Joshua J. McElwee

Joshua J. McElwee is NCR's news editor. He is a journalist who has been widely recognized for his in-depth reporting and penetrating analysis on the leadership of the global Catholic Church.

Previously NCR's Vatican correspondent from 2014-21, McElwee's dispatches from Rome and during papal trips abroad were frequently cited by his peers, and broadly seen as a touchstone for nuanced Vatican and papal coverage. 

Among McElwee's most noted work has been his years-long, tenacious coverage of Pope Francis' clergy abuse commission, which through a series of exclusive interviews with ex-members of the group revealed serious shortcomings to its work.

McElwee was also the first journalist to break the news of Pope Francis' promise during a meeting with an international group of sisters and nuns in 2016 to create a commission to study the history of the ordination of women as deacons in the Catholic Church.

McElwee's reporting on the scene from the closed-door encounter, which sparked a global media frenzy, is sometimes credited with ensuring that Francis went forward with the creation of the Vatican's eventual Study Commission on the Women's Diaconate.

McElwee is the co-editor, alongside Cindy Wooden, of A Pope Francis Lexicon, a collection of 54 essays exploring the unique words Pope Francis has used in his ministry. 

A graduate of The Catholic University of America, McElwee has reported for NCR from 39 countries and traveled in the press pool abroad with Pope Francis 24 times. He often appears as an expert on television and radio programs such as National Public Radio's Morning Edition, BBC's World Service, and PRI's The World.

 

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Cardinal Angelo Becciu speaks with journalists during a news conference in Rome Sept. 25, 2020, after he was asked by Pope Francis to resign as prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes. (CNS/Reuters/Guglielmo Mangiapane)

After scandals, Francis transfers financial authority away from Vatican's Secretariat of State

Pope Francis is removing the ability of the Vatican's Secretariat of State to administer its own financial portfolio, after a series of financial scandals that included the unusual resignation of a cardinal in September.

Theodore McCarrick is pictured in Baltimore, Maryland, in 2017. (CNS/Bob Roller)

Vatican's report on ex-cardinal McCarrick to be released Nov. 10

The Vatican's report on how disgraced ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick was able to rise through the American Catholic hierarchy despite reports of inappropriate relationships with young men is expected to be released within the next weeks, National Catholic Reporter has learned.

Pope Francis walks in procession with new cardinals during consistory in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Oct. 5, 2019. (CNS/Vatican Media)

Will the 13 new cardinals come to Rome during a pandemic?

Analysis: Typically, new cardinals join current cardinals in Rome for the consistory. Canon lawyers say that Pope Francis could conduct the ceremony without cardinals from other countries because of COVID-19.

Pope Francis talks with Cardinal Santos Abril Castello during an ordinary public consistory in July 2018. (CNS/Vatican Media)

Francis names 13 new cardinals, including Washington's Archbishop Gregory

Pope Francis named 13 new Catholic cardinals Oct. 25, including two Vatican officials; archbishops in Rwanda, the Philippines and Chile; and Washington, D.C. Archbishop Wilton Gregory.

Pope Francis greets filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky and others involved with the production of the documentary, "Francesco," before the papal general audience at the Vatican Oct. 21. (CNS/Vatican Media)

Pope's civil union comments appear to be taken out of context

Analysis of a clip in a new documentary in which Pope Francis expresses support for civil union laws for same-sex couples appears to indicate some of the pontiff's words came from an earlier interview.

Vatican and China renew deal over bishop appointments for two more years

The Vatican and China have renewed their provisional 2018 deal over the appointment of Catholic bishops in the communist country for a further two years, the two sides announced Oct. 22.

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini, who became Pope Paul VI (CNS/Courtesy of the Brescia Diocese)

Research in Pius XII archives highlights another figure: future Paul VI

The newly opened Pius XII archives could lead to some rethinking about the role of the future Paul VI in World War II and after, says one historian: "We may be headed for a more nuanced picture of Montini."

