Pope Leo XIV, who will visit us soon, has appointed prefect of the dicastery of communication: which is what would be the head of press for heavenly affairs. Hold the mares: she is a woman and she is lay. If it is already difficult to have directors of conventional newspapers, imagine having one in the Vatican. She is the first, therefore, to lead a papal office, in the midst of that – and forgive me all and even all – immaculate turnip field. When Garrofa, from Pitarra's Pastorets, returns from hell, he says: “I can tell you wonders...! / The demons are female.” This informs us of what it means for a woman to lead Vatican News, Vatican Radio, L'Osservatore Romano, Vatican Media (audio, image, and video services), the Holy See Press Office, the Vatican Publishing House, the Vatican Printing Press, and the Vatican Film Library. And here I go, after an elegant and even feminine full stop.
This woman is called Montserrat. For friends, Montse, we read. I am sure someone has explained the origin of her name to her, and that by now she knows that her patron will visit the monastery in Catalonia where the mother of God who gives her name, so beautiful: Our Lady of Montserrat, whom we call, with love, La Moreneta. Montse must receive our letters, all carefully written, with the request that the Pope use Catalan not urbi et orbi, but “at every turn.” It is very clear that it is Our Lady of Montserrat, who is so accommodating, who has placed this other Montserrat in the Pope's path. And it is for a reason.
