Joshua McElwee to join Reuters as Vatican correspondent

I don't have to tell you what Joshua has meant to this publication. He began his career here in 2009 as an intern and was named Vatican correspondent in 2014. He has reported from nearly 40 countries during 24 trips abroad with Pope Francis. Joshua was named news editor of NCR in April 2021 and moved to Washington, D.C., from Rome. Over those years, he has broken many stories for us — among those most recently, the meeting in Rome last October between Francis and Loretto Sr. Jeannine Gramick, a longtime advocate for LGBTQ Catholics. He has overseen our news coverage with a steady hand and a creative mind.

Joshua's knowledge of the Vatican is deep, as is his understanding of U.S. Catholic leadership and of Catholic groups and non-profits here. NCR will miss that and miss him immensely. But those who know Joshua know his heart is in the work of covering the Vatican. His passion for that coverage at this crucial time in church history is undeniable. And to move forward to pursue that passion for a highly regarded international news organization like Reuters is a genuine point of pride for all of us at NCR.

For us, the work continues in this important and pivotal year in the life of the church. We are blessed to bring our readers the work of NCR Vatican correspondent Christopher White — one of the very best covering news from Rome. And we are fortunate to have an outstanding and professional reporting and editing staff here in the U.S. Every day, they work to deliver must-reads for tens of thousands of Catholics — more than a million readers a month.

It will be unusual to see an NCR edition online and in print without Joshua McElwee's name on it, but please look for his Reuters byline in your local newspaper or in various online news publications. We will read his work there with honor, joy and a smile.