On April 19, 2005 when Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected pope, the popular consensus was that this would be a papacy of continuity; he would ensure that his predecessor’s line of leadership and teaching would be safeguarded. What most people didn’t take into consideration was that Cardinal Ratzinger is a very different personality than Cardinal ...read more

Monday, April 26th, I was dispatched to Turin, Italy to do some preview work for our coverage of Holy Father’s upcoming trip, and to write an article or two for Catholic News Service. Let’s skip the part about missing the train by two seconds, and fast forward to when I actually got to Turin. It ...read more

Just in time for the fifth anniverary of his election as Pope, a special book has been released looking back at Pope Benedict’s first five years in the See of Peter. The book was released in Italian and German only – fitting, since it was put together by Msgr. Georg Gänswein, the Pope’s personal secretay ...read more

On Good Friday evening at 8:50 pm, I was stepping delicately across the san pietrini (cobblestones) of Rome, heading towards home, huffing and puffing over a series of inter-cultural miscalculations and miscommunications, trying desperately to contain my bubbling emotions. Let’s just say that had someone—anyone—stopped me on my way, they probably would have been the ...read more

I met the Pope on Friday. The president of Guatemala was in Italy and, as per protocol, he also stopped by the Vatican to see Benedict XVI. Because I speak Spanish and Italian, I was included in the press pool that was allowed into the San Damaso Library for the visit. The pool of journalists ...read more

At 10am this morning, Rome time, media accredited to the Holy See received a copy of the Pope’s letter to Irish Catholics. Vatican spokesman, Fr. Federico Lombardi, SJ held a press briefing at 11am in the Holy See Press Hall. The letter was to be released to the public at 12:00 pm (Rome time). Journalists ...read more

There are two words foreigners learn almost immediately upon setting foot in Italian territory: “c’è sciopero.” That means “there’s a strike” For most North Americans this phrase causes instant terror. It certainly makes me think of the two month transit strike of 2001 in Vancouver, or the summer long garbage strike in Toronto in 2009. ...read more

It’s been a horrible week at the Vatican, and it’s only Tuesday. Last week, German bishops addressed claims that youth had been sexually abused by clergy in various Catholic schools. News surfaced that boys had been abused at an institution in Regensburg where Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, the Pope’s brother, had later been choirmaster. Press reports ...read more

It’s a grey, cold, windy, rainy day in Rome… and I think it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen! This is officially day five that I’ve been here as S+L’s Vatican Correspondent. I am now officially accredited to the Holy See Press Office. It only took four days, three paper clips, two photos, and ...read more

At some point in our lives we’ve all heard the saying, “We make plans and God laughs.” God has laughed at me a few times. He’s still laughing at me and my plans. As I’ve mentioned in some of my previous blogs, I grew up in Vancouver and lived in Rome for several years. For ...read more