Joshua J. McElwee

National Catholic Reporter • 16th April 2024

What did Pope Francis really think about Benedict XVI?

Listen: In this episode of The Vatican Briefing, Joshua McElwee and Christopher White discuss the Vatican's document "Dignitas Infinita." And they speak with a Vatican journalist about his book-length interview with Pope Francis.

National Catholic Reporter • 4th April 2024

Bishop Gumbleton, longtime soul of the US Catholic peace movement, dies

Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, the Detroit prelate who for many American Catholics defined faith-based social justice activism in the post-Vatican II church, died April 4. He was 94. "To put it most succinctly, Tom lived out the peace of Christ in his complete being," said Johnny Zokovitch, Pax Christi USA's executive director, shortly after the bishop's death. "Everything that our movement strives to be was evident in Tom and how Tom lived."

National Catholic Reporter • 22nd March 2024

At UN event, Vatican presses for global ban on child surrogacy

The Vatican's mission to the United Nations pressed for an international prohibition against the practice of child surrogacy on March 20, during a panel discussion that framed arrangements where women carry others' children as exploitative and contrary to the U.N.'s landmark 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child.

National Catholic Reporter • 20th March 2024

Ukrainian archbishop: Pope Francis doesn't understand Putin

A prominent U.S. Ukrainian Catholic leader has sharply criticized Pope Francis' recent suggestion that Ukraine might enter negotiations to end its brutal, two-year war with Russia, calling the pontiff's remarks "very problematic."

National Catholic Reporter • 27th February 2024

Has Pope Francis failed to root out clergy sexual abuse?

In this episode of "The Vatican Briefing," BishopAccountability.org co-director Anne Barrett Doyle offers a blunt assessment of Pope Francis' efforts to confront clergy sexual abuse.

National Catholic Reporter • 13th February 2024

Inside the Vatican's synod office: 'New style of leadership' for Catholic Church

As the Vatican prepares to host the second part of Pope Francis' major summit on the future of the Catholic Church this October, one of the event's main organizers said a central purpose of the gathering is to create "a new style of leadership" for the global faith institution. From an exclusive interview with Xavière Sr. Nathalie Becquart.

National Catholic Reporter • 30th January 2024

Exclusive: Vatican's abuse expert says ending priestly celibacy could prevent a 'double life'

One of the Catholic Church's leading doctrinal officials has reiterated his unusual call for the global institution to consider ending its millennia-long requirement that priests remain celibate, saying that allowing priestly marriage could be a means of preventing clerics from living dangerous double lives. In an exclusive interview with National Catholic Reporter on Jan. 24, Archbishop Charles Scicluna said: "One of my worries is that people are put in a situation where they are comfortable with a double life."

National Catholic Reporter • 30th October 2023

Exclusive: Cardinals Cupich, McElroy say 'impossible to go back' to synods without lay voters

Two U.S. cardinals said one of the immediate results of Pope Francis' major summit on the future of the Catholic Church is that it should now be "impossible" to return to an era where lay men and women are not given both a voice and vote in major Vatican meetings.

National Catholic Reporter • 17th October 2023

Pope Francis meets Jeannine Gramick, US sister known for LGBTQ ministry

Pope Francis on Oct. 17 held a meeting with an American Catholic sister who had previously been reprimanded by the Vatican and several U.S. bishops for her decadeslong ministry to LGBTQ Catholics.

National Catholic Reporter • 13th September 2023

Swedish Catholic cardinal, Lutheran bishop make joint DC visit for ecumenical dialogue

Sweden's only Catholic cardinal came to the U.S. for a brief visit in late August. But he did not come alone. Cardinal Anders Arborelius, who has led the small Catholic community in Sweden since 1998, came to Washington, D.C., alongside Bishop Karin Johannesson, an assistant bishop in the Lutheran Archdiocese of Uppsala.

National Catholic Reporter • 2nd August 2023

Archbishop Wester asks US Catholics for 'urgent conversation' about nuclear weapons' risks

Santa Fe Archbishop John Wester is undertaking a "Pilgrimage of Peace" to Japan to promote nuclear disarmament. In an NCR interview, Wester called on U.S. Catholics to have an "urgent conversation" about the continued risks posed by nuclear weapons.

National Catholic Reporter • 2nd August 2023

Archbishop Wester asks US Catholics for 'urgent conversation' about nuclear weapons' risks

Santa Fe Archbishop John Wester is undertaking a "Pilgrimage of Peace" to Japan to promote nuclear disarmament. In an NCR interview, Wester called on U.S. Catholics to have an "urgent conversation" about the continued risks posed by nuclear weapons.

National Catholic Reporter • 7th February 2023

Exclusive: Vatican must treat abuse victims better, pope's lead investigator says

Pope Francis' lead clergy abuse investigator has acknowledged survivors' frustrations with the Vatican's strict culture of secrecy about Catholic bishops accused of misconduct or cover-up. In a National Catholic Reporter interview, Scicluna admitted the Vatican is not at what he termed "an optimal point" with regard to how it follows up with abuse victims.

National Catholic Reporter • 7th February 2023

Theologian Gaillardetz warns against over-critique of church in 'last lecture'

Theologians from across the U.S. gathered in Boston Sept. 23-24 for a conference celebrating the legacy of Richard Gaillardetz, one of the country's foremost experts on the exercise of authority in the Catholic Church, who is receiving treatment for pancreatic cancer.

Commonweal Magazine • 30th August 2022

‘There Will Be Surprises:’ With new cardinals, Francis advances the synodal agenda

August is really no time to be in the Eternal City. With temperatures in the upper nineties and the Mediterranean sun scorching the cobblestones for more than thirteen hours a day, most Italians have the good sense to simply stay away until September. Pope Francis, however, has other considerations.

National Catholic Reporter • 29th March 2022

Cardinals, theologians gather to plan how US church can support Pope Francis

A group of about 70 cardinals, bishops and theologians gathered privately for two days in Chicago from March 25-26 for conversations focused on how the U.S. Catholic Church can better support the agenda of Pope Francis. Through a series of keynote presentations and panel discussions centered on tracing the roots of Francis' papacy to the 1962-65 Second Vatican Council, invited participants also considered the opposition the pope continues to face from some quarters of the U.S. church.

National Catholic Reporter • 17th November 2021

After year of divisive debate, US bishops approve tepid document on Communion

After more than a year of intense debate on a controversial document originally intended to target pro-choice Catholic politicians like President Joe Biden, the U.S. bishops on Nov. 17 instead approved a milquetoast text summarizing Catholic teaching on Communion.

National Catholic Reporter • 15th June 2021

No, Pope Francis did not cancel a meeting with President Biden

Pope Francis did not meet U.S. President Joe Biden today, June 15. Despite conservative media reports to the contrary, it does not appear the pope ever planned to do so.

National Catholic Reporter • 10th June 2021

Beyond Biden: Bishop McKnight hopes bishops discuss Francis' new catechist role

Although the upcoming meeting of the U.S. bishops conference is already attracting controversy over a plan to draft a document about whether pro-choice Catholic politicians like President Joe Biden can take Communion, at least one bishop is hoping to discuss something a bit less contentious.

National Catholic Reporter • 17th May 2021

After Vatican warning, US bishops have limited options for planned text about Biden

After the Vatican's unusual warning to the U.S. bishops to proceed with caution in their plan to issue a document about pro-choice Catholic politicians like President Joe Biden, the prelates appear to have limited options for going forward with the measure.