Poster art for the movie "Francesco" (Provided image)

Not news: Pope Francis has supported civil unions for years

Pope Francis expresses support for the creation of civil union laws for same-sex couples as part of a new documentary; his comments on the matter appear an affirmation of previously articulated views.

Evgeny Afineevsky, director of "Francesco," greets Pope Francis (Courtesy of L'Osservatore Romano)

New film 'Francesco' offers moving portrait of pope's personal impacts

Review: A new documentary has at its center those people at the margins whom Pope Francis used to meet with, and, sometimes, change their lives in uncountable ways.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, speaks at a conference at the Vatican Oct. 4. (CNS/Paul Haring)

Cardinal Parolin: Vatican's deal with China to be renewed this week

The controversial two-year deal between the Vatican and China over the appointment of Catholic bishops in the communist country will be renewed, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's chief diplomat, said Oct. 21.

Pope Francis wearing a mask during the ecumenical service Oct. 20 in Rome (NCR screenshot/Vatican Media)

Francis wears mask during public event in Rome for first time

Taking part in his first public engagement with other religious leaders since the beginning of the pandemic, the pope appeared at an interreligious prayer service Oct. 20 in Rome wearing a white mask.

Francis quickly fills post left vacant by fired Vatican cardinal

Pope Francis has moved quickly to fill the senior Vatican leadership post left open by the forced resignation of Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu, naming the secretary of his advisory Council of Cardinals as the new prefect for the church's sainthood office.

Katerina Izvekova, 77, inside her home damaged during a military conflict between militants of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and the Ukrainian armed forces in late July (CNS/Reuters/Alexander Ermochenko)

Catholic activists praise pope's move away from just war theory

The leaders of an international movement seeking to have the Catholic Church formally set aside its long-held teachings on just war theory are praising Pope Francis' new encyclical.

Pope Francis celebrates Mass at the tomb of St. Francis in the crypt of the Basilica of St. Francis Oct. 3 in Assisi, Italy. The pope signed his new encyclical, "Fratelli Tutti, on Fraternity and Social Friendship," at the end of the Mass. (CNS/Vatican Me

Pope's post-COVID encyclical envisions a less populist, less capitalist world

In a lengthy and wide-ranging encyclical letter released Oct. 4, the pontiff says the continuing global health crisis makes it "all the more urgent that we rethink our styles of life."

Vatican 'swindled' by investors, finance minister says

The Vatican's chief financial official admitted Oct. 1 that the city-state may have been "swindled" by previous investment advisors, as part of the Vatican's first public release of a detailed budget document in more than five years.

The door into the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith inside the Vatican's Palace of the Holy Office (NCR photo/Joshua J. McElwee)

Fidelity oaths spark fear of return to theological silencing

Several prominent theologians are raising concerns about how the Vatican doctrinal office's approach to the case of Fr. Tony Flannery seems out of line with Pope Francis' calls for a church open to dialogue.

Pompeo tells top Vatican diplomats to be 'bold' on China

Speaking to an audience Sept. 30, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made several thinly veiled critiques of Pope Francis' strategy of engagement with the Chinese government.

Cardinal George Pell is pictured during an interview that aired April 14 on Sky News Australia. (CNS screenshot)

Up-close account of Pell's historic trial raises an uncomfortable question

Book review: Melissa Davey, Guardian Australia's Melbourne bureau chief, spent hours in court 4.3 of the southeastern state of during Pell's trial. Her resulting volume, The Case of George Pell: Reckoning with Child Sexual Abuse by Clergy, is an invaluable resource.

Vatican's Cardinal Becciu renounces the cardinalate in shocking move

One of the highest-ranking cardinals in the Catholic Church resigned his Vatican post unexpectedly Sept. 24, with the city-state giving no explanation for the dismissal.

Pilgrims and visitors gather in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican to pray the Angelus with Pope Francis Sept. 20. (CNS/Vatican Media)

Catholic women criticize 'mansplaining' of pope's masculine encyclical title

Prominent Catholic women across the globe are continuing to raise objections to the title of Pope Francis' forthcoming new encyclical, "Fratelli tutti," which uses the Italian masculine plural to address the world's population.

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