Pope Francis thanked Vatican-accredited media professionals for their passion and commitment to reporting on Vatican affairs. In particular, he highlighted the “delicacy” that journalists “often demonstrate when talking about Church scandals,” especially when it comes to respect for abuse survivors and being “silent” about particularly disturbing details.
It is quite paradoxical with the “great communicative highways of today”: on the one hand, they are “increasingly faster” and, on the other hand, they are often “congested”. This is what Pope Francis said…
Christine Seuss – Vatican City
Normally he is the favorite subject of their reports, but today the media accredited by the Vatican were themselves the protagonists of an audience with the Pope: in the freezing cold and very early in the morning they had to go to the Vatican, where they were the first to a series of groups accompanied by the Pontiff, which also had a full program this Sunday. The Pope noted at the beginning of his speech that they had to get out of bed very early because of the audience with a humorous apology.
Group photo with the Pope
“Welcome, even if you are here at home!” Francisco addressed the approximately 150 media professionals present in the Sala Clementina of the Vatican Palace, including journalists, producers and cameramen, thanks to the more than 40 trips they made together he also “knows by name”, as he himself emphasized. Everyone is united by a mission, the Pope said: “I know your passion, your love for what you report, your commitment. Many of you are persecuting not only the Vatican, but also Italy, southern Europe, the Mediterranean, the countries where you come from.”
Francis blesses the fetus of a pregnant correspondent
Don't fall into stereotypes
Deciding to be a journalist is, in a sense, a vocational decision like becoming a doctor, a decision to touch the “wounds of society and the world” with one’s own hands, Francisco further emphasized. What is needed is not just a calling to tell stories, but also a “boundless love of truth”:
“I appreciate the effort you make to maintain that look that knows how to see beyond appearances, that knows how to capture the essential, that does not give in to the superficiality of stereotypes and ready-made infotainment formulas that prefers the simple cataloging of facts and ideas according to pre-determined schemes instead of the difficult search for truth. I encourage you to continue on this path that combines information with reflection, speaking with listening, discernment with love,” said Francis, referring to the words that Paul VI addressed to Vatican journalists 60 years ago.
Portal correspondent Phil Pullela is vice-dean of the Faculty of Journalism
In this context, Francis also adopted an assessment by the renowned Italian “Vaticanist” Luigi Accattoli, according to whom a Vatican journalist must resist the mass media’s allegation of “manipulating the image of the Church”:
“In fact, the media tends to distort religious news,” Accattoli wrote in a preface cited by the pope. “They deform them as much by the high or ideological register as by the low or spectacular register. The overall effect is a double deformation of the image of the Church: the first register tends to obsessively politicize it, the second tends to reduce it to light news”.
Francisco with the president of AIGAV and La Croix correspondent, Loup Besmond de Senneville
The grandeur of the Vatican
It is not easy, but this is precisely where the “greatness of the Vatican” lies, the “intellectual delicacy” that adds to the journalistic skills, continued Francisco: “The beauty of your work around Peter is that you place him on the rock responsibility is based on the truth and not on the brittle sand of conversation and ideological reading; which consists of not hiding reality and its needs, without sugarcoating tensions, but also without making useless noise, but rather trying to capture the essential, in light of the nature of the Church”. This is something that is good for the people of God, for ordinary people and for the Church itself, Francis continued.
“Thank you, thank you for this attitude when we have to talk about scandals”
And when it comes to this kind of calm reporting, he is grateful to them for the sensitivity they show, especially when it comes to reporting on the “church scandals”, with those with “respect for the victims” and a healthy attitude. if you avoid a lot of embarrassment due to too much attention to detail: “Thank you, thank you for that attitude when you have to talk about scandals.”
The Pope in focus
He was also grateful for the constant and patient effort with which the media covered news about the Holy See, sometimes at unpleasant working hours such as late at night or on weekends. This means that they are prevented from “playing with their children” and can spend less time with their spouse, Francisco acknowledged, apologizing.
AIGAV
AIGAV (International Association of Journalists Accredited to the Vatican) is an association of around 250 media professionals and journalists whose reporting scope includes the Vatican. The association serves the exchange and helps guide new correspondents who are sent to Rome so that their media can report on the Vatican.