Pope Francis Makes Two Appointments

Pope Francis on March 9, 2021, made two appointments, one each to the Pontifical Biblical Commission and the Dicastery for Communication.

Appointment of secretary of the Pontifical Biblical Commission

The Holy Father has appointed as secretary of the Pontifical Biblical Commission the Reverend Sr. Nuria Calduch-Benages, M.H.S.F.N., member of the same Pontifical Commission.

The body which today is known as the Pontifical Biblical Commission was constituted by Leo XIII with the apostolic Letter Vigilantiae studiique of 30th October 1902 (cfr. ASS 35 [1902-1903], 234-238). The Holy Father assigned a threefold task to the new institution: a) to promote biblical study effectively among Catholics; b) to counteract erroneous opinions regarding Sacred Scripture by scientific means, and c) to study and illuminate debated questions and emerging problems in the biblical field.

Some years later, Pius X, with the apostolic Letter Scripturae Sanctae of 23rd February 1904, granted to the Biblical Commission the faculty of conferring the academic degrees of licentiate and doctorate in Biblical Studies (cfr. ASS 36 [1903-1904], 530-532).

On 27th June 1971, in the context of the great work of post-conciliar reform, Paul VI, with the Motu proprio Sedula cura (cfr. AAS 63 [1971], 665-669), established new norms for the organization and functioning of the Biblical Commission, in order to make its activity more fruitful for the Church and better adapted to the contemporary situation.

Appointment of consultor of the Dicastery for Communication

The Holy Father has appointed as consultor of the Dicastery for Communication the distinguished Professor Daniel Arasa, dean of the School of Social Institutional Communication of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome.

The Dicastery of Communications was instituted by Pope Francis with his Motu Proprio on the current context of communications on June 27, 2015.  The new Dicastery was entrusted with the task of the overall reorganization of the entire communications system of the Holy See, thus becoming the single point of reference for communication, which is always more increasingly complex and interdependent. In this new system, all of the realities which dealt with communications have been brought together.

Specifically, these sectors form part of the new Dicastery

• The Official Site of the Holy See www.vatican.va
• The Press Office Holy See
• The Information flow of Vatican News
• The daily newspaper ‘L’Osservatore Romano’
• Vatican Publishing House
• Vatican Media (Photo, Audio & Video Services)
• Radio Vaticana Italia
• Vatican Printing Press
• Filmoteca Vaticana