Pontifical Council for Social Communications

The Pontifical Council for Social Communications ( Latin : Pontificium Consilium de Communicationibus Socialibus ) was a Pontifical Council that was known as the "Pontifical Media Council". It existed from 1948 until its dissolution in 2016.

overview

The Pontifical Council for Social Communications was founded on January 30, 1948 by the Secretariat of State as a papal commission. Pope John Paul II elevated the commission to the Pontifical Council through the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus of June 28, 1988. The council was dissolved by Pope Francis in 2016 as part of the establishment of the communications secretariat (today: Dicastery for communications ).

The council coordinated the activities of the curia in the use and dissemination of the gospel through modern communication media. It was also known as the “Pontifical Media Council”. The seat of the council was in the Palazzo San Carlo in the Vatican.

President

• 1948-1971: Martin John O'Connor
• 1971-1973: Edward Louis Heston CSC
• 1973–1984: Andrzej Maria Deskur
• 1984-2007: John Patrick Foley
• 2007-2016: Claudio Maria Celli

Members of the media council

• 2007–2016: Ivan Dias , former Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples
• 2011–2016: Josip Bozanić , Archbishop of Zagreb in Croatia
• 2011–2016: Oswald Gracias , Archbishop of Bombay in India
• 2011–2016: John Njue , Archbishop of Nairobi in Kenya
• 2011–2016: Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya , Archbishop of Kinshasa, DR Congo
• 2011–2016: Timothy Dolan , Archbishop of New York
• 2011–2016: Mark Coleridge , Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn, Australia
• 2011–2016: Rino Fisichella , Archbishop of the Curia
• 2011–2016: Manuel José Macário do Nascimento Clemente , Archbishop of Porto in Portugal
• 2011–2016: Joseph Befe Ateba , Archbishop of Kribi in Cameroon
• 2012–2016: Francisco Robles Ortega , Archbishop of Guadalajara
• 2012–2016: José Horacio Gómez , Archbishop of Los Angeles
• 2013–2016: Béchara Pierre Raï , Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and the whole Orient

Media Council advisor (selection)

• 2011–2016: Paul Wuthe , media officer of the Austrian Bishops' Conference and editor-in-chief of the Catholic news agency Kathpress (since 2010)
• 2011–2016: Giovanni Maria Vian , director of the Vatican daily L'Osservatore Romano
• 2011–2016: Antonino Spadaro SJ, director of La Civiltà Cattolica
• 2011–2016: Eric Salobir OP, journalist at the KTO television channel and general secretary for social communications for the Dominicans
• 2011–2016: Augustine Savarimuthu SJ, Director of the Centro Interdisciplinare sulla Comunicazione Sociale (CICS) at the Pontifical Gregorian University
• 2011–2016: Dominica Dipio OP, Professor at Makerere University in Kampala
• 2011–2016: Antonio Preziosi , Director of Rai Radio 1 and Giornale Radio Rai
• 2011–2016: Erminio Fragassa , media entrepreneur (MicroMegas Comunicazione)
• 2011–2016: Marco Tarquinio , director and journalist at Avvenire
• 2011–2016: Gregory Erlandson , Editor-in-Chief of Our Sunday Visitor and President of the Catholic Press Association
• 2011–2016: Susana Nuin Núñez , social scientist and advisor to the Council of the Latin American Bishops' Conferences CELAM

Web links

• Council website at vatican.va (archive)
• Description on catholic-hierarchy.org (English)