On Sept. 22, Pope Francis will make his first visit to the United States, a much-anticipated journey that will take the leader of the Roman Catholic Church to Washington, D.C., New York and Philadelphia.
Even dutiful journalists can be expected to make a lot of missteps in their coverage. They will confuse an encyclical with an epistle, the Immaculate Conception with the Virgin Birth, and a doctrine with a dogma. (Good reporters should be expected to get the name of the dogma!)
As a Catholic myself, I thought I might offer journalists some advice on how to think about coverage of this historic event. Then a second thought: Why give your readers an amateur when they can hear from a pro?
So I turned to my pastor, Monsignor Robert Gibbons, who generously agreed to answer my questions about the visit of Pope Francis and the state of the Catholic Church in America. In the hierarchy of the church, by the way, a monsignor is about halfway between a priest and a bishop.
Monsignor Gibbons has been a Catholic priest in Florida since 1981. For the past 20 years, he has served as pastor of St. Paul’s Catholic Church in St. Petersburg. He has the reputation of being something of a “news junkie,” perhaps a product of growing up in a family with a famous Florida politician, the late Congressman Sam Gibbons, who served 17 terms in the House.
Monsignor Robert Gibbons (Photo by Roy Peter Clark/Poynter Institute)
As an American priest, what is the most important thing you are going to be looking for as you anticipate the Pope’s visit?
I’ll be curious to see people react to the Pope and his message. The Latinos now make up about 40% of the Catholic Church in the U.S.; and he is one of their own. How will they react? How will the politicians react? How will the young people react? How will our typical Catholic in the pews react? How will non-Catholics react? (Non-Catholics often tell me, “We love Pope Francis!”) It will be very interesting.
Based on previous papal visits — and the fact that you have a reputation as something of a news junkie — what would you say characterizes good and responsible coverage?
Good and responsible coverage would compare and contrast the content of Francis’ message in previous overseas trips (including his trip to Cuba, which immediately precedes his trip here to the USA) with his message in the USA. What does he do and say differently in the USA from what he has done or said elsewhere? That way the reporters might be able to ferret out whether the Pope has a unique message for our country.
What are the most common mistakes reporters make in covering the pope?
Sometimes reporters make mistakes in terminology. E.g., calling a building a “Cathedral” when it is actually a “Church” or a “Basilica.” Another example would be getting the names wrong regarding items of clothing the pope wears, such as labeling the outer vestment he wears at Mass a “robe,” whereas the correct term is “chasuble.” Sometimes reporting will reveal lack of familiarity with the terms Catholics use in regard to aspects of the Eucharistic liturgy. For example, a reporter might write, “The Pope distributed wafers at the Mass.” Catholics wouldn’t use that term; they would say, “The Pope distributed Holy Communion” or “The Pope distributed the hosts” or “. . . distributed the Eucharistic bread.”
Another mistake is to make point-blank dogmatic statements such as “The Church teaches such-and-such,” as if everything is black and white and of the same level of importance. This fails to take into account the nuances of Catholic belief, our understanding that any theological statement is an attempt to express a deeper reality, as well as our understanding of the “hierarchy of truths,” i.e., that different beliefs vary in their relation to the foundation of the Christian faith.
What are the most common mistakes reporters make in covering the Catholic Church in America?
The Catholic Church is as complex and multi-faceted as are the American people. Don’t paint the Church as a monolithic institution. It is made up of people. So it should come as no surprise that such a diverse and large group of people don’t think or act in lock-step fashion.
You are my pastor. I sometimes feel as if there is not one, but really two Catholic churches in America. A more conservative, traditional church, observant and aligned with the hierarchy. And a kind of “Reform” Catholic Church that favors things like the ordination of women. How do you feel about that analysis?
That analysis is way too simplistic. Some people are “conservative” regarding some things and “progressive” regarding others, and vice-versa. Similarly, the hierarchy is not all of a piece or all cut from the same cloth. You’ll find that Catholics can disagree with or question certain approaches and styles or decisions made by Church officials, but we remain united as a family in the fundamentals of the faith, bonded in our love for God and nourished by our participation in the sacramental life of the Church.
The last few pontiffs have been characterized as traditionalists. Pope Francis has come across as somehow more open, tolerant, even progressive. Just today he is trying to make it easier for Catholics to get annulments. What should we make of that?
Popes, like anyone else, are formed and influenced by their particular environment and culture and history. Popes have different temperaments and personality styles. Some are extroverts, others are introverts. Times change and needs change. Popes have different pastoral approaches, with different emphases. So many factors enter in to why one pope seems to differ from another.
America is a capitalist country, of course, and the Pope has written passionately about the dark side of the global economy and about global warming, and has even been criticized by some American politicians for his remarks. How should journalists frame that debate?
The Pope would probably say that no particular economic system is an end in itself. You need to look at the impact and results of any particular system, especially on how the human person fares in the system. If the system is not conducive to the flourishing of the human person, and if vast groups of people end up being discarded or taken advantage of by the system, if it creates a vast underclass, then the system needs to be tweaked and/or changed.
A few years have passed since the intense coverage of the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. Of course, the consequences of that scandal will play out for a long time. What should journalists know about how the American Catholic Church has responded to the abuse of children by members of the clergy?
How the dioceses in the USA have responded to this has been documented in the media: Policies include zero tolerance, mandatory safe environment training for employees and volunteers, published help phone numbers for contacting victim assistance ministers, counseling assistance provided to victims, reporting of accusations to civil authorities, regular compliance audits.
The Supreme Court of the United States has now legalized gay marriage, something that many Catholics support, but something that the Catholic Church hierarchy has not condoned. Any advice on whether this should be a point of focus in the coverage of the pope’s visit?
Certainly it’s understandable that it be included as an issue for discussion in the media, because it is a significant current matter, and other religions and Christian denominations struggle with the issue as well. (Witness the recent case of the Protestant county clerk in Kentucky.) The Pope’s emphasis on issues such as the environment, immigration, the plight of refugees, war and peace, the poor, the elderly, and economic justice should be included in the coverage as well.
As a Catholic priest and an American, what interests you most about this pope? And what are you planning to say from the pulpit about his visit and his message?
I have written a column for our parish bulletin, for the Sunday before the Pope’s arrival, emphasizing that he comes to this country to visit all the people, to bring God’s message to everyone. He will meet with the President and address Congress and the United Nations. But he’ll also be having lunch with the poor and homeless during his visit to Washington, visiting children in their Catholic school in New York, and visiting with prisoners in Philadelphia.
What interests me most? His Latin American roots, his Jesuit roots, his warm and free personality, his tremendous communication skills. He is able to convey complex points in simple language that people can readily understand, and in a way that touches the heart. He is so “down to earth.” I appreciate his courage and boldness.
