{"id":16268,"date":"2025-04-25T20:50:44","date_gmt":"2025-04-26T03:50:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=16268"},"modified":"2025-04-25T20:50:46","modified_gmt":"2025-04-26T03:50:46","slug":"pope-francis-bestowed-a-special-nickname-on-aps-vatican-reporter-for-her-often-tough-questions-associated-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=16268","title":{"rendered":"“Pope Francis bestowed a special nickname on AP\u2019s Vatican reporter for her often-tough questions”, Associated Press"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BY\u00a0\u00a0NICOLE WINFIELD<\/a>, April 25, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VATICAN CITY (AP) \u2014 He called me \u201cla prima della classe,\u201d or \u201cthe first in class.\u201d It wasn\u2019t necessarily a compliment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had earned the nickname from Pope Francis<\/a> in 2018, a year that marked a low point in his papacy<\/a>, and a turning point in how he handled cases of priests who sexually abused children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pope had just bungled a big abuse case in Chile and I, like many in the Vatican press corps, reported the scandal during Francis\u2019 problematic trip to the South American country. Francis had discredited abuse victims<\/a>, defended a bishop implicated in covering up their case and showed himself to be insensitive to their trauma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A turbulent news conference<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Pope
Pope Francis sits next to Greg Burke, right, with journalists after turbulence interrupted his news conference, during a flight from Lima, Peru, to Rome, Jan. 21, 2018. (AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Returning to Rome, Francis was inundated with questions about the Chile scandal<\/a>during the traditional in-flight news conference. Turbulence temporarily halted the session, but when it resumed, I picked up where others had left off, pressing the issue and incredulous that he seemed so unaware of the victims\u2019 pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Francis insisted no victims had come forward to accuse Bishop Juan Barros<\/a> of protecting the abuser priest, Fernando Karadima. I knew otherwise, and told Francis as much in a tone of voice that still shocks me today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(AP Audio)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the victims who are saying this,\u201d I told him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t heard from any victim of Barros,\u201d Francis responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are! There are!\u201d I insisted. The pope interrupted, but I cut him off, my voice rising. \u201cNo! There are victims of Karadima who say that Barros was there!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut they didn\u2019t come forward,\u201d Francis replied. \u201cThey didn\u2019t give evidence for a judgment. You, with good intentions, tell me that there are victims, but I haven\u2019t seen them because they didn\u2019t present themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the genteel standards of Vatican protocol, it was a stunningly sharp exchange. Francis could have dug in or retaliated against me and other journalists who challenged him so publicly.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED COVERAGE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Children<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photos show Pope Francis\u2019 image is everywhere as the Catholic faithful mourn him with art and thanks<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"This<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pope\u2019s burial place reflects his \u2018humble, essential\u2019 life, Rome\u2019s poor will pay him a final tribute<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Italian<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So you saw \u2018Conclave\u2019 the movie. Here\u2019s what it got right \u2013 and wrong \u2013 about real-life conclaves<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he didn\u2019t. His response \u2014 commissioning an investigation and, once finished, apologizing to the victims for discrediting them \u2014 underscored what friends and foes alike saw as one of Francis\u2019 most remarkable attributes: a willingness to admit mistakes and change course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a 2023 interview with The Associated Press, Francis acknowledged the 2018 airborne news conference was a turning point \u2014 the moment he understood the depths of the abuse scandal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t believe it. You were the one on the plane who told me, \u2018No, that\u2019s not the way it is, Father,\u2019\u201d Francis told me<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s when the bomb went off, when I saw the corruption of many bishops in this,\u201d he said, making a gesture indicating his head had exploded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

There you witnessed that I myself had to wake up to cases that were all covered up, didn\u2019t I?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Pope Francis during an interview with AP\u2019s Nicole Winfield in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Associated
Associated Press correspondent Nicole Winfield shows Pope Francis an Associated Press book at the Vatican, on Jan. 24, 2023. (AP Photo\/Andrew Medichini)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A nickname emerges<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By then, Francis already had bestowed the nickname on me, coming up with it in August 2018, while the Chilean scandal was still fresh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AP colleague Eva Vergara and I had followed up with a story that Francis had indeed received a letter<\/a> from a Chilean victim detailing the abuse and cover-up he endured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again aboard Air Pope One heading to Ireland, Francis came back to greet journalists. When he got to my row, Francis smiled, shook my hand and said, \u201cAhh, la prima della classe. La prima della classe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wondered what he meant. In Italian it can be translated as \u201cthe first in class.\u201d But it can also carry a negative connotation: a know-it-all, goody-goody or teacher\u2019s pet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I saw the nickname as Francis\u2019 grudging acknowledgement that AP and I had accurately called him out and corrected him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As reporters, we had to keep a professional distance, covering him in the tough but fair way that met our standards and which was perhaps behind his respect for our work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Pope
Pope Francis jokes with Associated Press correspondent Nicole Winfield aboard a flight to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Tuesday, July 23, 2013. (L\u2019Osservatore Romano\/Pool Photo via AP, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

