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 centuries, and how His reign continues to be realized in the world today.

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!