CCCB establishes Department for Digital, Print, Media and Information Technologies

Friday, October 26 2012

During their September 2012 Plenary Assembly, the Bishops of Canada elected to close the Publications Service of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB). Their decision follows more than 15 years of study and reflection. However, it is also the intention of the Bishops that the CCCB continue to publish. As a result, the Conference must now establish a new structure which will respond to this new reality.

Therefore, effective immediately, the CCCB is establishing a Department for Digital, Print, Media and Information Technologies, which will allow us to bring a stronger focus to the manner in which the Conference communicates with others. In fact, it communicates in and through a variety of ways with our member Bishops and their respective dioceses, with religious institutes, with other Episcopal Conferences and other countries, with the Holy See, and through our media relations. All of this happens in our effective use of information technology and is realized through our various websites, the documents we publish, and the media information we release. Hence, the consolidation of 1) the Department of Information Technology, 2) the Department of Media Relations, 3) the management of services relating to CCCB/Concacan copyrights and royalties, as well as 4) publishing projects (through our dealings with new off-site printing, warehousing, ordering and shipping functions which will be assumed on our behalf by St. Joseph Communications). All these will be coordinated by one person.

This new Director for Digital, Print, Media and Information Technologies will be Mr. Kevin Sharp, until now the Director of Information Technology. He will report to the General Secretary. The mandate of the new department is to coordinate and facilitate the external and internal use of:

i)   information technologies,
ii)  traditional and new media,
iii)  media relations and public relations,
iv)   publishing and distribution, in print, electronic and multimedia formats.

With this new department, communications and publishing decisions involving content, illustrations, ecclesial relations and public relations will continue to require the final approval of the General Secretary (or his delegate), who reports to the President of the Conference. Questions concerning budgeting, financing, personnel relations and administrative planning will be coordinated with the Director of Administration (or with his delegate), who reports to the General Secretary. The Councils, Commissions and Committees of the Conference will continue to be responsible for overseeing the content of their publications and internet postings, and will also continue to be consulted on the scheduling and format of their communications and publishing projects by the new Director for Digital, Print, Media and Information Technologies.

(Rev.) Msgr. Patrick Powers, P.H.
General Secretary of the CCCB