Ruffini Bids Farewell; Alvarado Takes Communications Helm
Priests blessed Ruffini at Palazzo Pio; the first laywoman to lead a Curial dicastery begins work Nov. 1.
Staff of the Dicastery for Communication gathered Friday, October 30, at Palazzo Pio for a farewell to Paolo Ruffini, 70, as he ended eight years as prefect. The gathering included applause, a toast, and a blessing from priests serving Vatican News, Vatican Radio, and L’Osservatore Romano. Ruffini formally left office on Saturday, October 31.
Montserrat Alvarado, president and chief operating officer of EWTN News, succeeds him on Sunday, November 1. Pope Leo XIV named her on June 2; she is the first laywoman to head a Curial dicastery. She called the appointment a “historic” moment and a sign of the “closeness of the Church.” She described the dicastery as “the instrument of communication of the Pope,” an “enormous responsibility” that Ruffini “carried on his shoulders,” saying he “put his neck on the line.” Its Gospel message, she noted, reaches “the peoples and the peripheries” daily in 58 languages.
Eight Years at the Helm
Ruffini was the first layman to lead a dicastery of the Roman Curia, appointed by Pope Francis in 2018. The dicastery itself stems from a motu proprio issued by Francis in June 2015. In his remarks, Ruffini recalled five words from that document—“transition, handing over, journey, joy,” and “beauty”—and said: “We have had to face many difficulties, and we have done so not through each one’s merit, but through the merit of all of us together.”
He closed: “I will carry you in my heart. I entrust Montserrat to you and I entrust you to Montse,” adding: “You have a long way to go, you have professionalism, love for one another and faith.”
Alvarado was received in audience by Leo XIV on August 3. In remarks published October 25 she said of the nomination: “I did not apply.”