The pope has a new Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni. He will officially begin next Monday, July 22.
He's a 42-year-old British born Italian who speaks four languages.
Although he has no direct journalistic experience, since 2009 he has been working at theVatican's Press Office. He has coordinated the accreditation of new journalists and also the logistics of the press during the pope's international trips.
Matteo Bruni replaces Alessandro Gisotti. He provisionally took over following the resignation of former spokesman Greg Burke and his Vice Director, Paloma García Ovejero.
Alessandro Gisotti had been offered to continue, but declined in order to devote more time to his family. In a farewell meeting with the press he revealed what struck him most about his work with the pope.
ALESSANDRO GISOTTI
Ex-Vatican spokesman
“What always impressed me about the pope is at the end of his meeting, such as the one with President Putin, he always wanted to know how my family was doing. He never stopped asking me about my children; about how things were going; about the difficulties of such a complicated job. This is something that helped me move forward in these difficult months.”
Officially, Matteo Bruni's position is “Director of the Holy See Press Office.” His role is equivalent to that of the spokesman for the pope as well as the Vatican. However, this depends on the specific role entrusted to him by Pope Francis and the prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, Paolo Ruffini.
His first mission will be to find his vice-director. The Vatican has launched the proposal to several women, but an appointment has not yet been made.
