U.S. bishops appoint new CNS Rome Bureau editor as veteran journalist retires

The U.S. Catholic bishops have appointed veteran journalist Carol Glatz to head up their Rome-based news bureau, succeeding Cindy Wooden, another longtime journalist.

Glatz has been named editor in chief of Catholic News Service in Rome, the official news bureau of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The USCCB announced Glatz’s appointment — made by the conference’s general secretary, Father Michael J.K. Fuller — in an Oct. 17 press release.

Cindy Wooden, current editor in chief of Catholic News Service in Rome, is pictured May 27, 2025. Wooden, bureau chief of CNS since 2015 and editor in chief since 2023, is retiring. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Glatz takes over the top desk Jan. 1, following the retirement of Wooden, whose career has spanned the pontificates of St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, as well as the first year of Pope Leo XIV’s tenure.

Wooden became bureau chief of CNS Rome in 2015 and has led the bureau as editor in chief since 2023. She first joined the bureau as a reporter about 35 years ago.

Under Wooden’s leadership, CNS Rome garnered nine Catholic Media Association awards in 2025 alone.

Father Fuller commended Wooden for her “longtime service to the Church,” noting that her “distinguished career,” capped by her CNS Rome posting, has also included previous positions as a U.S. diocesan newspaper reporter and as a journalist for the now-shuttered Washington office of CNS.

“She will be missed, and we wish her well in retirement,” said Father Fuller.

He said he was “equally thankful to have Carol continue the good work that Cindy has led in a continuation of Catholic News Service’s mission to invite Catholics in the United States closer to the ministry of the Pope.”

Glatz, who has spent close to three decades working in Catholic journalism, has been with CNS since 2004. Prior to joining CNS, she had worked since 1998 for Vatican Radio, the official radio station of the Holy See.

In a statement included with the USCCB release, Glatz said she was “grateful for this opportunity to build upon the long-time presence and trusted relationships that Cindy and my colleagues at Catholic News Service have built over the years.”

“I look forward to leading the news team here in Rome as we tackle the challenges posed by changes in the way people get their news,” she said. “Together, we will report through digital media and creative story packages to keep the Catholic faithful informed and engaged with news about Pope Leo and the Holy See.”

CNS was established in 1920 as the press department of the National Catholic Welfare Council, a precursor of the USCCB. During the 1960s, the agency was renamed the National Catholic News Service, and again rebranded in 1986 as Catholic News Service.

In 2022, the USCCB announced it had decided to close CNS bureaus in New York and Washington, eliminating its national news and most of its international news coverage, while retaining its Rome bureau.

Catholic media company OSV, the largest Catholic publisher in the U.S. and one of the largest in the world, created OSV News in response that year, to both fill the anticipated void and create a seamless transition for CNS clients by Jan. 1, 2023. Both Catholic newswire services have worked cooperatively to serve the mission of the Catholic Church.