Jason DeRose is the Western Bureau Chief for NPR News, based at NPR West in Culver City. He edits news coverage from Member station reporters and freelancers in California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Alaska and Hawaii. DeRose also edits coverage of religion and LGBTQ issues for the National Desk.
Sylvia Poggioli is senior European correspondent for NPR's International Desk covering political, economic, and cultural news in Italy, the Vatican, Western Europe, and the Balkans. Poggioli's on-air reporting and analysis have encompassed the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, the turbulent civil war in the former Yugoslavia, and how immigration has transformed European societies.
The College of Cardinals gathers this week to elect the next pope to lead the Catholic Church. But what preparations go into setting up the rare, secretive event?
Most people think the Pope's church is St. Peter's Basilica. But as the Bishop of Rome, his actual seat is in a church on the other side of Rome called St. John Lateran.
The Vatican says sex abuse is a major topic ahead of the conclave. A survivors network has launched a project to keep the the records of those who've sheltered abusive priests in the public eye.