Ex-Vatican spokesman takes post at university outside Rome

Rome, Italy, Jan 18, 2007 / 12:12 pm

The former Director of the Holy See’s Press Office, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, has taken a post at the Biomedical University, located on the outskirts of Rome. The university is administered by Opus Dei.

Although Navarro-Valls became popular for his 22 year-long tenure as official spokesman for the Vatican, he had previously enjoyed a long career as a psychiatrist.

Navarro-Valls said the new post would mean a “return to my professional roots,” as he practiced medicine formerly at universities in Granada and Barcelona.

The Biomedical University, created in 1993, is undergoing an expansion and will be moved to a new location south of Rome in a few months.