From September 10 to 16, the third professional seminar for journalists took place called “The Church Up Close. Covering Catholicism in the Age of Benedict XVI.”

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CHURCH UP CLOSE 2012: A SUMMARY

Written by Audrey Anweiler

Does the age, universality, and seriousness of one’s mission offer due explanation for the complexity, language, and sheer time it takes to communicate itself?  This question was at the heart of those the Church asked the media, the media presented to the Church, and each were asking themselves during the third edition of The Church Up Close: Covering Catholicism in the Age of Benedict XVI. 

Snapshots from the week’s conference paint its purpose of intersection and introduction: Vatican Assessor’s Secretariat of State Msgr. Peter Wells reaching into his back pocket to hand the gathered reporters his calling card; BBC and USA Today veterans comparing coverage stories of Papal visits or Vatican faux pas with the Catholic News Service (CNS) bureau chief or young reporters from Rome Reports; Filipino and African news personalities sharing prosciutto and pasta with U.S. diocesan newspaper editors, all against the backdrop of Rome – a city that serves not only as the Catholic epicenter, but a global crossroads of religious discussion and debate.

Monday, September 10

The first day’s welcome by Conference president Fr. John Wauck and University of the Holy Cross’ Vice Rector Fr. Philip Goyret primed the minds of the participants to start grappling with the dual nature of their subject, something that would be echoed repeatedly throughout the week.  Although the Church’s destiny, like man’s, lies out of this world, it has inherited certain human institutions to carry out its purpose of drawing all men and women toward Christ.  Not only do geographic and cultural factors influence the health and ability of the organism, but the body acts judicially, economically, and governmentally.  The Vatican, as its own city-state, provides the acting framework to the “moral person” that is the Holy See, which maintains diplomatic relations with 179 countries.  Dycasteries exist within the Church to assist the Holy Father in administering charity and ministering to the universal Church.  Canons, like those contained in Canon Law, exist to ensure that the rights of the faithful are vindicated, and justice is carried out.

Tuesday, September 11

The morning was started with a tour of Saint Peter’s Basilica, The Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel led by the animated and articulate Elizabeth Lev, art historian and Church art expert who has lived and studied in Italy for longer than 3 decades. Rather than attempting to distill the centuries of art contained in the museums initiated when one pope, Pope Clement XVI, broke from tradition left his massive collection to the Church rather than to familial heirs, Lev outlined the rise and rivalry of two renaissance artists whose work forms the heart of the experience.  The Raphael stanzas, as the precursor and product of the artist’s peek into the work Michelangelo was executing near the same time on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, again touched on a dualism they would later learn to be an essential component of Pope Benedict XVI’s theology and pontificate.  In the room where popes are elected, the participants craned their necks to understand a ceiling. While those who commissioned him would have been satisfied with a blue and gold star-scape and some niches for a few prophets and martyrs, Michelangelo put into color and form that which Moses heard when he pleaded to see God’s glory in the book of Exodus.  While no one may gaze upon the face of the Lord and live, he provides a place near him where we can stand – “When my glory passes I will set you in the cleft of the rock and will cover you with my hand until I have passed by.  Then I will remove my hand, so that you may see my back; but my face may not be seen” (Exodus 33: 22-23).

After receiving such a rich visual presentation of the faith, it was fitting to meet the congregation dedicated to protect and transmit the revelation of the faith in words – Msgr.  Steven Lopes of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. Before, participants had the chance to visit the Press Office of the Holy See and met its director, Fr. Federico Lombardi.

Wednesday, September 12

The international, and yet intimate, environment of the Papal Audience, on Wednesday, September 12, at the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall, struck even journalists who have long covered religious news.  Days before his voyage to Lebanon, the Holy Father reflected over the role of prayer in the life of the Church, whose pilgrimage toward peace is made possible only through Christ’s victory over sin and death.   The conference and its participants received special mention and blessings from the Holy Father, and Professor Daniel Arasa and Rev. Prof. John Wauck were received by the Pope in the “Bacciamano” line directly preceding the audience.

