Greg Burke, Director of the Holy See's Press Office, says next February's "unprecedented" meeting shows "Pope Francis has made the protection of minors a fundamental priority for the Church".

The meeting is not only "about keeping children safe from harm worldwide", however.

"Pope Francis wants Church leaders to have a full understanding of the devastating impact that clerical sexual abuse has on victims", says Burke.

Although the meeting is primarily for bishops, who bear responsibility for the "grave problem", Burke says lay men and women who are experts in the field of abuse will also be on hand to give their input.

It is they who "can help address especially what needs to done to ensure transparency and accountability", he says.

The Holy See press office says the Reverend Hans Zollner SJ has been named by Pope Francis as both a member and the contact person for the committee. Other members include:

• Cardinal Blase J. Cupich
• Cardinal Oswald Gracias
• the Most Reverend Charles Scicluna

Others involved in preparatory work will include Dr Gabriella Gambino and Dr Linda Ghisoni, as well as the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and some victims of abuse by members of the clergy.

The Holy See press office says besides Pope Francis, the February meeting will include:

• the Heads of the Oriental Catholic Churches
• the Superiors of the Secretariat of State
• the Prefects of the Congregations for the Doctrine of the Faith, for the Oriental Churches, for Bishops, for the Evangelization of Peoples, for the Clergy, for Institutes of Consecrated Life and for Societies of Apostolic Life, and of the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life
• the Presidents of the Episcopal Conferences
• representatives of the Union of Superiors General and of the International Union of Superiors General

Source

• National Catholic Register
• Vatican News
• NZ Herald
• Image: Vatican News

This would mean transferring some offices from the Vatican to local bishops or episcopal conferences "in a spirit of healthy decentralization."

The Council said they also discussed circumstances in which decisions that are currently made by Vatican congregations could be made by diocesan bishops or episcopal conferences.

Exactly which Vatican offices might be involved in such a change has not yet been announced.

Vatican spokesman Greg Burke referred to the Vatican offices that might be involved as dicasteries when he was briefing reporters after the latest Council meeting.

He did not make any distinction between those dicasteries classified as "congregations" and those that are "pontifical councils."

Noting that no immediate changes are likely, Burke cited the possibility of transferring authority over deacons as an example; he said this was just one of several types of decentralization the Council of Cardinals considered in its meeting.

"In many dicasteries there are things like this that [at present] depend on Rome [to decide them] but do not have to necessarily," he said.

The next meeting of the Council of Cardinals is scheduled for September.

Source

• National Catholic Reporter
• Catholic Culture
• Crux
• Image: abc.es

Greg Burke, an American, succeeds Italian Fr Federico Lombardi, SJ, who is retiring after 10 years in the position.

Mr Burke is a numerary member of Opus Dei.

He served as special communications adviser in the Vatican's Secretariat of State, starting in 2012.

In December, 2015, Pope Francis appointed him the vice director of the press office.

A graduate of Columbia University's school of journalism, Mr Burke spent 24 of the past 28 years as a Rome-based journalist.

This was with the National Catholic Register, Time magazine and the Fox News network.

Spanish journalist Paloma Garcia Ovejero fills in Mr Burke's spot as vice director at the Vatican press office.

She is the first female to hold that position.

Mr Burke that in choosing an American and a Spanish journalist, the Pope has made "an important sign of internationalisation" in order to reach out to Catholics across the globe.

Ms Garcia Ovejero, who studied journalism in Spain and earned a masters degree in Management Strategies and Communications at New York University, worked as the Italy and Vatican correspondent for Spanish radio broadcaster Cadena COPE.

"For me it's an honour, it's a service and it's another way of serving the Church," she said.

"But it is the same Church and, in some way, the same type of work: to proclaim the good news and to transmit faithfully and with dignity the Pope's message," Ms Garcia Ovejero said.

She downplayed her role as the first female vice director of the press office.

She said saying that the first women who served the Church "were the ones who found the empty tomb and proclaimed the Resurrection to the apostles".

"I am in no way the first woman. The first woman above all in the Church, in the Vatican and in the press office is the Virgin Mary," she said.

Sources

• Catholic News Service
• Image: America

He said Pope Francis clearly knows how to communicate and his effectiveness comes from his authenticity. "It's not charm. It's Christian charity, which is a whole lot more attractive than charm." continue reading

"My hope is to try and help the Holy See take the necessary steps to go in the right direction," he said after accepting what he describes as a "high risk" appointment.

Burke took on the job as media advisor to the Vatican Secretary of State — a new role conceived in the light of the Vatileaks scandal and various public relations mishaps — after turning it down twice.

The 52-year-old American has worked as a journalist in Rome for 24 years — for the National Catholic Register, Time magazine and Fox News.

A member of Opus Dei since he was 18, he is a numerary — a celibate layman who lives at an Opus Dei centre in Rome.

"When the Vatican explained to me what my role would be, the position which immediately sprung to mind was the White House communications director," he said.

"In this case, the spokesman does all the public appearances and then there is another figure who works behind the scenes to come up with the strategies: how to formulate a given message, how to get it across, when and where."

Father John Wauck, a professor at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome and a friend of the new Vatican media advisor, described him as "a lay person, from the professional world, who understands how theologians think and shares their faith….

"Plus, he's well respected and genuinely liked by the journalists in Rome."

While Burke works with the Vatican Secretariat of State, Father Federico Lombardi will continue in the role of official spokesman for the Holy See.

Sources:

Vatican Insider

National Catholic Register

Washington Post

Image: Vatican Insider