Victor Gaetan

Victor Gaetan is a senior correspondent for the National Catholic Register, focusing on international issues. He also writes for Foreign Affairs magazine, The American Spectator and the Washington Examiner. He contributed to Catholic News Service for several years. The Catholic Press Association of North America has given his articles four first place awards, including Individual Excellence, over the last five years. Gaetan received a license (B.A.) in Ottoman and Byzantine Studies from Sorbonne University in Paris, an M.A. from the Fletcher School of International Law and Diplomacy, and a Ph.D. in Ideology in Literature from Tufts University. His book God’s Diplomats: Pope Francis, Vatican Diplomacy, and America’s Armageddon was published by Rowman & Littlefield in July 2021. Visit his website at VictorGaetan.org.

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President Joe Biden (6th from L) and Vietnam's Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong (4th from R) hold talks in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Sept. 10, 2023.

Washington and the Vatican Strengthening Diplomatic Ties With Hanoi — for Different Reasons

NEWS ANALYSIS: Devout Vietnamese Catholics pray it helps their nation.

Victor Gaetan Vatican September 18, 2023

Pope Francis speaks during a spiritual retreat for South Sudan leaders at the Vatican's Casa Santa Marta, April 11, 2019.

The Pope’s Pastoral Diplomacy Centers on Dialogue — Even When It ‘Stinks’

COMMENTARY: Throughout his pontificate’s diplomacy of encounter, Francis has prioritized opening lines of communication ahead of seeking predetermined outcomes.

Victor Gaetan Commentaries May 26, 2023

Church’s Youngest Cardinal Hopeful for Papal Visit to Mongolia

An Interview With Cardinal Giorgio Marengo

Victor Gaetan World May 2, 2023

Bishop Christian Carlassare (center) walks with youth on the nine-day pilgrimage wearing a scarf that belongs to scouts from his hometown in Italy.

Youth Pilgrims ‘Write a New Chapter’ for South Sudan

‘Along the way, in all the villages we passed through, there were people who were full of joy to see young people. I think we were the hope, somehow, for all the people who were seeing us and a hope for the country,’ recalls Bishop Christian Carlassare of the nine-day pilgrimage to meet Pope Francis.

Victor Gaetan Interviews March 1, 2023

Pope Francis waves as he arrives at the N'djili International Airport in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), on January 31, 2023. - Pope Francis landed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, hailing his beautiful trip to Africa as he comes bearing a message of peace to the conflict-torn nation, before heading to troubled neighbour South Sudan.

Precious Periphery: Pope Francis’ Ecumenical Peace Pilgrimage to South Sudan

NEWS ANALYSIS: Five reasons the Holy See prioritized this journey.

Victor Gaetan World January 31, 2023

Cardinal Gracias thanks Thai dancers during the conference. Pastoral center with illuminated fountain. Delegates hold prayer boats before releasing them in water.

Five Takeaways from the Asian Bishops’ Jubilee Conference

ANALYSIS: More than 200 delegates, including 130 bishops, representing 27 member countries, together with 40 cardinals, assembled for 19 days in October for the meeting of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences.

Victor Gaetan World November 29, 2022

Clockwise from Left: St Xavier School in Kathmandu. Doors to Assumption Cathedral in Kathmandu. Students walking in the quad at St. Xavier School. Statue in front of the cathedral.

Catholicism in Nepal: A Small, Productive Church in the Himalayas

Christianity is surging in the landlocked South Asian democratic republic.

Victor Gaetan World November 2, 2022

Giorgia Meloni leader of the 'Fratelli d'Italia' party speaks at a political rally on Sept. 18 in Caserta, Italy. Italians head to the polls for general elections on Sept. 25.

Campaigning as a Catholic Mother, Giorgia Meloni Could Be Italy’s First Woman Prime Minister

NEWS ANALYSIS: Dismissed by critics as representing only an extremist fringe, Meloni’s Brothers of Italy political party is now leading in polls taken ahead of the Sept. 25 national elections.

Victor Gaetan World September 22, 2022

Pope Francis and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, embrace during their historic meeting in Havana, Cuba, on Feb. 12, 2016.

Papal Engagement With Russia: 5 Historic Moments Where Popes Intervened

NEWS ANALYSIS: From Pope Benedict XV to Pope Francis, the supreme pontiffs have repeatedly sought to build bridges with the Russian Orthodox Church.

Victor Gaetan Vatican March 3, 2022

Pope Paul VI addresses to the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Oct. 4, 1965. Seated behind him, from left are: U.N. Secretary General U Thant; General Assembly President Amintore Fanfani and C.V. Narasimhan, U.N. Undersecretary for General Assembly Affairs.

What Is the Holy See’s ‘Sovereignty’?

A Crucial, Often Misunderstood, Attribute

Victor Gaetan Vatican December 28, 2021

Victor Gaetan

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