Simone Orendain

Simone Orendain is a freelance multimedia journalist who reports from the Chicago/Midwest area and Asia. A seasoned journalist of nearly 20 years, Simone regularly covers the Catholic Church in Asia and the United States. She was a foreign correspondent based in Manila for six years before returning to the United States in the summer of 2016. In the United States, Simone was an education reporter and regularly covered business and religion. She has covered Pope Francis' visits to South Korea and the Philippines as well as a wide range of subjects including peace talks between Muslim rebels and the Philippine government, China's relations with its Southeast Asian neighbors, and U.S.-Asia military relations.