The Holy See Press Office (; ) is the press office 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 ...

. It publishes the official news of the activities of the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

and of the various departments 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 ...

. All speeches, messages and documents, as well as the statements issued by the Director, are published in their entirety. The press office is located outside

Vatican City 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 ...

, in Via della Conciliazione.

Role

The press office operates every day in Italian, although texts in other languages are also available. On 27 June 2015,

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 ...

, through an apostolic letter issued '' motu proprio'' ("on his own initiative"), established the Secretariat for Communication in the

. The Press Office was incorporated into it, but at the same time belongs to the Secretariat of State. On 21 December 2015, Pope Francis appointed Dr. Greg Burke, formerly the Communications Advisor for the Section for General Affairs of the Vatican's Secretariat of State (a key department in the Roman Curia), as Deputy Director of the Press Office. Following Burke's appointment as director in 2016, Spanish journalist Paloma García Ovejero took over as vice director, making her the first woman to hold that position. It was also announced that both Burke and García Ovejero, both

laymen In religious organizations, the laity () — individually a layperson, layman or laywoman — consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother. ...

, would later begin their positions on 1 August 2016. On 31 December 2018, both Burke and García Ovejero announced their resignations. Pope Francis has therefore appointed Italian journalist Alessandro Gisotti, former deputy editor-in-chief of Vatican Radio, as interim director of the Holy See Press Office. In July 2019, Pope Francis named British-born Italian layman Matteo Bruni as Director. Bruni is the first non-journalist to serve in this position. The same month, the Pope appointed Brazilian laywoman Cristiane Murray, who previously served as the Vatican Radio commentator for papal events and international trips for 25 years, as Vice Director.

Directors

Vice Directors

* Ciro Benedettini (unknown, 2012, unknown) * Paloma García Ovejero (2016–2018) * Cristiane Murray (2019–present)

References

External links

*
Vatican News website
{{Authority control Holy See Multilingual news services Dicastery for Communication News agencies based in Vatican City

Role

Directors

Vice Directors

See also

References

External links