Vatican Insider

Welcome to Vatican Insider on a weekend that sees Pope Leo at the start of his 6th international apostolic trip – 12 days in South America, specifically Uruguay, Argentina and Peru where he lived for almost 20 years, serving Peruvians as an Augustinian missionary, then as bishop. He even has Peruvian citizenship! Papal trips can be very complex to organize and undertake but this weekend in a Special I’ve prepared, I’ll help you understand what goes on behind the scenes of an international apostolic trip….what goes into choosing a country or countries to visit, what special preparations are involved in security arrangements, transportation, preparing venues, building altars, food, who travels with the Pope, etc. A lot of fascinating details, so stay tuned for that after the news segment!

All Saints and All Souls Special

Welcome back to Vatican Insider this weekend for Part II of my interview with two special guests, Father Joseph Fessio, founder of Ignatius Press, and Mark Brumley, president of Ignatius Press. The focus of our conversation was Ignatius Press’ latest edition of its 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 aired last weekend.

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.