Seven days that shook the Vatican

by John L. Allen Jr.

View Author Profile

Join the Conversation

Send your thoughts to Letters to the Editor. Learn more


Pope Benedict XVI leaves a prayer service at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome June 28. The service marked the vigil of the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, the Vatican's patron saints and symbols of the church's unity and its universality. (CNS photo/Tony Gentile, Reuters)

Rome -- It’s customary for the Vatican to empty its pipeline of pending business before the pope heads for his annual summer retreat in Castel Gandolfo. That usually makes for a flurry of news in late June. It was turbo-charged this year by dramatic events breaking in on the Vatican from the outside. Faced with such a deluge of news, the obvious temptation is to miss the forest for the trees. Here, I’d like to step back from the details and ponder the question, “What does it all mean?”

Read the full report: Seven days that shook the Vatican

[John Allen is NCR senior correspondent. His e-mail address is jallen@ncronline.org.]

Related Stories

Friday Vatican potpourri, a "reporter’s notebook" round-up of footnotes and nuggets from a dramatic week

Triumph of theologians over diplomats in Vatican

Three archbishops and the American Catholic future

Interview with Archbishop Jerome Listecki

Interview with Archbishop Dennis Schnurr

Interview with Archbishop Thomas Wenski

Pope launches council to fight secular 'Eclipse of God'

Latest News

Advertisement

1x per dayDaily Newsletters
1x per weekWeekly Newsletters
2x WeeklyBiweekly Newsletters