Advertisement

Readers like you keep news free for everyone.

More than 5,000 readers have already pitched in to keep free access to The Journal.

For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can help keep paywalls away.

Support us today
Not now
Sunday 3 December 2023 Dublin: 0°C
ABACA Greg Burke with Pope Francis in 2016.
vatican shake-up

Vatican spokesman and deputy resign in latest staff shake-up

The Vatican has yet to give an explanation for the resignation of Greg Burke and his deputy Paloma Garcia Ovejero.

THE VATICAN HAS announced the resignations of its spokesman and his deputy, without giving any explanation.

Pope Francis “has accepted the resignation of the director and deputy director of the press office of the Vatican, Greg Burke and Paloma Garcia Ovejero, and named Alessandro Gisotti as acting director,” it said in a statement.

Burke, an American member of the ultra-conservative and influential Opus Dei movement, was appointed in July 2016 having previously served as deputy spokesman. 

In a series of tweets, Burke confirmed that he and Garcia Ovejero would step down on 1 January.

“At this time of transition in Vatican communications, we think it’s best the Holy Father is completely free to assemble a new team,” Burke wrote today. 

He said his “experience had been fascinating, to say the least”.

The 59-year-old had previously worked as a journalist in Rome for the weekly National Catholic Reporter, for Time magazine and for the US television network Fox News.

He was the second Opus Dei member to hold the post after Spain’s Joaquin Navarro Valls, the powerful head of communications for Pope John Paul II.

Garcia Ovejero (43), a Spaniard, was the first woman to hold the number two post in the press office. She was previously Vatican correspondent for Spanish radio network Cadena COPE.

The resignations are the latest in a series of key staff changes within the pope’s communications office, which also saw seasoned Vatican journalist Andrea Tornielli appointed as editorial head earlier this month. 

Your Voice
Readers Comments
21
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part.
Leave a Comment
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.

    Leave a commentcancel