Paloma Garcia Ovejero: the normality of being the
right person in the right place
(Vatican Radio) On Monday the
announcement was made that Pope Francis had chosen the American journalist,
Greg Burke, to take over from Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi as director of
the Holy See Press Office on August 1, when Fr Lombardi goes on pension.
It was also announced that
the Spanish journalist, Paloma Garcia Ovejero, will be Burke's
deputy, the first woman in history to hold that position.
Paloma is currently the
Vatican correspondent for Spanish broadcaster Cadena Cope and comes to the
Press Office as a Vatican expert having covered Vatican news for many years.
Linda Bordoni asked Paloma of her feelings when she heard Pope
Francis had chosen her for this important position, but first she asked her to
pronounce her full name:
Paloma, Garcia Ovejero was
born in Madrid. She says she is proud of her name because ‘Paloma’ is the name
of the Virgin Mary in Madrid and the Feast of “La Virgin Paloma’ is celebrated
every year on August 15.
She says she is still reeling
after having been told last Friday of Pope’s decision to choose her for her new
position.
“As he often says ‘God looked
at me and picked me’ and that is what I feel” she says.
And pointing out that she is
only a journalist with no experience in managing a press office, Paloma agrees
that she was chosen most probably for her capacity to convey a message.
She also highlights the fact
that the Press Office will in fact be headed by Greg Burke “the best colleague
I could ever have imagined to work for”.
Paloma says she is working
closely with Father Lombardi whom she respects, admires and looks up to: “he is
so tender, so smart, and so humble” and to know that he is accompanying the new
team at the beginning of their endeavor is a “guarantee”.
“And not only that: the
prayer. I know he will be praying for us” she says.
She says that she and Burke
are stepping into a perfectly functional Press Office – only because Fr
Lombardi has finished his term – and not because there is any kind of crisis.
So, she says, she hopes they will continue on the path that has already been
set out.
“I love going into the Press
Office and I would like journalists to be happy to come to us” she says.
Paloma says perhaps, thanks
to their own background as journalists, the new team may be able to work on the
speed, the rhythm and some minor details to make communication and
collaboration even more effective for the needs of the press.
She speaks of her own
experience in a family of seven children where gender was not an issue and
where everyone chipped in working together for the common good.
Across the board she has been
hailed as ‘the first woman’ to hold this position but Paloma is adamant that
for her it is normal as her emphasis is on professionality and the recognition
of capacity rather than on gender.
“For me to be a woman (in
this position) is not a question of being part of a revolution, I think
this is just a fact. When I came to the Press Office on Monday I realized how
many woman there are among the journalists, in the Press Office, etc. (…) it
seems obvious to me: women are everywhere… how many times has the Pope said the
Church is a woman?” she exclaims.
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