Dicasterium pro Communicatione
On 27 June 2015 Pope Francis established the Secretariat for Communication in his Apostolic Letter issued Motu Proprio on the current context of communications. The new Dicastery of the Roman Curia has the task of the overall restructuring, reorganization and consolidation of “all of the realities which, in various ways up to the present have dealt with communications” in order to “respond ever better to the needs of the mission of the Church”.
In this light the Holy See’s communications system is being reevaluated. T hrough this restructuring the Apostolic See can refer to the Secretariat as the single point of reference for communication, which has become increasingly complex and interdependent, reflecting the current media reality. The entities involved include the:
• Vatican Television Center
• Vatican Publishing House
• L’Osservatore Romano
• Pontifical Council for Social Communications
• Vatican Radio
• Holy See Press Office
• Photographic Service
• Vatican Internet Service
• Vatican Printing Press
The entities above will be merged according to an established calendar and, in the meantime, continue to carry out their own activities now under the direction of the Secretariat for Communication. In his Motu Proprio, the Holy Father also noted that, in agreement with the Secretariat of State, the new Dicastery assumes responsibility for the Holy See’s institutional website: www.vatican.va, and the Twitter service of the Supreme Pontiff: @pontifex. (Annuario Pontificio 2016) * * * Following the release on 27 June 2015 of his Apostolic Letter issued Motu Proprio on “The current context of communications” in which he established the Secretariat for Communication, the Holy Father made the following appointments (published in the Holy See Press Bulletins of 27 June 2015, 9 February 2016, 21 December 2015, 11 July 2016, 13 July 2016, 12 April 2017, 21 March 2018, 5 July 2018, 18 December 2018; 18 July 2019; 16 June 2021):
Members of the Dicastery for Communication
• Cardinal John Njue, Archbishop of Nairobi, Kenya;
• Cardinal Chibly Langlios, Bishop of Les Cayes, Haiti;
• Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, Archbishop of Yangon, Myanmar;
• Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches;
• Cardinal Beniamino Stella, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy;
• Cardinal Thomas Aquino Manyo Maeda, Archbishop of Osaka (Japan);
• Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, O.F.M. Conv., Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican;
• Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, Ireland;
• Archbishop Gintaras Grušas of Vilnius, Lithuania;
• Bishop Marcello Semeraro of Albano, Italy;
• Bishop Stanislas Lalanne of Pontoise, France;
• Bishop Pierre Nguyên Văn Kham of My Tho, Vietnam;
• Bishop Ginés Ramón García Beltrán of Guadix, Spain;
• Bishop Nuno Brás da Silva Martins, Auxiliary of Lisbon, Portugal;
• Archbishop Jorge Eduardo Lozano of San Juan de Cuyo, Secretary General of the Latin American Episcopal Council (C.E.L.A.M.);
• Archbishop Borys Gudziak of Philadelphia of the Ukrainians;
• Bishop Emmanuel Adetoyese Badejo of Oyo; Reverend
• Sr. Nathalie Becquart, X.M.C.J., Under-Secretary of the Synod of Bishops
• Dr. Kim Daniels, Advisor to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on the Ad Hoc Commission on Religious Freedom;
• Dr. Markus Schächter, Professor of Ethics in Mass Media and Society at the Munich School of Philosophy (Jesuit university) in Munich, Germany;
• and Dr. Leticia Soberón Mainero, psychologist and expert in communication, formerly a Consultor to the Pontifical Council for Social Communications (Mexico and Spain).
Superiors of the Dicastery for Communication
– Prefect, Paolo Ruffini- Secretary, Msgr. Lucio Adrián Ruiz * * *
– Director General, Paolo Nusiner- Vice Director General, Giacomo Ghisani
– Editorial Directorate, Andrea Tornielli
– Vice Director, Editorial Directorate, Sergio Centofanti
– Vice Director, Editorial Directorate, Alessandro Gisotti- Director of L’Osservatore Romano, Andrea Monda- Director, Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni
– Vice Director, Holy See Press Office, Cristiane Murray- Director, Technological Department, Francesco Masci- Director, Theological
-Pastoral Department, Nataša Govekar * * *
– Ecclesiastical assistant and editorialist of L’Osservatore Romano, Reverend Luigi Maria Epicoco, of the clergy of the archdiocese of L’Aquila, Italy. * * *
Consulters of the Dicastery for Communication
The Holy Father has appointed as Consulters of the Secretariat for Communication the Rev. Fr. Ivan Maffeis, under-secretary for the Italian Episcopal Conference; Fr. José María La Porte, dean of the Faculty of Institutional Social Communication of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross; Dr. Peter Gonsalves, S.D.B., dean of the Faculty of Social Communication Sciences of the Pontifical Salesian University; Fr. Eric Salobir, O.P., Promoter General for social communications for the Order of Preachers; Fr. James Martin, S.J., Jesuit Magazine America; Fr. Jacquineau Azétsop, S.J., dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Pontifical Gregorian University; and Dr. Paolo Peverini, lecturer in Semiotics at the LUISS “Guido Carli”; Dr. Fernando Giménez Barriocanal, president and delegator advisor of Radio Popolar Cadena COPE; Dr. Ann Carter, Rasky Baerlein Strategic Communications; Mr. Graham Ellis, deputy director of BBC Radio; Dr. Michael P. Warsaw, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of EWTN Global Catholic Network; Dr. Dino Cataldo Dell’Accio, Chief ICT Auditor at the United Nations; and Dr. Michael Paul Unland, executive director of the Catholic Media Council (CA.ME.CO.) T he Holy Father has appointed as consultors of the Dicastery for Communication:
• Dr. Jean-Marie Montel, Deputy General Manager of the Bayard Publishing Group and President of the Federation of Catholic Media in France.
• The distinguished Professor Daniel Arasa, dean of the School of Social Institutional Communication of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome.
• Source: www.Vatican.va/roman_curia