Senior Correspondent Italy and Vatican, Reuters

Philip Pullella is senior correspondent for Reuters in Rome. He has been a journalist for more than 35 years. An American of Italian origin, he has been based in Italy for Reuters for the past 30 years. He has travelled extensively on all continents, accompanying the late Pope John Paul II on nearly all of his international trips during his 27-year pontificate. He also accompanied former Pope Benedict on all of his foreign trips and has also covered the papacy of Pope Francis, including travels on the papal plane to Brazil and the Holy Land.

In 2003, he was the lead author and editor of the Reuters book “Pope John Paul – Reaching Out Across Borders”. He was a recipient of the Reuters Journalist of the Year award for leading the coverage of the death of John Paul in 2005. He was also a recipient of the Calabria America prize and the Agnelli Foundation Fellowship.

Apart from covering religion, Pullella has extensively covered Italian politics, organized crime and culture during his years in Italy.

Before joining Reuters in 1983 he worked for United Press International in both New York and Rome and contributed to publications including The New York Times, Newsweek and the Christian Science Monitor.

He was born in southern Italy and he and his family emigrated to New York City in 1958 at the age of four. He grew up in Greenwich Village, where he attended the local parochial school, and later, Power Memorial Academy in midtown Manhattan. He graduated from Boston University in 1976.

He has been married since 1980 to Marilena Longhi. Their daughter Carmen, is currently studying at Smith College in Northampton, Mass.

(September 2016)

Source: Circle of European Communicators