Christian tradition
and communication
Editorial
by Giovanni Maria Vian
Translated from the 4/23/11 issue of
A central dimension of Christianity, Tradition - a theological term and concept not surprisingly often misunderstood by extreme viewpoints that are diametrically opposite - also includes, obviously, the communicative transmission of the faith.
"One must know how to be ancient and modern - to speak according to Tradition but conforming to present sensibility. What does it serve to say what is true if men in our time do not understand it?", Mons. Giovanni Battista Montini (the future Paul VI) told the French writer Jean Guitton in 1950.
His reflection was perfectly in line with a very long history that started with Christian proselytizing in the first centuries, which was creative and sustained by an intense circulation of written material.
Thus even in this, despite rooted stereotypes, the Church has been constantly concerned about effectively transmitting that most revolutionary of all news, best summed up in the Easter greeting of the Oriental Christians: "Christ is risen - yes, he is truly risen!"
In the face of modern communications, the Church of Rome and the Popes have been in the vanguard. From the interview given by Leo XIII published on Page 1 of Le Figaro on August 4, 1892 - the first ever press interview by a Roman Pontiff, which, moreover, was given to a lady journalist with socialist leanings - to the pastoral wisdom of St. Pius X, who had personally given catechism lessons to children from Roman parishes in the Vatican's Cortile di San Damaso, to the innovative decisions on the use of mass media by Pius XI and Pius XII at the beginnings of radio, film and television.
In this area, Vatican II and the Popes who prepared for it, decreed it and saw it through - Pius XII, John XXIII, and Paul VI - marked a new turning point.
With the growing media visibility of the Papacy, starting with the travels of Paul VI to the five continents, and culminating with the incessant worldwide itinerary of John Paul II, to 'show the Cross' beyond mere metaphor in the dramatically changing panorama of the world:
Stat crux dum volvitur orbis - The Cross is steady while the world turns.
For six years, Benedict XVI - who has dedicated his life in the service of truth and because of this wants the Vatican media to be more effective and relevant - has worked at explaining the Tradition of the Church, in a way that can be understood by young and old, journalists and laymen, intellectuals and politicians.
He has just done so again, replying for the first time to questions from laymen around the world - in a way that brings faith Adan reason together, with friendship for everyone. And in the continuity of the Christian Tradition.
Vittorio Messori's commentary in Corriere della Sera today benefits from his personal experience as the only journalist who has published an interview book with two Popes....
The Pope on TV:
An hour of solid, healthy catechism
by Vittorio Messori
Translated from
April 23, 2011
Beyond the enthusiasm of some clerical circles that are a bit ingenuous - those for whom anything the Vatican does, even if merely pastoral, must always be applauded - is it really positive that a Pope goes on TV to be interviewed?
Is this positive, in the late of the great principle that should guide every activity of the Church, which, not by chance, concludes the Code of Canon Law, namely, "The salvation of souls myst be the supreme law for the Church"?
Does this goal of salvation truly gain by the use of every technique and technology?
If we look at history, the answer would seem to be broadly positive. That Church which has often been accused of mistrusting progress actually introduced printing in Italy with a printing press at the famous Benedictine abbey at Subiaco.
Pius IX quickly adopted photography, having his picture reproduced in tens of thousands to become the first Pope to be recognized by the faithful not only through rare prints and paintings which were often inaccurate likenesses.
Don Bosco, encouraged by the Popes of his time, produced the first great Italian bestsellers on religion in his series on
Catholic readings and the popular almanac called
Il galantuomo.
Don Alberiono, who founded San Paolo publications, created not just widely circulated newspapers but also a film production arm with films ditributed worldwide.
Pius XII was the Pope of radio, which he used to convey his most important messages. Paul VI was the Pope of black-and-white TV at a time when Italy only had two TV stations, both state-run.
And John Paul II, among whose many charisms was that of a theatrical presence, became familiar in full color to audiences around the world through hundreds of commercial and state TV stations broadcasting news from the Vatican and his own prodigious travels.
