The Catholic Church uses media to incorporate and spread the Catholic lifestyle, pertaining to faith and a means of communication. The Church promotes this use but urges the face of this technology of mass communication to be responsible advocates and spread accurate and full accounts of information. This means that in order for the public to be informed, they need to be given all of the information, so that they can make informed decisions. This information also needs to be accurate, and the Church focuses on portraying their religious culture in a positive manner. The Church also believes in educating members of the Church so that they can properly inform their audience. This new phenomenon of social communication opens up many doors for the Catholic community. It offers the opportunity of evangelization and connection with those in the community. By having a presence in the media, the culture can be shifted to have a voice online. By doing so, activities like going to church or participating in prayer can be achieved even on our busiest days. This does also rise the question of if one is genuinely Catholic, does the new media hinder communication in contrast to traditional forms of communication? For instance, mass can be watched online now, but isn’t the point of mass to actively participate in faith with the community? How is this considered participation if one does this at their own leisure, at home and by themselves? It can be argued that many people miss mass and liturgy because of daily life problems including work or school. Live mass online can be a solution for these people, and can help them practice their religion in a case where they would have to “miss” going to church. Additionally, there are many beneficial aspects to new media and how the religious culture incorporates this into their faith. The online Catholic culture uses blogs and websites to promote different ideologies. There are Catholic blogs on the Catholic Church that spreads information about Catholicism and blogs in general that talk about the Catholic Church, faith, and spirituality. The church presence within the new media produces a positive outlook and community of the church and allows a safe space for worshippers. However, the Church I visited did not see, to promote such media, their were pamphlets but no links to websites. There are many billboard posts documented, like the photos below, that depict Jesus Christ.

This relates to Communio et Progressio because one of the points in the document mentions that “Communicators are all those who actively employ the media” (PCSC, 1971, p. 15). This emphasizes the use of media in order to have effective communication within the community. This paragraph also stresses the importance of having true information depicted in the media. This way, people are able to interpret the message correctly

The Catholic Church devotes their attention towards media, and specifically how the Church is portrayed in the media itself. The Church uses the internet to promote their ideologies and share common belief values to spread the religion of Catholicism. People are constantly on the internet being exposed to information pertaining to this religion. The Catholic Church uses this to make the image of the church be viewed a certain way. By framing stories of the church in a positive light, the Church alters the perspective of media consumers of the Church. By having a presence in the online culture, the offline culture is influenced (Campbell, 2019). This means that people who have a voice online can ultimately undermine or reaffirm the position of the Church. By doing so, the public’s opinion and beliefs are therefore affected and influenced by what is produced online. This is why the Church uses the Internet as a tool for promoting the Church. The internet can also be used as a tool for religious acts such as viewing mass, prayer threads, or even virtual bible studies. Aleteia.com is a Catholic website that is used to inform people of the Catholic religion. This site is informational, with a heavy emphasis on religion and shaping it in a positive light. Although it does have a balance of regular news not regarding Catholicism, when it does mention it, the framing of the story focuses on how religion can be used effectively. For example there is an article titled, “Why worship is so good for us: Father Cantalamessa explains”, which is worded in a way that promotes the idea of participation within the community. This exemplifies the idea of an identity curator as discussed in Dr. Campbell’s lecture. By simplifying the values to make it easy to comprehend, the public is able to use the internet to follow the Catholic faith.

