The Dicastery for Communication (, ) is a department (

dicastery A dicastery (; ; from ) is the name of some departments in the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest C ...

) of the

Roman Curia The Roman Curia () comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See and the central body through which the affairs of the Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia is the institution of which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily makes use ...

with authority over all communication offices of the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

and the

Vatican City State Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...

. Its various offices can be accessed through its website. These are the Pope's website and other offices such as

Vatican News ''Vatican News'' is the official news portal of the Holy See, serving as a source of information about the activities, pronouncements, and events related to the global Catholic Church and the operations of the Holy See. As a part of the Dicaster ...

on the internet (including the former

Vatican Media Vatican Media, formerly Centro Televisivo Vaticano from 1983 to 2017, is the national broadcaster of the Holy See. It first aired in 1983 and is based in Vatican City. Overview Created in 1983 by Pope John Paul II, Vatican Media has been legal ...

Center that distributes segments for television), the

Holy See Press Office The Holy See Press Office (; ) is the press office of the Holy See. It publishes the official news of the activities of the Pope and of the various departments of the Roman Curia. All speeches, messages and documents, as well as the statements ...

, ''

L'Osservatore Romano ''L'Osservatore Romano'' is the daily newspaper of Vatican City which reports on the activities of the Holy See and events taking place in the Catholic Church and the world. It is owned by the Holy See but is not an official publication, a role ...

'' newspaper, the Photograph Service,

Vatican Radio Vatican Radio (; ) is the official broadcasting service of Vatican City. Established in 1931 by Guglielmo Marconi, today its programs are offered in 47 languages, and are sent out on short wave, DRM, medium wave, FM, satellite and the Internet. ...

, , and the

Vatican Publishing House The Vatican Publishing House (; ; LEV) is a publisher established by the Holy See in 1926. It is responsible for publishing official documents of the Roman Catholic Church, including Papal bulls, event records, and encyclicals, as well as certai ...

. The

Pontifical Council for Social Communications The Pontifical Council for Social Communications () was a dicastery of the Roman Curia that was suppressed in March 2016 and merged into the Secretariat for Communication (now the Dicastery for Communication). According to '' Pastor bonus'', Po ...

has been subsumed into this new dicastery.

History

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

established the Secretariat for Communication in June 2015, with Monsignor

Dario Edoardo Viganò Dario Edoardo Viganò (born 27 June 1962) is an Italian Catholic priest, writer and university teacher. He was named Director of Vatican Television Center in 2013. He served as the first Prefect of the newly established Secretariat for Communic ...

, former director of the Vatican Television Center, as its first prefect. Viganò resigned on 21 March 2018, "a week after his mishandling of a letter from retired Pope Benedict XVI provoked a global outcry". On 23 June 2018, the secretariat was renamed as the Dicastery for Communication, and on 5 July 2018, Pope Francis appointed award-winning lay journalist

Paolo Ruffini Paolo Ruffini (22 September 1765 – 10 May 1822) was an Italian mathematician and philosopher. Education and career By 1788 he had earned university degrees in philosophy, medicine/surgery and mathematics. His works include developments in a ...

as prefect. He was the first layman named to head a Vatican dicastery. Ruffini also chairs the Commission for Information of the

Sixteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops The 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, commonly referred to as the Synod on Synodality, was a Synod of Bishops of the Catholic Church which concluded 27 October 2024 and has as its theme "For a synodal Church: communion, pa ...

. Monsignor Lucio Adrian Ruiz, former head of the Vatican Internet Service, is secretary of the Dicastery and Paul Nusiner, former

General Manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of ''

Avvenire (English: "Future") is a daily newspaper which is affiliated with the Catholic Church and is based in Milan, Italy. History and profile was founded in 1968 in Milan through the merger of two Catholic newspapers: of Bologna and of Milan. The ...

'', is director general.

