican Insider.

It’s summer and vacation time, of course, and in recent weeks, on what is normally the interview segment of VI, I’ve been providing glimpses into what one should see and how to visit various places in and around Rome: Castelgandolfo, the Vatican Observatory and look at how Italians celebrate the lazy, hazy days of August! Join us for this edition of Vatican Insider.

Welcome to Vatican Insider on a weekend of scorching temperatures in much of the northern hemisphere of the world, with big time heatwaves in Europe and the United States! And welcome to a special I’ve prepared for what is normally the interview segment of VI – I call it the lazy, hazy summer days of ferragosto – life in Italy in August which, of course, starts this weekend. You learn the origin of the name August and the meaning of a very important word in the Italian language – Ferragosto! August is not just a month in Italy. It is THE month and life in Italy in August is very different from so many other countries from stores, offices, pharmacies, movie theatres, cafes and restaurants, and many more spots closing for a holiday period – chiuso per ferie. If that’s not enough, doctors and other medical personnel can take weeks, maybe even a month, off at ferragosto…situations we’d never think of finding in the US, for example. Not to mention the annual snowfall in Rome on August 5! It’s a fun special so…

Welcome to Vatican insider on a special weekend – special for me as I’m spending it in Castelgandolfo where, among other things, I intend to be at the Angelus on Sunday with Pope Leo who will be spending his last full day of vacation in the Apostolic Palace. He returns to Rome on Monday, July 27. For the past several weeks, as you know, in the interview segment of VI, I’ve been offering specials on the history of the Apostolic palace in Castelgandolfo as well as the very celebrated Vatican observatory, although the observatory officially in use now is on mount Graham in Tucson, Arizona. This weekend, especially for those of you currently visiting Rome or who will be here in coming months, I offer another special I’ve prepared on the scavi, the excavations in the Vatican that bring you to the tomb of Saint Peter which, as it happens, in a magnificent architectural calculation, is directly under the center of the papal altar in Saint Peter’s Basilica which, if one were to drop a plumb line, is directly under…

I have been personally filled with joy since learning that Pope Leo will be spending some vacation time in the historic Apostolic Palace of Castelgandolfo, the beautiful building constructed many centuries ago that overlooks Lake Albano and the town’s main square, Piazza de la Liberta, Liberty Square. During Pope Leo’s weekly visits to Castelgandolfo over year the past year, he has actually been residing in an adjacent papal property called Villa Barberini. However, the palace in which popes have resided for many centuries is the one the Pope moved to over the weekend. I so love the town and its history linked to popes and the papacy for centuries. In fact, this weekend on my EWTN radio show, Vatican Insider, I offer a special I’ve prepared on the history of this wonderful Apostolic residence, a residence that Pope John Paul called Vatican Two.

Today, we revisit a piece Joan did on the Vatican Observatory. Enjoy the show!

Welcome to Vatican Insider on another scorcher of a weekend in Italy and throughout Europe with temps in many places hitting triple digits. Yesterday on my blog, Joan’s Rome, I posted some links to some pretty amazing stories about the heatwave as well as something that might make you laugh – HUMOR DURING A HEATWAVE. I want to tell you about the Special I’ve prepared for what is normally the interview segment of Vatican Insider.. There are some delightful traditions in the Vatican that come to a head at this time of year as we near the June 29th solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul. I’ve called this special ST AGNES, BABY LAMBS AND PALLIUMS. Sounds like a mystery but it is a great story woven with those 3 threads, a saint, baby lambs and woolen palliums. So stay tuned for that after the news.

It was a very big and important week here, especially with the presentation on Monday May 25 of Pope Leo’s first encyclical Magnifica humanitas. I’ll look at that, of course, but now just a line about my special guests in the interview segment – Frank and Mary Frost, film producers whom I met not long ago in Rome at the screening of one of their premier documentaries “Teilhard, Visionary Scientist.” That’s French Jesuit scientist, paleontologist and scholar, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. A truly amazing story! We met again at Georgetown University when I was in Washington, D.C. earlier this month, and spoke about their work and this documentary in particular as both Frank and Mary feel it is time to introduce Teilhard de Chardin to a new generation.Founded in 1985 by Frank and Mary Frost, Frank Frost Productions is, as their site says, an award-winning film and television production company dedicated to producing entertaining and informational programming and independent documentaries. More than 100 million…

Anyone in Rome with even a remote link to the Church – people working in the Vatican, the Roman Curia, our seminary here in Rome, etc – will have at some point crossed paths with Ashley and John! They have wonderful individual stories but together, as a couple, their story is the Truth and Beauty Project. So tune in this weekend to learn about immersion in Truth and Beauty!

