VATICAN CITY
Crux
John L. Allen Jr. July 11, 2016
EDITOR
By naming Greg Burke as his new spokesman, Pope Francis hit a three: He’s debunked impressions of being anti-American, he’s shown that competence matters, and he’s signaled openness to groups seen as conservative. For a bonus, Francis tapped a lay woman as Burke’s number two.
Though he didn’t win an NBA championship this year, Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors nevertheless put up a great individual season, the cornerstone of which was his ridiculous three-point shooting. Curry hit more threes in a year than most teams in NBA history, and more than many NBA legends in their entire careers.
On Monday, Pope Francis had a Steph Curry moment, scoring three points on a single shot by naming Greg Burke to replace Father Federico Lombardi as his chief spokesman and director of the Vatican’s Press Office.
Francis also tapped a lay woman, Paloma Garcia Ovejero, previously the Rome and Vatican correspondent for the Spanish broadcaster COPE, to the number two position in the Press Office, instantly making her one of the Vatican’s most visible female officials. A lay woman has never before held the post.
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