Deputy director of the Heschel Center of the Catholic University of Lublin as head of the Polish section of Vatican Radio and Vatican News

Rev. Dr. Pawel Rytel-Andrianik has become head of the Polish Section of Vatican Radio and the Vatican News portal. He is deputy director of the A. J. Heschel Center for Catholic-Jewish Relations at the Catholic University of Lublin.

Previously, he was director of the Office for Foreign Communications of the Secretariat of the Polish Bishops' Conference. From 2015 to 2020, Fr. Rytel-Andrianik served as spokesman for the Polish Bishops' Conference. At Vatican Radio, he replaced Jesuit Fr. Krzysztof Oldakowski, who was appointed parish priest in Lodz, Poland. Vatican Radio and Vatican News reported on Wednesday.

"Service at Vatican Radio and Vatican News portal is a new challenge and another responsibility on my pastoral and media path. I thank the Holy See for its trust. The Vatican media reach millions of viewers around the world, and in recent years, following the decisions of Pope Francis, have taken new directions in communication adjusted to modern media needs and tendency. My task will be to continue this path and build new opportunities using new technologies," - Rev. Rytel-Andrianik said.

Vatican Radio has been operating since 1931, and its Polish section since 1938. Vatican News is the official news portal of the Holy See. It is part of the Dicastery for Communications, which also oversees Vatican Radio. Vatican media is present on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, among others.

The Holy See's new information system was created on June 27, 2015 with Pope Francis' Motu Proprio, which established the Secretariat for Communications, a new dicastery of the Roman Curia. Vatican News has four main subject areas that cover the activities of the Pope, the Holy See, local churches, and world news. The prefect of the dicastery is Paolo Ruffini, the program director of Vatican media is Andrea Tornielli, and the head of Vatican Radio and Vatican News is Massimiliano Menichetti.

Fr. Pawel Rytel-Andrianik is a priest of the Diocese of Drohiczyn. After his ordination to the priesthood in 2001, he was a vicar in the parish of Ostrożany for two years. He was then sent to study abroad, where he obtained the following degrees: a bachelor's degree in theology at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome (2003); a bachelor's degree (2008) and then a doctorate (2012) in biblical studies and archaeology at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem; a master's (2011) and then a doctorate (2015) at Oxford University. In addition, he studied in Jerusalem at the Hebrew University, Hebrew Union College and the École biblique et archéologique française. In 2012, he became professor of Scripture at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. From 2013 to 2015, he was deputy editor-in-chief of the Catholic weekly Sunday for Western Europe and the Middle East. He was awarded the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Medal.