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Francis X. Rocca Vatican Correspondent
  • Vatican City
  • The Wall Street Journal

Francis X. Rocca covers the Vatican for The Wall Street Journal. A native of Washington, D.C., he has written on a range of topics including European politics, higher education, arts and culture.

Focus Areas

  • Vatican

65 Articles
2 months ago
wsj.com

Vatican Reopens Case of Missing Girl Emanuela Orlandi

The disappearance of teenager Emanuela Orlandi has haunted the Catholic Church and Italy for 40 years.

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2 months ago
wsj.com

Pope Condemns Iran’s Death Penalty for Protesters

The pontiff’s delayed and limited words of support for the protesters reflect a tension between his desire for good r...

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3 months ago
wsj.com

Pope Francis Presides Over Funeral for Pope Benedict XVI

Thousands of mourners gathered in St. Peter’s Square for an event that concludes the unique decadelong cohabitation o...

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3 months ago
wsj.com

Pope Francis May Have a Freer Hand After Death of Benedict

The death of Pope Benedict XVI ended an extraordinary arrangement that helped define the current pontificate. Pope Fr...

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3 months ago
wsj.com

Mourners Bid a Quiet Farewell to Pope Benedict

Thousands have filed past Benedict’s body lying in state in St. Peter’s Basilica, though nothing like the enormous li...

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3 months ago
wsj.com

Pope Benedict’s Passing Means Conservative Catholics Lose Their Leading Light

Pope Benedict XVI was for more than three decades a leader in the culture wars that have shaken the Catholic Church a...

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3 months ago
wsj.com

Pope Francis to Preside Over Predecessor’s Funeral, in a Vatican First

Plans for the service mean a historically unique situation—that of two popes residing practically side by side in the...

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3 months ago
wsj.com

Pope Benedict XVI Dies at Age 95

The retired pontiff was an influential figure in the Catholic Church from the early 1960s to his historic 2013 resign...

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3 months ago
wsj.com

Pope Francis Says Retired Pope Benedict XVI Is ‘Very Sick’

Pope Francis said his 95-year-old predecessor, retired Pope Benedict XVI, was very ill and asked the faithful to pray...

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3 months ago
wsj.com

Pope Francis Says He Has Written Resignation Letter in Case of Incapacity

The pontiff, who has used a wheelchair since May, turned 86 on Saturday.

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4 months ago
wsj.com

Pope Francis Compares War in Ukraine to the Holocaust

The pope likened the war in Ukraine to the Nazi genocide of the Jews, in his latest escalation of rhetoric on the war.

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4 months ago
wsj.com

Pope Francis Defends His Stance on Ukraine War

The pontiff defended his practice of not naming Russia as the aggressor in Ukraine, saying that his condemnation of M...

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