It often seems that Christians in general (and the Catholic Church in particular) are locked in a perpetual battle with the secular media. The Church thinks the media is out to get it; and the media assumes that the Church has nothing credible to say to the contemporary culture. That’s the way the story is told.
I was at Worth Abbey last weekend, helping with a retreat for members of Catholic Voices. The whole project is built on the idea that the media can be a force for good in society, and that Catholics need to engage with the media more and not less.
Take a look at the promotional video here:
You can read a recent article here about Catholic Voices from the National Catholic Register.
And here are some words of explanation from their website. I especially like the quote from Cardinal Newman:
To train 20-25 Catholics in the art of speaking about their faith in the quick-fire settings of media interviews and public debates.
Where does the idea come from?
Catholic Voices has three main sources of inspiration:
1. A recognition of the need for articulate, reasoned and committed Catholics to be present in the media, especially during the papal visit when the Church will be placed under the spotlight.
2. Cardinal Newman’s call for “a laity, not arrogant, not rash in speech, not disputatious, but men [and women] who know their religion, who enter into it, who know just where they stand, who know what they hold and what they do not, who know their creed so well that they can give an account of it, who know so much of history that they can defend it.”
3. Pope Benedict XVI’s 1 February call, in his address to the English and Welsh bishops in Rome, for Catholics in the UK to “insist upon your right to participate in national debate through respectful dialogue with other elements in society” and for “great writers and communicators” to follow the example of Cardinal Newman in courageously communicating their faith.
A kind of Catholic Evidence Guild?
Yes, in the apologetic tradition – understanding your faith and the teaching of the Church, and learning how to express these clearly, succinctly, and reasonably. But CATHOLIC VOICES is different from the old model in that it is geared to the demands of the modern media.
Partly the training is in media skills. Many people simply aren’t familiar with the idiom and the methods of modern TV and radio. That lack of familiarity can make even the most articulate Catholics defensive or simply ineffective. CATHOLIC VOICES will show how you can be open, transparent and positive in the media, as long as you are also strategic. Part of that is understanding the role of journalism and the pressures that exist on editors and journalists.
A large part of the training will be on the issues that the media – and society at large – is interested in. Church teaching can often seem abstract, aloof or inhuman; it needs grounding in real human experience. Rather than seminars in church teaching, we’re arranging vigorous dialogues with experts where the hard questions are not skirted but confronted straight on. That allows our team to think through their own positions, and for the co-ordinators to assess which speakers will be best to talk on which topics.
Is this an evangelisation initiative?
We do not see our task as evangelising through the media. We respect the media’s role to probe, question, and hold to account those who have power and influence, as the Church does. In responding to this demand, we are not so much evangelising as clearing the obstacles to evangelisation – presenting, we hope, the true face of the Church to replace the often mythical one portrayed in the media. What’s needed is an attitude of openness and transparency: we respect the media’s role in holding us to account, and we are happy to give an account of ourselves. If that leads to people having a truer view of the Church and the Catholic faith, we’ll have achieved our objectives. We are concerned less with persuading people than with articulating the Church’s positions in a way that is accessible, reasonable and accurate.
Sounds brilliant. And am so pleased to see [women] sharing in that voice.
I can not believe that this is 2010 and the need for this has only just been practically realized.
The Church should use the secular media for several reasons. Firstly, the Christian Church as a whole is about spreading the Good News of the Gospel to those who haven’t heard it or, dare I say, need another opportunity to hear it. The secular media provides a series of ideal platforms from which to address these audiences in their own environments. Most people will not go to Church to hear the message so such use is doing the modern version of what Our Lord did – taking the message into ‘the streets’.
Secondly, people are less in touch with religious ideas today some, indeed, have some misgivings about religious traditions. By using the media available, the Church can show that our faith is not anything to be wary of and that it is a welcoming organisation.
Thirdly, by using the secular media, the Church can display its ‘human’ face to the general public and, by using the right people to voice their views, this can go a long way to sowing the seeds of faith in others. I will use my own experience as an example. I was raised in the 1960′s in an Anglican family and I had a lot lot of misunderstandings about Catholicism – what they had to do, what they couldn’t do etc. I watched a programme in which Archbishop Warlock was interviewed when I was a teenager. His words had the profound effect of taking away much of the suspicion about the Catholic Church and I realised there was nothing to be frightened of. I was 21 when I became a Catholic, but I always look back to that experience as the first time when the possibility of Roman Catholicism became very real to me.