Welcome to Vatican Insider at an exciting time for Pope Leo as we follow him in Africa on his third international apostolic trip, traveling in Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea. He returns to Rome on April 23. After the news summary, stay tuned for my special guest this week in the interview segment – Andreas Widmer, an Associate Professor of Practice in Entrepreneurship at CUA’s (the Catholic University of America) Busch School of Business since the fall of 2012.

This week, in what is normally the interview segment of Vatican Insider, I bring you on a pilgrimage with the Via Lucis! After the news segment, stay tuned for the special story about the Via Lucis, the Way of Light, basically a post-Easter journey through 14 stations of light, the light that fills our life because of the Resurrection.

Welcome to Vatican Insider on this Palm Sunday weekend. A beautiful, solemn Holy Week now awaits us – just a week away from the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior! After the news highlights of the week, Nigeria came to us in Rome because my guest in the interview segment is Bishop Emmanul Badejo of Oyo, Nigeria, a friend of many years. My first interview with him was all about his ministry young people in Nigeria.

In this week’s interview segment, I share Part II of my conversation with two amazing men, Craig Johring and Danny Leger, who are truly doing the Lord’s work of caring for the least of our brethren through HOPE OF THE POOR.

Welcome to Vatican Insider on this Valentine’s Day weekend, half way through this 28-day month, the shortest month of the year! This weekend in the interview segment, I feature two amazing men, Craig Johring and Danny Leger, who are truly doing the Lord’s work of caring for the least of our brethren through “Hope Of The Poor”.

in this week’s Vatican Insider American seminarians Patrick Ernst and Nicholas Monnin of the diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend in Indiana. Both are in their second year of studies at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. We met last fall over dinner at my home with their ordinary, Bishop Kevin Rhoades. (Originally aired on 2/16/24)

In place of an interview segment this weekend on Vatican Insider, I’ve prepared a Special – a fact-filled, fun-filled feature I’m calling DID YOU KNOW THAT …? I’m going to focus on some interesting tidbits about St. Peter’s Basilica. We’ll look at the basilica’s dome, bronze markings on its floor and a statue of the apostle, saint and pope for whom the church is named. Join me!

Join me again this week on Vatican Insider for a very special treat when Kathleeen Jagger, president of Newman University in Wichita, Kansas, returns to VI in Part II of our conversation as we further explore Newman University today. In particular, we talk about the mission of education as seen by Cardinal John Henry Newman, proclaimed last November 1st as Doctor of the Church and co-patron with St. Thomas Aquinas of the Church’s education mission.

Join me this week on Vatican Insider for a very special treat as my guest in the interview segment is Kathleeen Jagger, president of Newman University in Wichita, Kansas. We met when she was in Rome last November for the Jubilee of Education and for the November 1st declaration of Cardinal John Henry Newman as a Doctor of the Church and co-patron with St. Thomas Aquinas of the Church’s education mission.

Welcome back to Vatican Insider on this second weekend of our brand NewYear! And what a week it was! Tuesday, January 6, the Church celebrated the feast of the Epiphany and the closing of the final Holy Door at St. Peter’s basilica, thus ending the Jubilee of Hope. The American couple you met last week on the interview segment, Craig and Laura Schlattmann are my guests again this week in Part II of our conversation and they tell us more about the many times this past year they served as volunteers for the Jubilee of Hope. Join me!

Welcome to Vatican Insider on this first weekend of our brand NewYear! My guests this weekend can tell you all you need to know about that door ad many other things linked to the 2025 Jubilee of Hope because they spent this past year in Rome. I’m talking about Craig and Laura Schlattmann, an American couple who came to Italy for a year as volunteers for the Jubilee of Hope and who are also active parishioners of St. Patrick’s, the Catholic American community in Rome.

As you’ll hear me say at the start of this Christmastime Special, I want to welcome you to Vatican Insider on this festive weekend between Christmas and San Silvestro, New Year’s Day! A time of rejoicing over the birth of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and a time to look forward with hope to a New Year that often allows us to “start over.”