Members

On 13 July 2016, Pope Francis appointed the following as members of the Secretariat for Communication: *Patriarch Moran Mor

Béchara Boutros Raï Bechara Boutros Al-Ra'i (or Raï; ; ; ) (born 25 February 1940) is the 77th Maronite Patriarch of Antioch, and head of the Maronite Church, a position he has held since 15 March 2011, succeeding Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir. Rahi was mad ...

*Cardinal

John Njue John Njue (born 1 January 1946) is a Kenyan cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was the fourth Archbishop of Nairobi from 2007 to 2021. He previously served as Coadjutor Archbishop of Nyeri from 2002 to 2007 and Bishop of Embu from 1986 to ...

*Cardinal

Chibly Langlois Chibly Langlois (; born 29 November 1958) is a Haitian Catholic prelate who has served as Bishop of Les Cayes since 2011. He is also president of the Haitian Bishops’ Conference. Pope Francis elevated Langlois to the College of Cardinals ...

*Cardinal

Charles Maung Bo Charles Maung Bo (, ; born 29 October 1948) is a Burmese Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of Yangon since 7 June 2003. He was created a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2015. Early life and education Bo was born on 29 October 1948, in ...

*Cardinal

Leonardo Sandri Leonardo Sandri (born 18 November 1943) is an Argentine prelate of the Catholic Church who has been a cardinal since November 2007 and vice dean of the College of Cardinals since January 2020. He was prefect of the Congregation for the Eastern C ...

*Cardinal

Beniamino Stella Beniamino Stella (born 18 August 1941) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church. After working in the diplomatic corps of the Holy See, he served as prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy from 2013 to 2021. He was raised to the rank o ...

*Archbishop

Diarmuid Martin Diarmuid Martin (born 8 April 1945) is an Irish prelate of the Catholic Church who was Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland from 2004 to 2020. From 1976 to 2003 he held a variety of positions in the Roman Curia and in the diplomatic ser ...

*Archbishop

Gintaras Grušas Gintaras Grušas (born 23 September 1961) is a Lithuanian Americans, Lithuanian-American Catholic Church, Catholic prelate who has served as Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vilnius, Archbishop of Vilnius since 2013. He was previously Military Ordin ...

*Bishop

Marcello Semeraro Marcello Semeraro (born 22 December 1947) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints since October 2020. He was previously Bishop of Albano and secretary to the group of car ...

*Bishop Stanislas Lalanne *Bishop Pierre Nguyễn Văn Khảm *Bishop Ginés Ramón García Beltrán *Bishop Nuno Brás da Silva Martins *Alessandro Elia *Kim Daniels *Markus Schächter *Leticia Soberón Mainero On 12 April 2017, Pope Francis expanded the Secretariat for Communication and appointed 13 new consultants: *Jacquineau Azétsop, S.J. *Fernando Giménez Barriocanal *Ann Carter *Dino Cataldo Dell'Accio *Graham Ellis *Peter Gonsalves *José María La Porte *

Ivan Maffeis Ivan Maffeis (born 18 November 1963) is an Italian Prelate of the Catholic Church who is currently serving as the archbishop of Perugia. After becoming a priest, he spent twenty years working in his home diocese of Trento diving his time between pa ...

* James Martin, S.J. *Paolo Peverini *Eric Salobir, O.P. *Michael Paul Unland *Michael Warsaw On 18 December 2018, Pope Francis appointed

Andrea Tornielli Andrea Tornielli (born 19 March 1964) is an Italian Catholic journalist and religious writer who serves as the editorial manager for the Vatican City, Vatican's Dicastery for Communication. Biography A graduate in History of the Greek language, ...

as Editorial Director, and on 3 December 2021, he appointed Bishop

Emmanuel Adetoyese Badejo Emmanuel Adetoyese Badejo is a Nigerian Catholic Church, Catholic prelate who has served as the Bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Oyo, Oyo Diocese. Badejo was ordained a priest by Julius Babatunde Adelakun on 4 January 1986 and was appointed the ...

as a member of the Dicastery.

References

External links

*
Index of Vatican news services
{{Catholic Church footer Government agencies established in 2015 Christian organizations established in 2015 2015 establishments in Vatican City

History

Members

See also

References

External links