Christopher White

The Vatican on July 7 released the full list of participants for its upcoming global synod of Catholic bishops and lay delegates, which includes noted LGBTQ advocate Jesuit Fr. James Martin and all four U.S. cardinals created by Pope Francis.

Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández, new head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, defended traditional church teaching on marriage, but said blessings for gay couples would have to be "analyzed." 

When Pope Francis visited Lampedusa in July 2013, few people had ever heard of the tiny Italian island. Ten years later, that visit has become a seminal reference point for Catholic care for migrants and refugees.

Pope Francis on July 1 appointed Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández, his long-time fellow-Argentine theological adviser, to head the Vatican's doctrinal office.

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Richard Stika, the embattled leader of the Diocese of Knoxville, following a tumultuous two-year period in which the diocese was subject to a Vatican investigation and multiple lawsuits over its handling of clergy abuse cases. 

View from the Vatican: The Vatican's initial reluctance to back the Abraham Accords could be explained by its longtime diplomatic efforts toward Middle East peace, including a push for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.

In a preface to a new book, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin says clergy sexual abuse is not linked to homosexuality, or to celibacy.

When prelates and lay delegates gather in October for the Synod of Bishops, they will be asked to directly confront pressing questions — including the possibility of women deacons, access to the priesthood for married men, the integration of LGBTQ+ Catholics, and penance for sexual abuse and the abuse of power, conscience and money.

During a private meeting with John Kerry on June 19, Pope Francis signaled an openness to attending the COP28 climate summit in Dubai later this year.

Pope Francis has relieved Archbishop Georg Gänswein, the longtime personal secretary to Pope Benedict XVI, of his duties as prefect of the papal household and sent him home to Germany without an assignment, the Vatican announced on June 15.

Amid concerns about past financial dealings and possible conflicts of interest, Oblate Fr. Andrew Small's leadership of the Vatican's clergy sex abuse commission is being questioned.

Pope Francis continues to recover well and is showing signs of progress, the Vatican said on June 8, one day after the pope successfully underwent a three-hour operation to repair a hernia.

NCR's Vatican correspondent Christopher White analyzes how the Vatican's communication and public relations apparatus handles news of Pope Francis' health.

Pope Francis on June 7 successfully underwent a three-hour intestinal surgery that the Vatican described as taking place without complications.

Pope Francis on June 7 was hospitalized at Rome's Gemelli hospital, where he is scheduled to have surgery on his intestine later today and is expected to remain for a recovery of several days

Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, Pope Francis' personal emissary tapped to lead the Vatican's peacemaking efforts between Ukraine and Russia, will be in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv from June 5-6.

Pope Francis thinks in images, said Portuguese Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, head of Vatican's Dicastery for Culture and Education, at a conference on "The Global Aesthetics of the Catholic Imagination" in Rome.

Pope Francis on May 26 named Bishop Jorge Ignacio García Cuerva — a relatively unknown 55-year-old prelate from a tiny diocese at the bottom of Argentina — to lead his hometown of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Pope Francis used his 2023 World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation message to call for an end to "the fossil fuel era," saying it is "madness to permit continued exploration and expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure."

View from the Vatican: The Sant'Egidio community has been instrumental in high-profile peacemaking efforts. Now its ties to the Russian Orthodox Church may assist Cardinal Matteo Zuppi as he heads to Kyiv and Moscow.