The Vatican spokesman, Greg Burke, and his deputy have resigned suddenly. A Vatican statement said Pope Francis accepted their resignation Monday.
It gave no reason for the resignation of Greg Burke, an American, and Paloma Garcia Ovejero, a Spaniard, but they quit several weeks after Pope Francis appointed an Italian journalist and personal friend, Andrea Tornielli, to become editorial director of Vatican communications.
In a tweet, Burke said he and his deputy, Paloma Garcia Ovejero, had resigned effective Jan. 1. Burke wrote, “At this time of transition in Vatican communications, we think it’s best the Holy Father is completely free to assemble a new team.”
Francis named a member of the Vatican’s communications office, Alessandro Gisotti, as an interim replacement.
The pope has recently overhauled the Vatican’s media operations by ousting the longtime editor of the Vatican newspaper and naming a new director of editorial content for all Vatican media.