Welcome to Vatican Insider on this final weekend of Advent! I know that in these days we’re all getting our homes ready for guests and shared meals and telling stories around a Christmas tree and Nativity scene but we are also getting ready, in a prayerful and joy-filled fashion, to welcome our Lord and Savior on December 25! Christmas is thus special and that is exactly what I offer you this week in what is normally the interview segment – a Special on celebrating Christmas in the Vatican and Rome! I actually researched and recorded this a couple of years ago but it is all so relevant and beautiful and interesting that I want to share it again! And the reaction was quite wonderful so, here we go again!

Welcome to Vatican Insider on this third weekend of Advent, when we mark Gaudete Sunday, a reminder of the joy that comes with the anticipation of Christ’s birth. Join me in the interview segment for Part II of my conversation with Patrick Reilly, a friend of many years and founder in 1993 of the Cardinal Newman Society.

Welcome to Vatican Insider on this first weekend of December 2025. My guest in the interview segment is Patrick Reilly, a friend of many years and founder in 1993 of the Newman Society. We spoke when he was in Rome for the November 1 declaration by Pope Leo of Cardinal John Henry Newman as doctor of the Church.

In this edition of Vatican Insider we present the second part of The Kingship of Christ interview. My guests are Aidan Gallagher, head of EWTN Ireland, and Jesuit Fr. Bernard McCuckian, principal narrator of “The Kingship of Christ,” a documentary produced by EWTN Ireland. Other protagonists of this 4-part documentary on Christ the King that premiered November 18 in the Vatican’s filmoteca or film library include Fr. Mark Lewis, SJ, Rector of the Jesuit-run Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and Fr. Dominic Holtz, OP, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy at the Angelicum, the Dominican university in Rome.

Welcome to a new edition of Vatican Insider on this penultimate weekend in November! My guests in the interview segment this weekend are Aidan Gallagher, head of EWTN Ireland, and Jesuit Fr. Bernard McCuckian, principal narrator of “The Kingship of Christ,” a documentary produced by EWTN Ireland. Other protagonists of this 4-part documentary on Christ the King that premiered November 18 in the Vatican’s filmoteca or film library include Fr. Mark Lewis, SJ, Rector of the Jesuit-run Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and Fr. Dominic Holtz, OP, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy at the Angelicum, the Dominican university in Rome. This Sunday, of course, November 23, 2025 is the feast of Christ the King. This year, in fact, marks the 100th anniversary of its institution by Pope Pius XI on Dec. 11, 1925 at the end of that Jubilee Year. The four parts explore the meaning and origins of the term “kingship” in Sacred Scripture, the nature of Christ’s kingship, its rise to prominence in the 19th and 20th…

In part II of our conversation, my special guests are Marlene Watkins, founder of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospitality – North American Volunteers, and Bishop Douglas Lucia of Syracuse, New York, who is the chaplain for the group. Don't miss on this special edition of Vatican Insider.

My special guests this week in the interview segment are Marlene Watkins, founder of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospitality – North American Volunteers and Bishop Douglas Lucia of Syracuse, New York, who is the chaplain for the group. Join us!

Stay tuned for Part II of my conversation with Jesuit Fr. Thomas Merkel, president of the D.C.-based Gregorian University Foundation. This was established in 1972 with the aim of supporting Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University through raising much-­needed funds for scholarships, academic chairs, libraries and capital improvements.

Some big news stories this week to tell you about but now I want you to know that my guest in the interview segment is Fr. Thomas Merkel, president of the D.C.-based Gregorian University Foundation that was instituted in 1972 with the mission to support the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, through raising much­-needed funds for scholarships, academic chairs, libraries and capital improvements.

Welcome to Vatican Insider on this third weekend of October. Lots of events this week at the Vatican as you will hear in the opening news segment. After the news highlights, you’ll want to stay tuned for my weekly interview segment when my guest is Lisa Petrocelli, an American who spent a week in Rome as a volunteer for the Jubilee Year of Hope.

This week, instead of an interview segment, I’ve prepared a Special on Pope Leo’s first magisterial document, his Apostolic Exhortation “Dilexi te – I have Loved You – that was presented Thursday, October 9 in the Vatican. Join us!

