Ep. 6 - Pope Francis suffers health setbacks

For the first time in his 10-year papacy, Pope Francis has had to cancel a previously announced trip abroad due to health issues. In this episode of "The Vatican Briefing," Vatican experts Joshua McElwee and Christopher White discuss the pope's health, and the significance of the cancellation of his planned trip to Dubai for the UN Climate Change Conference. They also have an exclusive conversation with Brownsville, Texas Bishop Daniel Flores, the lead coordinator of the U.S. bishops' national consultation process for the Synod of Bishops. Flores, who took part in the October 2023 synod assembly in Rome, said the delegates at the gathering wanted to express "a certain amount of sorrow" over how women have been treated by the Catholic Church. Flores said the bishops at the Oct. 4-29 gathering wanted to show recognition "about how the church has not, in her leadership or in the way it works … appreciated the sacrifice and [that] in so many parts of the world [what] continues to make the church viable is the work of women." This podcast and NCR's Future Media Initiative are made possible in part by the generosity of Bill and Jean Buchanan. Please support this podcast by joining NCR Forward, National Catholic Reporter's membership program. Relevant links: Christopher White's coverage of Pope Francis canceling his planned trip to Dubai: Pope Francis cancels trip to Dubai for UN climate conference Brian Roewe's report on the opening of the UN climate summit: Catholics at COP28 vow to carry ill pope's call for action on climate change The Associated Press' reporting on the pope's Nov. 29 weekly general audience: Ailing Pope Francis holds weekly audience, but aide reads his remarks Brian Fraga's reporting on how the U.S. bishops discussed the Synod of Bishops during their November plenary meeting in Baltimore: Vatican ambassador urges US bishops to embrace synod on synodality White and Joshua McElwee's reporting on the synod's final document: Pope's major Vatican summit ends without action on women deacons, mention of LGBTQ Catholics White and McElwee's coverage of Dominican Fr. Timothy Radcliffe's reflections at the retreat ahead of the opening of the synod: 'Orthodoxy is spacious': At retreat, synod members hear about women's hopes, LGBTQ issues