What is a Vaticanologist?

I have been a vaticanologist for 40 years. Amateur not professional. It’s been my long-standing intellectual hobby and I’ve had many thousands of hours of enjoyment along the way.

There are many people – of all kinds and for all reasons – who are interested in the Vatican. They may be specifically interested in one or more of a wide range of issues like power and global geopolitics, history, law, art and music, science, communications, education, healthcare, peace, climate, etc and, of course, the one billion or so Catholics around the world who look to Rome from time to time.

One distinguished journalist, John Allen, who is also an experienced and professional vaticanologist and whose books and weekly podcasts I enjoy for their knowledge, insight and wit … puts it this way …

… those of us who make our living on the Vatican beat ought to give thanks every day for the chance to pursue the most rollicking, entertaining, endlessly compelling story in journalism. The Vatican rolls up history, romance, intrigue, politics, scandal, mystery, the deepest passions of the human heart and the loftiest aspirations of the human spirit, into one big, fascinating ball, and with production values rivaling a Broadway performance of “Cats” to boot. If you can’t get your juices flowing for this story, then you may not belong in journalism at all.