ENCOUNTER with “Vaticanisti” Francis Rocca, Bureau Chief, Catholic News Service. 
Phoebe Natanson,  ABC Television Producer, Rome. Of the 28 journalists that registered for the conference, its doubtful that any walked away from Rome without at least a handful of new colleagues and friends.  The conference was structured with intentional space for the journalists to learn about each other, the city, and the basics of Italian culture together.  While sampling the dishes typical to “antipasto”, and “il primo, e il secondo, piatto” during the working lunches, participants got the chance to compare their experience in covering religion and the Catholic Church with two Rome-based reporters with a combined 30+years of experience on the “Vatican beat”.  As the editor for a text-based Catholic wire service commissioned by the USCCB, Rocca’s reflections on the challenges of engaging and explaining the Vatican to the public were at times vastly different from Natanson’s, the ABC Rome television producer.  But, their experiences echoed a common belief in the importance of providing accurate, timely commentary on Papal visits and messages, as well as the abundant topics they touch in cultural and political news.
Phoebe Natanson emphasized the changing of the guard in media relations that she saw take place between John Paul II, when journalists accompanied the Pope on visits in his plane, and Pope Benedict the XVI.  And that is just in the rare chance that you are covering an exclusively papal event, she said.  Often times one manages to contact someone with access, goes through the array of formalities, appointments, and detailed camera work in order to get a spoken statement from a Vatican representative, only to be told by their news agency that it is unimportant and won’t get any airtime.  In a world where sound bites and 90-second summaries have become the norm for explaining even the most complicated situations, the Vatican has to force itself to take on a language more consumable by the people of the culture. 

Cardinal Raymond Burke, Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, framed the entire purpose for his office in the highest Apostolic Tribunal in the rights of the faithful.  Our Church has the mission of administering charity to the world, he said, but “it makes no sense to talk about charity without the vindication of rights, and securing that minimum, but indispensable, requirement of justice.”  Participants sat in the room itself where all cases relating to matters of conscience (i.e., the dispensation of the obligation of religious duties, the nullification of a marriage, or the excommunication of a Catholic) are heard in Latin.  They learned how to distinguish between the office of the Roman Curia, which help the Pope in serving the Universal Church (The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Congregation for the Laity, the Congregation for Clergy, etc.), the various Councils and Commissions on which serve a committee of experts appointed by the Pope for a specific purpose (the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, The Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Religious Texts, or the Pontifical Council for the Family, to name a few), and the Tribunals, of which Cardinal Burkes office is one of three.  The other two include the Tribunal of the Roman Rota (The court is named Rota (Latin for “wheel”) because the judges, called auditors, originally met in a round room to hear cases), and The Tribunal of the Apostolic Penitentiary (chiefly a tribunal of mercy, responsible for issues relating to the forgiveness of sins in the Church).

Thursday, September 13

The Church in China. Fr. Antonio Sergianni, Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. After outlining what he and Pope Benedict have come to call the “tragic human history” of China, Fr. Sergianni emphasized the optimistic influence of Christians, and the reason for hope in China from the point of view of faith.  The faith in Marxism has largely disappeared in China, he says, and the people of today’s epoch are not as willing to sacrifice their lives to the pursuit of wealth, as they were for an altruistic, even if state mandated, faith.

His emphasis on the design of salvation history and the need for belief in the design of the Church in China, though, seemed hard to reconcile with the accounts of jailed and heavily-watched priests, Bishops imprisoned for multiple years, and the difficult life of any Chinese professing the Christian faith and discerning membership with the underground church. If you are courageous enough to become a Catholic in China, your life will likely consist of “fighting and praying” he said. 

Presenting Pope Benedict XVI to the World. Archbishop Rino Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization. Within his 90-minute presentation, Archbishop Fisichella traced the arch of a young, pre-Vatican II theologian to the current pontiff, who believes so firmly in love, hope, and truth rekindling a sense of “holy” in the modern world.  Journalists sat, mostly enraptured, as he admitted the clergy’s hesitancy, or lack of preparation, to utilize and speak to the media.  Using the Archbishop’s insistence on language, many journalists also pleaded with his eminence for the Vatican to narrow the gulf that exists between the Vatican’s thought and the culture’s spoken word.  While acknowledging the need for the Church to find a more apt vocabulary, Archbishop Fisichella did not shy away from challenging a room of media professionals in participating in this process of creatively and authentically translating the Church’s teaching in their work as communicators.

He also eased some of the contrasts people had already began to speak about between the “press-friendly” charisma of Pope John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI’s still, silent style.  He reminded the journalists that it is not by chance that the Holy Father writes and prays, but rather that Pope Benedict’s public persona and the tone that he usually evokes from his audiences reflects that which he sees as a need in the culture: an interpersonal relationship and a renewed appreciation for the value of human life. 

