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 on the internet (including the former
Vatican Media 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, , 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 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, 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. 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'', 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
*Cardinal
John Njue
*Cardinal
Chibly Langlois
*Cardinal
Charles Maung Bo
*Cardinal
Leonardo Sandri
*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
*Archbishop
Gintaras Grušas
*Bishop
Marcello Semeraro
*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
*
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 as a member of the Dicastery.
See also
*
Index of Vatican City-related articles
Index (: indexes or indices) may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities
* Index (''A Certain Magical Index''), a character in the light novel series ''A Certain Magical Index''
* The Index, an item on the Halo Array in the ...
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