“The Vatican’s media machine is broken”

That’s the assessment of Fr. Raymond de Souza:

Whether it was the imbroglio over the Society of St Pius X and the Holocaust-denying Bishop Williamson, or the Argentine woman whom Pope Francis (allegedly) told to ignore her parish priest’s advice about not receiving Holy Communion while living in an invalid union, it is the international headlines that cause confusion and consternation that are widely considered the problems that need to be solved. The budget of Vatican Radio is irrelevant to that.

What is relevant is the authority of the papal press spokesman.

In order for such eruptions to be avoided, the press spokesman has to have regular access to the Holy Father and be able to speak freely about mistakes to be avoided. His job is not to tell the Holy Father what to do, but what the likely media reaction will be if it is done in this particular way, and advise on better options. When eruptions do occur, the Vatican press corps must believe that the press spokesman has sufficient access to the Holy Father that his statements do in fact reflect the reality of situation, and not merely his commentary upon it.

This was the case during the long collaboration between St John Paul II and Joaquín Navarro-Valls, the former Spanish journalist who became a confidant of the Holy Father, seeing him daily and even accompanying him on holidays. When Navarro-Valls advised something, it was taken to heart by those who made decisions throughout the Roman Curia. When he clarified something for the press corps, they knew that he was speaking the Holy Father’s mind.

That is not the case with Fr Lombardi, who has served as press spokesman since 2006 for both Benedict XVI and now Francis.

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