Brazilian Tapped to Lead Catholic Journalists Group

Oliveira Soares was elected Saturday by a large majority, at the end of the group´s world congress, held in Fribourg, Switzerland. He succeeds Malaysian journalist Theresa Ee-Choi.

In addition to being a journalist, Oliveira Soares, 57, is a professor of psychology of communication at the University of Sao Paulo.

He is a former head of Brazil´s Christian Communication Union, and of the Latin American region of the International Catholic Union of the Press. He is now a member of the Brazilian bishops´ Commission for the Media.

Father Franco Mazza, vice director of the Office of Social Communications of the Italian bishops´ conference, is now the press union´s new ecclesiastical assistant.