April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
ANNOUNCEMENT
Bishop revamps diocesan communications
Bishop revamps diocesan communications
The appointment also follows the retirement of Rev. Kenneth Doyle from his position as diocesan chancellor for public information. He will continue as pastor of Mater Christi parish in Albany and will continue to write his nationally-syndicated "Question Corner" column for Catholic News Service, which runs in The Evangelist under the title "Question Box" (see page 2 in The Evangelist's print edition).
The restructured diocesan Office of Communications will not only include public information and media relations, but social and digital media and oversight of The Evangelist, the weekly newspaper of the Diocese, bringing together under one roof the Diocese's varied communications tools.
Bishop Scharfenberger said the move recognizes the power and potential of the changing media landscape.
"We want to use our communications proactively to announce and spread the Gospel and to equip not only the Catholic population but the general public with accurate, timely and helpful information about the Church and the activities of the Diocese and our parishes," said the Bishop. "We need to use every means available to do that; and while traditional media, such as The Evangelist, remains critical to our communication and evangelization efforts, we must take advantage of the many new media platforms that allow us to broaden our reach and engage more Catholics in the New Evangelization."
The Diocese joined social media in April, when it launched Facebook pages and Twitter accounts for both the Diocese and the Bishop. Since then, number of followers has been on the rise as the Diocese begins to engage the rapidly-increasing local and global Catholic community that exists online.
"As a long-time journalist, I value the power of the printed word, but there is no denying the equal power of new media to reach untapped populations that are hungry for a relationship with God," said Ms. DeTurris Poust. "With both traditional and new media working together under the newly-revamped Communications Office, we will be able to better respond to the needs of our people and the needs of our times. I'm grateful to Bishop Scharfenberger for his vision and for the confidence he's shown in me to help him implement that plan."
Ms. DeTurris Poust has been working in Catholic media for more than 30 years and has written seven books on Catholic spirituality and teaching and published hundreds of articles in both Catholic and secular newspapers and magazines on national, regional and local levels. The former managing editor of Catholic New York, the newspaper of the New York Archdiocese, she is a regular contributor to Catholic radio and cable, and a social media expert who has spoken about the importance of using new media as a tool for evangelization to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in 2012 and at World Communications Day in Brooklyn in 2014.
Father Doyle, former editor of The Evangelist, spokesman for the USCCB, and Rome bureau chief for Catholic News Service, has served as chancellor for public information since 2000. Mr. Goldfarb, who came to the Diocese after a long career as a journalist covering state government and later as spokesman for The University at Albany, has served as diocesan director of communications for the past 13 years.
"We are so grateful to Father Doyle and Ken Goldfarb for their many years of dedicated service to the Diocese and the people of God," said Bishop Scharfenberger. "They leave us with a strong foundation on which to build this next generation of Catholic communications."[[In-content Ad]]
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