Surely, then, the use of the secular media by current Church leaders and laity may have that same effect for others who, just maybe, wondering ‘what is it all about?’
“Should the Church give up on the secular media?” – No way!
Been following the late Archbishop Sheen, recently. He was a master communicator, hosting “shows” on primetime, secular, commercial American TV back in the 60′s and 70′s. Although his style on these shows was rather theatrical, he still managed to get across the basic message of Christianity – reaching not just a loyal, Christian audience but, also, people of little faith (and no doubt some of none), but who needed someone like Sheen to bring them back into the fold / to bring them into the fold. A modern-day evangelist.
But boy could he preach in Church, too, to Church goers. Just been watching this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wSOwVRes3o). Before watching it, i was in a state of mental restlessness. Watched this and thought about it (i.e. God / love of God) and i felt this great peace pass over me. Even in the grave, this man (thanks to God) can perform wonders ..
The older i get, the more convinced i am the great evangelists aren’t just “holy” but “human” as well. And by “human” i mean humble, child-like, sense of humour, idiosyncratic, full of personality and charm, using stories and metaphors and the language of ordinary men, and appealing to our imagination / the artistic/poetic/creative in us, as well. Sheen had this. He could communicate complicated ideas in a simple and human way, and, yet, holy as well. And it is this hummaness that isn’t just attractive to the faithful, but, also to those with little faith and none. Just as i believe Jesus loves hummaness as well (as well as holiness, of course). Of course, at a certain level “human” and “holy” are inseparable (i think).
Sure “training” Catholics to be good communicators is important. But the core / the groundwork of this has to be prayer. Only God can set listeners alight, whether they be people of great faith, of little faith, or none. Man, whether he be Archbishop Sheen, St Peter, Francis of Assisi, you, me or anyone else is just a channel for God. It is really God who does the talking – the evangelizing – not man. And, boy, is man hungry to hear the word of God.
Our Lord charged His apostles to “go out and teach all nations”. Perhaps it is time we took that seriously. The mass-media is the market place of today. Catholic Voices sounds like a good idea long overdue as mags, above, suggests- but surely we need many more than the 20- 30 envisaged.
In the same way that Ed recalls Archbishop Sheen, I recall the one time Anglican Bishop of Stepney, Trevor Huddleston. He spoke powerfully when preaching and when addressing the Anti Apartheid issues for which he became famous. A very human person, indeed, but one who knew how to use the media to it’s full advantage. And this ata a time when, I would imagine, there was not the amount of media savvy and training about for anyone.
Patricius
Well said.
I think it comes down to 1. having great love for Christ (and neighbour) and 2. pure moral balls .. (man or woman – which is, also, inseparable from point 1. i think)
I’m afraid i’m a bit of a moral coward (but hopefully, and i pray, God will work on me). No doubt most of us are like this, but i guess there’s many things we can do to evangelize – chipping away, effectively, in our “ordinary” daily lives to evangelize.
We need to pray i think for more of us to evangelize – on and off the media (and not the dreadful type of tele-evangelizing that can really put people off – but the tele-evangelizing of people such as Fulton Sheen and Billy Graham), and hopefully, for more evangelists of the calibre of Francis of Assisi and so on.
“I’m afraid i’m a bit of a moral coward (but hopefully, and i pray, God will work on me). No doubt most of us are like this”
- I mean when it comes to evangelizing
My favourite peice of brief evangelizing of late came from the beautiful Stevie Wonder at Glastonbury, Brilliant! Talk about reach the secular masses. Wonderful work!
There are certain questions about the Catholic faith that I believe we should all be able to answer. But I stumble at the line drawn between my personal opinion and the ignorance of my full understanding of the official line. Just the other day I was thinking out loud with a beautiful peaceful friend who is of gay orientation. A very spiritual and God blessed friend. We were made just as uniquely as each other, in the beautiful image of God. They have the same needs and longings as desires as I, for intimacy and closeness and a longing to Love and be Loved. When this same dear person raised the topic, I said God Loves you as He Loves me, and He wants you to experience and live in true authentic Love as He wants me to experience and live in true authentic Love. Upon my contemplation I realised what I felt in my heart could possibly be different from the official line. I was unsure. But to Love and not hurt always is the only way. Maybe this is where we all need a little catholic voices teaching.