I do have a very uplifting story in the interview segment of VI and my conversation with Deacon Andy Orosco of the diocese of San Bernardino in California. Andy is a Native American who works in the Native American Ministry in the diocese and tells a fascinating story about his ministry and his people. You will also hear from his wife Roseanne as both were in Rome recently for the Jubilee of Deacons. (Originally aired on 3/14/25)

I’m calling this segment INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW because I’m going to bring you some trivia, that is, some little known and often unusual facts about the Vatican – some fun stories about bells and flags and basilica floors. It might be trivia but it is not trivial! (Originally aired on 7/20/18)

My guest this week in the interview segment of “Vatican Insider” is a longtime friend, Fr. Frank Phillips, former pastor for 30 years at Chicago’s well-known St. John Cantius Church. After a number of years, we met serendipitously over my vacation at a pre-investiture ceremony for the Order of the Holy Sepulchre that was held at St. John Cantius. (Originally aired on 10/14/22)

Welcome to Vatican Insider on this mid-September weekend. I hope the weather is as beautiful where you are as it is here in Rome! For the interview segment this weekend, please join me for Part II of a Special on the papal residence of Castelgandolfo and its centuries-long history where I look at the main palace and other buildings, the extensive land and magnificent gardens and the papal farm that actually occupies most of the land.

Welcome to Vatican Insider on a very important weekend for the Catholic Church and especially for young people everywhere! As you surely know, this Sunday, September 7, two young men, Blesseds Carlo Acutis and Piergiorgio Frassati, will be canonized by Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter’s Square during Mass. In this week’s new segment, in addition to the top stories in the Vatican, I offer brief biographies of our two future saints. For the interview segment this weekend, I prepared a Special on the papal residence of Castelgandolfo and its centuries-long history. Join us!

Welcome to Vatican Insider on this final weekend of August. Is summer really almost over! I have yet to go on vacation but that’s coming soon. No interview this weekend, rather, I’ve prepared a Special on the two very special saints we celebrated this week – St. Monica on August 27th and her famous son, St. Augustine, on the 28th. Join us!

Welcome to Vatican Insider on this August weekend as summer winds down for so many people and schools are about to reopen or already have reopened in many cases. My guest in the interview segment this week is Dr. Blythe Kaufman, founder of the Children’s Rosary®, an International Prayer group movement for children. This week we look at how the Children’s Rosary has grown throughout the world and Blythe explains how to create such a prayer group of your parish or school. Join us for Vatican Insider!

Welcome to Vatican Insider at this halfway mark of August. August might be the 8th month of the year for most people but for Italians, it is THE month of the year! It is the month of ferragosto – August holidays. In place of an interview segment this weekend, I have prepared a special I’ve called The Lazy, Hazy Days of August in Rome. I think you’ll get a kick out of it and learn a few things as well. Join us!

Welcome to Vatican Insider on a quiet August weekend – at least in Italy as August is the month of the so-called Great Exodus when Italians leave big cities, small towns and everywhere in between for some vacation time at a summer home in the mountains or at the seashore. Be sure to stay tuned after the news report for the interview segment and Part II of my conversation with Johnny Vrba, creator of the now famous 1000-piece, 3 x 4 foot mosaic that depicts the future Saint Carlo Acutis.

Welcome to Vatican Insider on this exciting weekend in Rome when the Jubilee of Youth that started July 28 continues with a vigil Saturday night and a Mass on Sunday on the Tor Vergata esplanade to conclude the weeklong event. My young guest in the interview segment is Johnny Vrba, creator of the now-famous 1000-piece mosaic that depicts the future Saint Carlo Acutis. He spent some days in Rome during the Jubilee, sharing the mosaic and its story with young people. Join us for this edition of Vatican Insider!

Welcome to Vatican Insider on the weekend that precedes the arrival in Rome of half a million youth from over 140 countries to celebrate the weeklong Jubilee of Youth that starts Monday, July 28! Exciting days ahead, for sure! And an exciting Special report this weekend in what is normally the interview segment of VI. I prepared a Special program because this is such a special weekend! Saturday is the feast of Sts. Anne and Joachim, parents of our Blessed Mother and grandparents of Jesus, and Sunday marks the 5th World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly.

In Part II of our conversation, we talk about the years of filming The Chosen, how he was chosen for his role as Jesus, and the extraordinary time spent in Matera for the Crucifixion. Jonathan explains when and how that season will air. I asked if he felt this role had changed him in any way over all these years of filming? I also asked an almost impossible question to answer: Did he have a favorite segment (or two)?