Pope appoints American layman as chief Vatican spokesman [CWN]

[CWN_News]

Pope Francis has named an American layman, Greg Burke, as the director of the Holy See Press Office, effective August 1.

More…

 

[_Abyssinia]

Greg Burke used to be a reporter for Fox News: foxnews.com/world/2016/07/11/vatican-taps-ex-fox-reporter-woman-in-new-spokesman-team.html

 

[gilliam]

Pope Francis Appoints Greg Burke as Vatican Spokesman and Paloma García Ovejero as Deputy Director. He is the first American ever to hold this very important position in the Vatican and to be the spokesperson for the pope. She is the first woman ever to hold such a post in the Vatican.

americamagazine.org/content/dispatches/pope-francis-appoints-greg-burke-vatican-spokesman-and-paloma-garcia-ovejero

 

[Catholic1954]

Excellent! They sound like a very news savvy and experienced team; hopefully they will work to cut down on the Pope being constantly misquoted by the lame stream media, and Catholics around the world will not be left scratching their heads and wondering if that is REALLY what the Pope said. :doh2:

 

[gilliam]

Burke is a member of Opus Dei

 

[jeannetherese]

Burke is a member of Opus Dei

According to the Catholic Culture news article, his predecessor was also a member of this personal prelature:

"Pope Francis has named an American layman, Greg Burke, as the director of the Holy See Press Office, effective August 1.

Burke succeeds Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, 73, who has served in the position 2006.

Burke, 56, worked for UPI, Reuters, the National Catholic Register, TIME Magazine, and Fox News before becoming senior communications adviser to the Vatican Secretariat of State in 2012. He is a numerary, or lay celibate member, of the Opus Dei prelature, and has worked as vice director of the Holy See Press Office since February 1.

Father Lombardi’s predecessor, Joaquín Navarro-Valls, served as director of the Holy See Press Office from 1984 to 2006 and was also a numerary of Opus Dei."

The News article is linked below:
catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid= p&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CatholicWorldNewsFeatureStories+%28Catholic+World+News+%28on+CatholicCulture.org%29%29

For additional information on Opus Dei see this link:
opusdei.org/en-us/article/message/

May God bless Mr. Burke as he labors in His service.
Amen.

 

[tseleehw]

This is very good news - nothing against Fr. Lombardi but I think some younger more modern-media savvy individuals are needed to run the PR department at the Vatican, especially with the way Pope Francis operates and the media attention he has been receiving throughout his pontificate. Appointing an American is also a very smart choice - the western mainstream media are the ones writing the most influential stories, like it or not, so there needs to be someone in charge of that office that understands exactly how they operate, and it sounds like Burke has the qualifications, having worked for them in the past.