After 26 years of service, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi will stop serving as director general of Vatican Radio at the end of this month.
Even though Fr. Lombardi stepped down at the radio, he will continue service as director of the Holy See Press Office, reported Vatican Radio.
Also leaving Vatican Radio at the end of the month is Alberto Gasparri, director of administration, who is perhaps better known to the general public for having served as organizer and coordinator of papal journeys for the last four decades.
Since Pope Francis established the Secretariat for Communications last June, Vatican communications are currently undergoing a major overhaul.
Head of the Secretariat, Monsignor Dario Edoardo Viganò, has announced that neither Fr. Lombardi nor Gasparri’s positions will be replaced, and has appointed civil lawyer Giacomo Ghisani as Vatican Radio’s “ad interim” legal representative and director of administration.
Ghitani serves as head of Vatican Radio’s International Relations and Legal Affairs and is vice-director of the Secretariat of Communications.
Unifying of Vatican Communications Underway
Monsignor Vigano explained in a statement that Ghitani’s appointment is to ensure “the Radio’s ordinary administration within the current context of review and restructuring of the Vatican’s media operations.”
The statement also reiterated that the unifying of Vatican media is in line with Pope Francis’ “Motu proprio,” which established the Secretariat of Communications and that determined all Vatican media will be consolidated in a new dicastery.
The media operations being examined are the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, the Holy See Press Office, the Vatican Internet Service, Vatican Radio, the Vatican Television Center, L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican Typography, the Photographic Service, and the Vatican Publishing House.
The statement explained that from an administrative and managerial point of view, the Pontifical Council for Social Communications and the Holy See Press Office are already unified.
Monsignor Vigano’s communique also stated that Vatican Radio and the Vatican Television Centre (CTV) are, in practice, partially unified and already share resources and provide services together.