Work Lunch: The Church in Africa. Msgr. Fortunatus Nwachukwu, Head of Protocol, Vatican Secretariat of State. If Archbishop Fisichella’s presentation got our hearts and our minds pumping, Msgr. Fortunatus sharpened our perspective of a continent he was glad to see didn’t get overlooked in our closer look into the Church.  By discussing the unprecedented growth the African Church has witnessed even just within the ten years since the first synod side by side with the rampant corruption, tribalism and poverty that continue to cripple the Africa’s development – he asked us to consider the undeniably important role African cultures will play in the growth and transmission of the faith in upcoming generations. The African journalists (Father Michael Umoh of Nigeria, Robert Dela Yao Mawuenyegah of Ghana, and Claire Mathieson of South Africa) were especially engaged in the question and answer period.

The day ended with a soggy trek to the Vatican Library – a first for many of even the Rome inhabitants in the group.  We were guided on a tour through the various rooms and chambers, its various collections that come from all across the world, and the history of the library – starting under Pope Sixtus IV and traveling into the modern-era with a huge archival and digitization process that called in experts from multiple countries and lasted nearly 60 years.  Along with the original manuscripts, the library contains 1,006,000 written books, and 8,300 “incunables” – or “first generation” books published shortly after the Guttenburg press itself was invented.

Friday, September 14

Facing the New Bioethical Challenges. Prof. Maria Luisa Di Pietro, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart. After gaining a worldview of some of the overarching thoughts and concerns that characterize the Church’s activity, Friday brought the conference participants into the realm of specific, timely discussions.  Endocrinologist and National Bioethics Committee representative Dr. Maria Louisa di Pietro again emphasized the importance of the written and spoken word – the courage to look the truth in the eye and call things by their proper name – in medicine and bioethics.
 
She made this point by looking at the three senses of the word “dignity.”  In the Hobbes tradition, dignity is an attributed value that human beings give to other human beings, i.e. it can be withheld and is granted with discression.  More toward the contemporary age, dignity underwent a kind of “well-being” makeover – a life without the ability to attain good qualities and a desirable lifestyle is not deemed worthy of being lived. Of course, dignity is closest to its origin, and to the quality summoned in the 20th Century international documents speaking to the rights of individuals, when it is seen intrinsically – as the preciousness a human being has only because it is a human being.  It is the element that distinguishes human life form other life forms, and has a universal extension that cannot be withheld.

She sited the Italian phenomenon of “Samaritan Donation”, and forms of in vitro fertilization as two examples of the processes that have become misunderstood in conventional thinking.  A person who enters into such forms of treatment seemingly in an act of free will, but is not well informed of all that is involved, can end up doing things against their own will that harm them.   Likewise, in the cultural debates of gender, reproductive health, and medical treatment – we must not forget the ontological unity of the body to and with the person.  Dr. Di Pietro reminded those that will continue to report the science / culture discourse that it is precisely at this time when the future of what medical treatment will include and science will condone is to be determined that we are more equipped to make such decisions when we reaffirm the superiority of the values of life above other valuable goods of being human.

Some journalists were especially pleased with this discussion because it applies to so many of the questions they face, not only in their professional writing, but in their daily decisions especially as family and friends get older or encounter options new to this generation. Cathy Lee Grossman of USA Today, as a matter of fact, looked to it not only as information for her profession, but also as a supplement to the homework she had that week for a Bioethics class she has been taking online, an area of interest she came into contact with years ago at a Cambridge seminar for journalists.

ROUND TABLE: The God Beat. María-Paz López, Chair of the International Association of Religion Journalists (IARJ) and Debra Mason, Executive Director, Religion Newswriters Association (RNA). Two participants in the conference shared modern research, statistics, and personal reflections from their professional experience on the importance of and demand for religious media today.  Debra Mason said that, while defining what qualifies as new of a religious nature is difficult, we can say that it has steadily been anywhere from 1 – 2 % of all news over the last few decades, with 2011’s .6% of news content being seen as religious in nature a significant decrease.   She also said that the United States of America has seen a shift from predominantly-Protestant to predominantly- Catholic news over the last 50 years.  The question, then, is how do we engage audiences is religion, and break the stigma many journalists and editors have toward it as scandal or division-oriented, therefore instead teaching of how many world and local affairs are shaped by it? 

