Catholic Voices USA names Boston media leader as new head

Boston, Mass., Aug 31, 2013 / 05:13 am

The communications training group Catholic Voices USA has named as its next executive director Scot Landry, a leading media official with the Archdiocese of Boston.

"I am very excited for the opportunity to lead the Catholic Voices apostolate and to continue to participate in the Church's New Evangelization efforts," Landry said in an interview published Aug. 30 in the Boston archdiocese's newspaper The Boston Pilot.

Based on its British counterpart, Catholic Voices USA was founded to train lay people to present Catholicism in a positive way, mobilizing them to counter misrepresentations and make the case for the Catholic Church in the public square, through debates, media interviews and other formats.

The group's previous director, Kim Daniels, was named spokeswoman for U.S. bishops' conference president Cardinal Timothy Dolan earlier this year.

Landry is currently the Archdiocese of Boston's Secretary for Media, as well as president and CEO of iCatholic Media, the corporation overseeing the archdiocese's media efforts.

"We're beyond delighted," Catholic Voices director Kathryn Jean Lopez said Aug. 29. "His organizational skills, evangelical zeal, and leadership talents are a great gift for this apostolic project -- one that so many people seem to crave."

Landry said Catholic Voices "meets a huge need in the Church for lay people to become articulate, well-catechized and media-ready communicators, particularly on hot-button issues."

He said that many media-trained individuals who comment on Catholic issues for the secular media sometimes "have an agenda that isn't always faithful to Church teaching" and can lead people astray.

"The good news is that we have many well-catechized lay Catholics who love the Church and have the authority of direct lived experience," he added. "They simply need some media training to be comfortable and effective sharing, explaining and defending the Catholic faith particularly in the media. Training these individuals is the main purpose of Catholic Voices."

Landry has served with the Archdiocese of Boston since 2006. He previously served as the archdiocese's Secretary for Institutional Advancement, overseeing the annual Catholic appeal. As Secretary for Media, he is responsible for The Pilot, the archdiocese's CatholicTV station, and archdiocesan websites and new media.

He helped bring a Catholic radio station to Boston and led the use of social media in the archdiocese. He also served on teams that managed initiatives like Catholics Come Home, The Light is On For You, and the educational campaign to defeat an assisted suicide initiative in Massachusetts, The Pilot reports.

Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley praised Landry's "gifts for leadership, organization, training and communication."

Bishop Robert P. Deeley, the archdiocese's vicar general, said Landry has been "particularly helpful" in evangelization efforts.

"I hope his new endeavors, which will build on his abilities in media and evangelization, will bring him much happiness," Bishop Deeley said.

Landry said assisting Cardinal O'Malley and others of the archdiocese has been "one of the biggest honors of my life."

The Pilot reports that Landry will continue to play a role in the Boston archdiocese, serving as a consultant for the cardinal, writing newspaper columns and hosting the radio program "The Good Catholic Life."