An evolving relationship with the press<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The nickname stuck, and Francis used it whenever we met. In many ways, it showed how his relationship with the press evolved over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he was elected, Francis made clear his discomfort with journalists. He had had negative experiences in Argentina, where his record as head of the Jesuits in the 1970s during the military dictatorship and his tenure as Buenos Aires archbishop had put him in the media crosshairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTruly, I don\u2019t give interviews. Why, I don\u2019t know, it\u2019s just that way,\u201d Francis told reporters traveling to Brazil in 2013 for his first foreign trip as pope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over time, Francis loosened up and his airborne news conferences became a new chapter in papal communication. His comments sometimes required official clarifications, but they pushed the envelope in ways he couldn\u2019t in speeches or documents on issues like LGBTQ+ outreach or the role of women in the church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Francis granted more interviews than his two predecessors combined, using the media to speak to his flock in the informal, personal style that characterized his papacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Associated
Associated Press correspondent Nicole Winfield works in the Vatican\u2019s press room, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A work-life dilemma arises<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Our last substantive encounter came in January 2024, when reporters met with him in the Apostolic Palace. At the time, I was concerned with an impending work-life conflict: My daughter would be starting college in late August and our family was planning to be in New England to attend orientation and move her into her dorm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, rumors were circulating that Francis would embark on his longest, most ambitious trip: a four-nation tour of Asia that, in all likelihood, would occur in late August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I couldn\u2019t miss either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of the audience, Francis greeted the journalists individually. To this day, I cannot believe what I said, but I laid out my dilemma, summoning both maternal desperation and nothing-to-lose chutzpah. Ever polite, Francis listened intently \u2014 he often asked about my children \u2014 as I suggested, somewhat cheekily, that delaying the Asia trip would enable me to cover it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Francis didn\u2019t dismiss it outright, and I figured I could at least tell my daughter I had tried, knowing I\u2019d inevitably have to tell her the Asia trip would take precedence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"In
In this photo provided by Jean-Marie Guenois, Associated Press correspondent Nicole Winfield speaks with Pope Francis on his plane en route to Jakarta, Indonesia, on Sept. 2, 2024. (Jean-Marie Guenois via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A final surprise<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Months later, to my astonishment, the date of the trip was announced: Sept. 2-13. I could do both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn\u2019t dare think my impromptu conversation as Francis met scores of journalists could have entered into the complicated calculations of organizing\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

a papal trip. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I later received a breathless voicemail from someone close to Francis who had just met with him. \u201cYou will not believe what he told me,\u201c he said. The pope said he changed the dates of the trip to ensure I could come, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I still don\u2019t know if other factors affected what became the last major foreign journey of Francis\u2019 life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"East
East Timorese crowd Tacitolu park for Pope Francis\u2019 Mass in Dili, East Timor, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo\/Firdia Lisnawati)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m grateful I was able to go. I was a witness as Francis, hobbled and in a wheelchair, ministered to his flock in Indonesia and Singapore, the jungles of Papua New Guinea and steamy East Timor<\/a>, where half the population attended his final Mass in Dili.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the long plane ride home, I wrote about his resilience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere was Francis, defying the doubters who had questioned if he could, would or should make such an arduous trip to Asia given everything that could go wrong,\u201d my story said. \u201cThe moment seemed to serve as proof that, despite his age, ailments and seven hours of jet lag, Pope Francis still could pope, still likes to pope and has it in him to pope like he used to at the start of his pontificate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d like to think he might have read it, knowing it came from \u201cla prima della classe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

___<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP\u2019s\u00a0collaboration<\/a> with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NICOLE WINFIELD<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winfield has been on the Vatican beat since 2001, covering the papacies of St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and the Francis pontificate and traveling the world with them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY\u00a0\u00a0NICOLE WINFIELD, April 25, 2025 VATICAN CITY (AP) \u2014 He called me \u201cla prima della classe,\u201d or \u201cthe first in class.\u201d It wasn\u2019t necessarily a compliment. I had earned the nickname from Pope Francis in 2018, a year that marked a low point in his papacy, and a turning point in how he handled cases of priests who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001004,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16268"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1001004"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16268"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16269,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16268\/revisions\/16269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}