Work Lunch: Christians and the Arab Spring. Michele Zanzucchi, Director, Città nuova. The eruption of hope, and anger, the world has watched unfold in the Arab theater, Pope Benedict’s scheduled apostolic visitation to Lebanon, and the relationship the Muslim faith will naturally have with the future of the area and the future of our globalized world were all cause for the Church up Close participants’ interest. Michele Zanzucchi pulled from his experience as the director of Focolare’s magazine – a movement itself built from a firm resolution for peace and ecumenical dialogue.  His overview spoke to the distinctions that must be made for proper coverage of the topic: the differences in governmental structures, public engagement, the rites and confessions that have a presence in the area, and economic/natural resources for starters. 

The Whole and its Parts: How the Church is Organized. Rev. Prof. Luis Navarro, University of the Holy Cross. Canon Law Prof. Luis Navarro had the difficult job of explaining the way the Church sees and structures itself on earth.  His presentation emphasized that the “particular churches” within the Church enjoy both autonomy and dependence in relation to the “Universal Church”, an explanation that could serve as useful to journalists as they cover the ever-increasing amount of merged or closed parishes in their locality.  It also illuminated the sacramentality of the Church, and connected the communal dimension with the doctrinal. The Eucharist, for example, is what brings Catholics together and provides nutrients for their lives through the source and summit of their faith.  But, due to the intermediary role priests and Bishops play in administering the sacraments, no community could ever be held apart from them; nor would their vocation have purpose without the community.   Similarly, the Bible could not have been written without believers, and believers could not practice their belief without the Bible.

ENCOUNTER: The Work of the British Embassy in the Digital World. Nigel Baker, Her Majesty's Ambassador, British Embassy to the Holy See. By sharing the who, why and what of his office, British Ambassador to the Holy See Nigel Baker reminded Church up Close participants of the historic, and ever-relevant role the Church plays in foreign policy.  There are 1.2 billion Catholics in the world, and the Holy See manages 106 apostolic missions, and maintains diplomatic relations with 179 countries.  This means that the Holy See and its relations constitute “a formidable network of information, influence, and engagement,” according to Baker.  This is especially true, he mentioned, in today’s context, when countries are not settling into rival geographic blocks, as they may have done in the passed, but bonding together through common perspective and practices.

It was especially interesting to see the diplomatic activities of the Church through Britain’s perspective, as Her Majesty’s office is the oldest in the Holy See network (started by King Edward IV, 14479).  Baker emphasized that, while it may be hard for countries like his own that are considered “outliers” of religiosity to recognize it, the trend is toward more religion in the contemporary age, completely countering the secularization theory.  In 1950, he reminded, religious growth outpaced population growth.  In economic terms, 8% of all financial resources in the world (i.e., investments, forests, properties) belong to religious entities. And, just as Papal visits and religious summits continually attest to the relevance of religion in culture and identity, a celebration of religious worship still holds the title for the largest human gathering of the world: the 2008 Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. 

A most generous invitation was extended by the Ambassador for the journalists to accompany him back to his residence for an aperitivo, conversation, and an up-close look into the life of a diplomat.  A most memorable experience, the night also presented an opportunity to view Rome form one of the highest vantage points in Rome – the balcony of the Ambassador’s residence. 

Saturday, September 15

The Making of a Bishop. Msgr. Tom Powers, Congregation for Bishops. Msgr. Powers walked the participants through the often-unseen work that goes into the formation and selection of a shepherd in the Church, an area that receives special attention du to the seriousness of its responsibility.  With a great sense of humor, and humility, Msgr. Powers answered questions about the level to which bishops are encouraged to engage, and be prepared to communicate themselves and their Church’s mission, to the media.

The Church: 50 Years after Vatican II - Forgotten Impulses and Open Questions. Prof. Ilaria Morali, Member of the International Academy of Religious Sciences. Gregorian Professor and International Academy of Religious Sciences member Ilaria Morali spoke of the development the thought of Vatican II has seen in the life of the Church through three main concepts: time, the Church, and ourselves.  She began her presentation with an admission to the difference journalists and theologians have in one of those main areas – the time a journalist can spend reflecting on each issue, and especially over the nuances of ecclesiological history, is notably less than a theologian.

She focused not on how the Vatican Council has been perceived, but the Church as she is today, and said that there has been a rupture between theology and life – that the work of theology is in the service of making faith communicable.

