Mr Jim Cantwell, director of the Catholic Press and Information Office in Dublin for the past 25 years, is to leave the post next June. Recently he concluded a satisfactory agreement with the Bishops' Conference and his leaving would be in a spirit of "mutual goodwill", he said.
Mr Cantwell, who worked in journalism before taking up his post, said in a statement he had served "over a lengthy, challenging, often difficult but eventful period" in the church's history but had decided some time ago that the first year of the new millennium would be a good time to move on.
"In recent times the communications structures of the church have been undergoing a thorough review to ensure they keep pace with contemporary developments and with present and future needs. I have been happy to play an active part in that process," he said.