But beyond the new communications technology that has been welcomed by the Church as a means for carrying out its apostolate, is it right that the Pope himself should use them, particularly in the form of an interview?
If I may be allowed a personal reference, I remember when, with conviction as great as my respect, I expressed my opinion about this to John Paul II, when he called me to discuss what would have been the first televised interview with a Pope lasting a full hour.
Since he asked what I thought about it, I said, "Holiness, I will speak on the basis of my experience in the field of information. To agree to an interview, which is the journalistic form par excellence, means accepting its rules - which go by 'I think...' or 'In My opinion...' - because the information game these days prefers opinions only, and certainly will not accept 'dogma' in any form. And I think that, now more than ever, we believers, as well as non-believers who sincerely seek answers, do not need one more opinion (there are too many already), and what we do need is a teacher. One who does not say 'In my opinion...' but speaks with authority and has the courage to say, 'According to what God has revealed...'"
Perhaps I was wrong. But also, perhaps because of it, a few hours before the interview was to be filmed - as director Pupi Avati was putting the last touches to the papal study in Castel Gandolfo that was to be our set - we were informed unexpectedly that the Pope had cacelled the filming.... It was later taken up eventually in a different form, at the Pope's initiative, as an interview done in writing that would be published as a book [Crossing the Threshold of Hope, 2000?]
I thought that the problem did not exist - or if it did, only in very attenuated form - with the 'Domande su Gesu' (Questions on Jesus)
that aired yesterday on Italian TV, moderated respectfully by the young program host Rosario Carello and his 'A Sua Immagine' team.
Rather than an interview, it was presented as seven questions addressed to the Pope from 'ordinary people', which had been pre-selected by RAI and passed on to Benedict XVI.
Rather than a journalistic exercise, it became an excellent example of catechesis. In which Joseph Ratzinger brought to fruition once more his specific charism as a great theologian who never forgets that it is also his duty to be a pastor = an intellectual who knows and says profound things, but in a way that everyone will understand.
Among the things that has surprised those who only judged him by stupid prejudices (Grand Inquisitor, Panzerkardinal, unyielding Teutonic drillmaster...) is his ability and attentive care to communicate not only with young people but even with children, to whom he gives answers of wise simplicity.
The problem of natural catastrophes, the young man in coma for years, the horrors of war, the persecution of Christians, the Resurrection of Jesus and eternal life, the role of Mary in Christian life - these were the 'catechetical' issues that Benedict XVI sought to answer briefly yesterday - according to traditional Church teaching but made more clear by striking expressions [the comatose young man likened to a guitar whose strings have been broken) or by appropriate citations from the Church Fathers [Gregory Nazianzene: 'The words of Scripture grow the more they are read", or St. Augustine: 'One must know in order to love'].
Not a single "in my opinion..,", and therefore, no risk that the Pope could be quoted as if he were just another newspaper opinionist.
It was a reassuring hour, and perhaps for many who may have been rather ignorant of Christian ABCs, certainly illuminating.
So much that one hopes for another such program, perhaps even, on a regular basis.
Perhaps even secularists will not be averse to experience how a professor who has become Pope reads and explains the catechism of his Church.
It is too bad that the general public is mostly unaware that the Q&A in direct interaction with various groups of faithful - children, university students, priests, seminarians - has been one of Benedict XVI's outstanding innovations in papal communications. Even in Italy, the occasions on which these events were televised were always within the context of 'papal programming', i.e., likely to reach only those who follow papal activities in particular. Even the BBC, in its report on yesterday's program, said it was his first Q&A other than the inflight ones with journalists on his foreign trips....
And if I were Italian who knew little about Benedict XVI, I would have been impressed and amazed by his fluency and fluidity in the language (so different from the necessarily deliberate and slower way he reads his prepared texts); by his cohesive, orderly and expressive presentation of difficult concepts in the time allowed him (mo more than three minutes at a time, I thought); by the way he gets to the point without evasions or circumlocutions; and by the reassuring certainty of someone who obviously speaks with full authoritativeness and mastery of his subject matter. And all that without a single .'Uh...' or 'Er...'
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 23/04/2011 19:38]