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The Holy See Press Office (Italian: Sala Stampa della Santa Sede) publishes the official news of the activities of the Pope and of the various departments of the Roman Curia. All speeches, messages, documents, as well as the statements issued by the Director, are published in their entirety.
The press office operates every day in Italian, although texts in other languages are also available. The former head of the press office, with the title director, is Father Federico Lombardi, a Jesuit, while the director before Lombardi was the Spanish layman and medical doctor Joaquin Navarro Valls. On July 11, 2016 the Vatican announced that Lombardi would be succeeded by Greg Burke.
On Saturday, June 27, 2015, Pope Francis, through an apostolic letter done motu proprio ("on his own initiative") established the Secretariat for Communications in the Roman Curia; the Press Office will be eventually incorporated into it.
On December 21, 2015, Pope Francis appointed Dr. Greg Burke, formerly the Communications Advisor for the Section for General Affairs of the Vatican's Secretariat of State of the Holy See (a key department in the Roman Curia), as Deputy Director of the Press Office. Following Burke's appointment as director, however, Spanish journalist Paloma Garcia Ovejero took over as vice director, making her the first woman to hold that position. It was also announced that both Burke and Ovejero, both laymen, would later begin their positions on August 1.