Selected writing
Features and essays
Father Paolo: Christian monk who dissapeared after trying to talk to ISIL, for Al Jazeera.
Thou shalt not drop catches, for The Times.
Profile of Palestinian activist Khalil Sayegh, for Al Jazeera.
The people’s priests, cover story for The Tablet.
Called out of Egypt, for The Tablet.
An atheist and a Cardinal walk into a bar, for The Hedgehog Review.
Yorkshire’s Egyptian Monastery, for The Yorkshire Post.
Reporting
I work for Vatican News, reporting mainly on Pope Francis and the global Catholic Church.
Some highlights:
– Report on a Church-funded search-and-rescue mission in the Mediterranean, filed from the rescue ship.
– Interview with Professor Mustafa AbuSway of Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa mosque on the Pope’s appeals for peace in Palestine.
– Report from Lisbon on an interreligious dialogue conference featuring the Imam of the Grand Mosque of Mecca.
In addition to my written reporting, I also regularly present a radio news broadcast and serve as an on-air commentator and Italian-English interpreter for papal events.
View from Rome
Since early 2024, I’ve been writing a regular ‘View from Rome’ column for The Tablet, covering the Vatican and Italian politics and culture.
16/11/2024: Ancient Persian Christianity; Meloni’s migration gamble; the Vatican’s anime mascot.
20/09/24: Keir Starmer in Rome; migration; the Pope in Asia.
15/08/24: Afghanistan; religious nationalism; the Pope’s reading list.
20/07/24: On tour with the Vatican cricket team; Roman summers.
15/06/24: Saudi Arabia; global billionaire tax; the Liberation of Rome.
20/04/24: Pope Francis and the Patriarchy; the Catholic left; the Italian media’s Vatican obsession.
09/03/24: Copts; the Pope’s health; the Emperor Constantine.
19/02/24: Gaza; hell; Tolkien; the Italian far right.