Vatican communications chief resigns after scandal over doctored letter

March 21, 2018

Msgr. Dario Vigano has resigned from his post as head of the Vatican’s Secretariat for Communications, in the wake of a scandal created by the doctoring of a letter from Pope-emeritus Benedict.

Without mentioning that debacle, Msgr. Vigano acknowledged in his letter of resignation that ‘many controversies have arisen regarding my work.” He said that these controversies could endanger “the complex and great task of reform which you have entrusted to me.” He added that he did not want the project of streamlining Vatican communications to be “delayed, damaged, or even blocked.”

In accepting the resignation, “not without some effort,” Pope Francis praised the outgoing prefect for his work. He announced that he would appoint Msgr. Vigano to a newly created post of “Assessor” in the Secretariat for Communications. The requirements of that position are unclear, but the Pope said that he wanted to retain the “human and professional contribution” of the cleric he had appointed to lead the new Secretariat.

Until a new prefect is appointed, the Secretariat for Communications will officially be under the leadership of an Argentine priest, Msgr. Lucio Adrian Ruiz, who has been serving under Msgr. Vigano as secretary of the office.

Msgr. Vigano had come under fire when reporters discovered that at a press conference introducing a series of books on the theology of Pope Francis, the Secretariat for Communications had distributed a photocopy of a letter from Pope-emeritus Benedict, which had been doctored to conceal the fact that the former Pontiff had declined to read the books. Later it emerged that in the full letter, Benedict had also voiced his dismay about the selection of one of the authors in the series.

 

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Further information:

• Vatican’s Prefect for Communication resigns (Vatican News)
• Top Vatican communications officer resigns after 'Lettergate' fiasco (CNA)
• Declaration of the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Greg Burke (Vatican press office)
• Vatican doctored photo of letter by Pope-emeritus Benedict (CWN, 3/14)
• Papal continuity or discontinuity? The Vatican PR team scores on its own goal (On The News)