By Inma Álvarez
LONDON, SEPT. 23, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI was certainly in the news in the United Kingdom, before, during and after his trip there last week. Even if the press tends to focus on controversies, one communication professional says these should be taken as golden opportunities.
This was the reflection made by the leader of “Catholic Voices,” a group of lay volunteers who prepared for months prior to the papal trip to address the media on all sorts of questions related to the Catholic Church.
The initiative’s coordinator is Spaniard Jack Valero, director of communication for Opus Dei in Great Britain, a professional who accumulated experience thanks to Dan Brown and the “Da Vinci Code.” Valero was also head of the press for Cardinal Newman’s beatification.
In this interview with ZENIT, Valero says that it is necessary “to have a positive view of the media,” as they “have the right to ask difficult questions.” His experience shows how it is possible to communicate the Christian message today.
ZENIT: How did the idea of Catholic Voices arise, to prepare laypeople to speak to the media?
Valero: There was a famous debate in London in November of 2009 on the Catholic Church, which was massively lost. This made Catholics reflect on their ability to communicate, especially given the Pope’s visit the following year.
I spoke about it with a friend, Austen Ivereigh, with whom in 2006 we formed the Da Vinci Code Response Group, a group of Catholics who would be present in the media to speak of Jesus Christ, the Church, Opus Dei, etc.
The first thought was to bring together again those who were on that team four years ago, but then we thought it would be better to train an entirely new team, of some 20 volunteers, who would be able to do this work in the months preceding and during the Pope’s visit to the United Kingdom.
When we announced our intention, 90 signed up in 10 days, so we had to close the process. In the end we interviewed 45 and chose 24, 21 of whom continue on the team.
ZENIT: During the months of preparation for the visit, when there were so many controversies in the English media, what was the greatest difficulty for you, from the point of view of communication?
Valero: I think the controversies helped to give a high profile to the Catholic Church and the Pope’s trip, and it made all the media give us space to explain our point of view. The scandal of pedophilia in European countries that exploded in April was something negative, of course, but on the other hand it forced Catholics to be very aware of what was happening.
Given that we see these controversies as opportunities to speak in the media, I cannot think of any point in particular that was a difficult from the point of view of communication.
ZENIT: Was there more ignorance or bad faith on the part of journalists?
Valero: In Catholic Voices we have a positive view of the media. We think they have the right to ask difficult questions, which reflect the questions of the people on the street, and that it is their duty to call persons and institutions to account.
In the United Kingdom, as the Catholic Church is a minority, the media was able to call it to account if negative news appeared. I think such a thing is healthy.
In this context, I think there is much ignorance here about religious affairs among journalists, but great openness to listen to explanations. In this country great value is given to liberty of expression. If one explains things well, he is listened to; if one explains them badly, no one listens.
ZENIT: Did the “anti-Catholicism” of the English media make it especially complicated to report on the visit? Is it difficult to break myths and taboos about the Catholic faith?
Valero: I don’t believe in that “anti-Catholicism” of the media. As I said, there is much religious ignorance and much indifference.
On the other hand, the media is interested in dramas and controversies, and not in happy stories: this is how they function. That is why the majority of religious news that appears has a negative context — sexual or financial scandals, hypocrisy, etc.
In Catholic Voices, we have studied how to do a “re-framing” of news to speak of the subject in positive terms and hence communicate better the message of the Catholic Church, but without evading the question.
Thus, for example, with news about the abuse of minors, one must accept — as the Pope does — the culpability of not having dealt with the issue well in the past, but to speak also of the norms that the Church has here for the protection of minors, which are the best of any institution in Great Britain — something that is recognized also by the government.
Another example: on speaking of AIDS in Africa, it’s good to explain the great interest of the Church in resolving this problem, given that it takes care of more than 25% of AIDS victims in Africa and it is the institution that does most in the area of public health on that continent.
ZENIT: Tell us something of how the team responded.
Valero: After finishing the training, our team was in the media — television and radio — more than 100 times, 70 of which were during the four days of the Pope’s visit.
Apart from that, we have taken part in several public debates on the Church, the Pope, the visit to the United Kingdom, etc.
An especially interesting case was when the coalition of protest groups had a meeting on Aug. 12 to plan their protests and marches. A few days earlier they wrote the Church with a series of questions, offering the opportunity for someone to go to defend the Catholic position before the 60 individuals gathered there.
In the end, a member of our team went, a professor named Neil D’Aguiar. After one hour of listening to the leaders of the different groups opposed to the Pope’s visit making their negative speeches, they invited him to respond.
Neil spoke only for 15 minutes and acknowledged that they had real problems that he wanted to resolve with them, although — he said — there are quite a few things that they didn’t know well.
When they realized that he was not going to attack them, they listened to him in silence. Then they asked him a series of things and they exchanged e-mail addresses to continue to be in contact. The next day, one of the groups present there decided to cancel its protest.
I think this is one of the few times that such groups sit with Catholics to talk about these controversial subjects and to listen to one another.
ZENIT: You were also the spokesman for Cardinal Newman’s beatification. He is an admired but also controversial figure. What was your greatest difficulty in this area?
Valero: Rather than difficulties I prefer to talk of opportunities. Until last year, when his beatification was announced, Newman was practically unknown in this country, apart from Catholic or intellectual environments.
Then several controversies arose, which made the media take an interest. I have spoken in other places about the five controversies of Newman: if he was a homosexual, if he was liberal or conservative, if he was really a saint, if the miracle that has allowed his beatification was a real miracle, and if his beatification is a reason for union or division with Anglicans.
These controversies have allowed people to write articles or to come out in the media speaking of Newman and making him known. In particular, I was able to address the first controversy writing an article on friendship and priestly celibacy in The Guardian, a very influential newspaper here. If this controversy hadn’t existed, no one would have published such an article, least of all The Guardian.
ZENIT: In regard to the Pope’s visit, can one speak of an unprecedented media success in this country? The Pope has gone from being a “Nazi” to an “affectionate grandfather,” according to t
he expression of an Irish newspaper. “What was the key, Benedict XVI’s personality itself? His message? Both?
Valero: As happened in other places — the United States, Australia, Malta — protests become more and more powerful as the date of the trip approached, but as soon as he lands and the people can see him and hear him directly, public opinion changes completely.
In the case of the United Kingdom the Pope’s personality — timid, respectful, etc. — is very in keeping with the British temperment, and the messages he gave in his addresses and homilies were spectacularly good. I think this will be a very important trip of this pontificate.
ZENIT: Who has surprised British public opinion most, the Pope or English Catholics themselves?
Valero: The Pope surprised public opinion, as he has done in other places.
ZENIT: From your professional point of view, what would you say is the greatest problem of religious information in the Western media? Are formators of opinion lacking or rather rigor, knowledge of the religious subject?
Valero: A bit of everything. However, what we have learned in Catholic Voices is that it is the laity that can communicate the Catholic message better in the media. The laity are the ones who live and work together with all the rest, the ones who must pay the mortgage and take care of the sick baby at night. When they say things on television or radio, they connect easily with the public, and have the proper vocabulary to explain things well.
I think that in the future, the Church can make its message reach farther if training courses are established for the laity who have that facility to communicate. It could be said that we must discover in the Church the vocation of communicator.
ZENIT: Many journalists are personally removed from religion intellectually, professionally and emotionally. Do you think a “ministry” for journalists is necessary?
Valero: It’s a good idea to inform journalists very well on religious topics. The majority of them don’t have much knowledge about the Church or religion. If they are given good information in good time they can do their work much better, something they very much appreciate.
[Translation by ZENIT]
