Upon his election in 2013, Pope Francis has developed the relationship between the Catholic Church and the media tremendously over the years. The media serves as an outlet that showcases the pure and simple everyday life of the Pope to people all around the world and connects the gap between follower and leader. Pope Francis innovated the use of news media coverage of the Catholic Church to be utilized in a positive manor as long as it is controlled. The news media frames the Pope in a way that best represents the Catholic Church through the Pope’s communicative strategy and allows the Catholic community to see the Pope more as a friend than a religious leader.
What sets Pope Francis apart from all the Popes prior is his background as a Jesuit and how it manifests itself in his personality and personable interactions with the global world. According to Dr. Carlo Nardella (2019) from the University of Milan in his lecture regarding Pope Francis’ Communicative Strategy on April 16th, he mentions that “the primacy of the everyday life dimension is the main innovation of Pope Francis’ communication.” To simply put it, the media frames the the Pope in a way that makes him human, however, this is only made possible because of Pope Francis’ communicative strategy of manipulating press situations and how he handles unforeseen and unexpected situations. For example, Pope Francis invented informal in-flight press conferences. Although the questions are unanticipated, the journalists and reporters are specifically selected for the flight, affirming that the questions asked will not be a threat to the Pope or the Catholic Church as a whole. News media coverage is then shaped to portray the Pope in a positive way as he maintains control of the situation.
Visual coverage of the Pope, according to Dr. Nardella, can be divided into two main points, Pope Francis’ improvised actions as well as his unforeseen and unexpected situations. Unlike any other pope, Pope Francis is commonly seen squeezing hands, touching faces and giving hugs. He engages with religious and political leaders and is shown expressing visible feelings through his body language and facial expressions, an important aspect of media coverage. In addition, many photos capture the unexpected, including images of the wind blowing off his zucchetto, with a disgruntled expression plastered on his face. Although humorous, these images and news reports cover accurate representations of the Pope, in an authentic and candid way.
As discussed in the lecture from Dr. Nardella, an article by the Vatican News (2019) similarly frames the Pope as a friendly, generous leader as he addresses organ donation and its impact on the greater good, however, the article does so in a more formal way, portraying Pope Francis as a religious figurehead rather than a friend. The article sheds light on the importance of organ donation within the Catholic community through the words of the Pope as he “stressed that it was important to promote a culture of donation through information, and awareness, adding that, from this gift of giving, others can enjoy life and better health” (Vatican News, ). Unlike the lecture from Dr. Nardella, the article focuses on the basics of the event and does not include any additional information regarding the Pope’s interaction with the Italian Association of Organ Donors. Although the Pope is still positively framed in this article, it does not represent his personable and unique side that makes him the Pope that he is.
The way that news media portrays Pope Francis, including his mishaps and humorous moments, all contribute to the positive, humble, and human idea of him. Pope Francis has created a strategy when it comes to communication through religious media, enabling the Catholic Church to strengthen their relationship with media in general and allowing the world to see him in everyday life. With the help of the media, Pope Francis eliminates the boundary between hierarchy and its members and creates a foundation of friendship with the people of the Catholic community.
Sources:
Nardella, Carlo. (2019). Pope Francis’ Communicative Strategy, (2019, April 16).
Vatican News, Pope: Organ donation manifestation of solidarity, no to commercialisation. (2019, April 13). Retrieved from https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-04/pope-organ-donation-manifestation-of-solidarity.html