Titling her speech “Forgotten Impulses and Open Questions,” she acknowledged there “are many fundamental questions the Council poses to fundamental theology, and only if we address these questions can the Church fully act on the teachings of Vatican II.” The danger is to be too intensely mindful of the needs of the modern world, but lacking in the intelligence in the way and tradition of theology.

Not only do the spokespersons of the Church need to be better equipped and the Church institutionally find the needed language to present the thought of the Council, she said, but the documents themselves should be read in Latin, and not only the documents but the preparatory and auxiliary conversations had by the fathers of the council.

Work Lunch: The Voice of the Catholic Church in the Public Sphere; the UK Experience. Jack Valero, Catholic Voices.  Many were encouraged, and enlightened, by the very smart and clear mission Catholic Voices identified for itself three years ago.  Since preparing the Church in the United Kingdom to answer the array of questions that surrounded Pope Benedict’s visit there, it has made its services available in other countries – wherever there is a lay group who can admit the need for the media, and receive a blessing for the endeavor by the local bishop.  Because the culture on the ground in a place will already be fully aware of the “neurotic issues” of their area, Catholic Voices simply assists in training laity to be media friendly, studio ready, and ego-free when addressing them.

In a refreshing presentation, Valero emphasized the “3 Dangers in Religious News” as being angry, being defensive, and being afraid of protest and conspiracy instead of seeing them as opportunities to speak.  Behind all criticism made against the Church, he said, there is a value, and usually a Christian value.  Our job, then, is not to come in the room and argue, or be dismissive.  It is to recognize, below its sometimes uninformed and offensive language, that the press is saying “I’m scandalized because you (as a Church) have this value and you are not upholding it...please explain!”  So, the trick is to see a mutual appreciation for virtues, like justice, charity, love, and freedom, as the first step to establishing common ground and engaging in a convincing and charitable conversation.

ENCOUNTER: Church Diplomacy: The Vatican Secretariat of State. Msgr. Peter Wells, The Vatican Secretariat of State.

After hearing about Church diplomacy form Ambassador Baker, the group got an intimate look at the purpose of the Secretariat of State from Msgr. Peter Wells, who himself had years of experience in Nigeria in the Secretariat of State.  He “peeled back the white drapes on the third logia” to answer questions about who the nerve center of the Holy See’s government is, what it does, and some of the peculiarities of its mission.

Contrary to popular opinion, Msgr. Wells reminded, most matters of the Church don’t demand the Pope’s attention.  These things are handled through a decentralized decision body.  The complexity and overlap of the Vatican offices that are meant to provide a functional framework to the acting moral person of the Holy See have to do with the peculiar nature of the diplomatic service in the world.   The Church, with little more than 3,000 formal “employees” is much more than a “multinational”: it has no military or economic interest.  Its goal, rather, is to ensure freedom of religion. The Church’s goal is to draw all men and all women (not just baptized, but all) to salvation.  Therefore the “Nunziature” of the Holy See exist to foster the development of a better society for all citizens.  Designed to bring a nation’s hopes, desires, and needs to fruition and attention to the governing/predominant social forces.  Holy See’s diplomats are far closer to the ground than most.  They therefore have a much fuller understanding of the issues, as well as extraordinary access to the highest political actors needed to get things done.

Sunday, September 16

The conference was brought to a close on Sunday afternoon.  Visiting the ancient Via Appia (the Appian Way) just outside of Rome, the journalists saw some of what resulted from the first public propaganda campaign against Christians.  The roughly-calculated 5,000 tombs of the Catacombs of Saint Callixtus were, in part, the result of a persecution ordered by Emperor Nero in the 1st and 2nd Century.  But they were also able to see some of the first communication of the Christina faith – by way of the paintings and carvings from the catacombs the faithful used to illustrate love for our Lady, fraternity, and the belief in the comfort and provisions of Jesus as the Good Shepherd.

At a lovely last lunch on Via Appia Antica, the conference participants finally got to know a bit about the new position assumed by Greg Burke, Vatican Senior Communications Adviser – the person many Vatican officials had referenced throughout the week as a “bridge,” and the first of many steps they were taking to streamline communications internally and strategically. Burke gave the participants a glimpse into the purpose and uniqueness of his position, and answered many questions.  He acknowledged that, while change in such an ancient institution takes a very long time, he would be looking forward to addressing the conference two years from now with some progress made and lessons learned.