The framing of Pope Francis usually shines a light on his admired affection towards people, but in Diane Montagna’s (2019) article titled, “Disturbing video: Pope Francis refuses to let Catholic faithful kiss his papal ring”, the Pope is portrayed with negative connotations. In the video, Pope Francis can be seen pulling his hand away as people try to kiss it. The article makes it a point to discuss the importance of the episcopal ring the Pope wears and mentions the act of kissing it to be a long-standing tradition, which symbolizes the people’s loyalty to him. The article takes a clear, negative approach towards describing this event using words like “disturbing” in the headline. Not only this, the first sentence of the article criticizes the Pope’s actions by stating, “Pope Francis today made it clear that he doesn’t want the faithful to kiss his papal ring, as he repeatedly pulled his hand away from pilgrims who were lined up to greet him reverently…”. By noting that people were lined up to “greet him reverently”, the author emphasizes the disrespect that the Pope eluded because the pilgrims waited in a line for presumably long hours, to give their respect to someone who did not want to receive it. Montagna also seems to have a hint of sarcasm when she describes how he expresses himself, “Pope Francis does seem comfortable with personal expressions of loyalty to his person rather than his office“. She mentions his comfort with “selfies and hugs”, and eludes to his discomfort with the act of people kissing his ring. The article seems to ridicule comfortness with personal expressions vs. that of the public. The article also mentions speaking to a source that agreed and expressed that, “He doesn’t get that it’s not about him. It’s about the office”. This causes the image of the Church to be represented in a less than positive manner. The Pope is the symbolic image of what the Church stands for and believes. By acting in this controversial manner, the article frames both the Catholic Church and Pope Francis in a negative and critical tone.

In contrast with Dr. Nardella’s study, the Pope seems to have been portrayed in a more positive manner, mentioning his charisma and his improvised actions as an effective communicative style. The act of hugging, Nardella argues, is seen as a symbolic gesture that arouses strong positive emotions. In his research, this conveys the message that people should overcome their problems and learn to build bridges. This is evident when he embraces both religious and political leaders. By doing so, this assumes that the audience sees his personal gestures positively. This is the key difference between Montagna and Nardella’s argument concerning the Pope’s physical actions being framed by the news. While Nardella sees Pope Francis’ affection as beneficial for his image, Montagna criticizes his affection and would rather see the Pope offer loyalty to the office.

Although the Bible does not explicitly state the word solidarity, it is a prevalent foundation in the values of the Catholic Church. Solidarity is a virtue that describes the moral obligations of individuals within a community to build a peaceful and just society in order to attain the common good. To understand solidarity is to comprehend the origin of human beings, and the understood idea that we are all God’s creation. Gerald Beyer’s “The Meaning of Solidarity in Catholic Social Teaching” (2014) references Pope John Paul II to argue that “‘solidarity helps us to see the other – whether a person, people or nation – not just as some kind of instrument,’ but as an equal partner sent by God to share in the ‘banquet of life’ and stewardship of gods creation” (p. 9) This helps us to see others as equals and that is difficult to create a sense of security in society without treating others as you would want to be treated. A lack of this respect can affect one’s connection with God and faith all together.

Similarly, Meghan Clark argues, “the overarching framework of solidarity, then, is the equal human dignity of all, with an emphasis on participation” (2019, p. 107). At the root of the Catholic faith is participation, whether it’s through worship itself, or active inclusion of others. Without the participation of people, the common good cannot be achieved. It is possible to engage participation in the global sphere by first practicing solidarity through your personal neighbors and friends. This builds a sense of community and can help develop the global community by gradually incorporating the universal common good morals that will infiltrate society. Clark also argues that Pope Francis uses oral media to educate and present this value to a large audience, this shows a positive view of media because it is used as a tool to help shape how society is presented the idea of solidarity. Without the widespread use of media, awareness would not be challenged and social reflections would not be questioned.

The first photo depicts Jesus Christ holding hands with an Asian child, symbolizing unity between the two cultures. This exemplifies solidarity by portraying a level of respect for the faith of both countries. As a whole, it represents peace and equality, while highlighting acceptance within different cultures of people.

The second photo illustrates the patron saint of Mexico, the Virgin of Guadalupe. Each culture has their own version of the Virgin Mary, each representing different identities and ideologies. This relates to solidarity because no matter the interpretation, people still respect the symbol she stands for.

Catholics understand authority as a set of governing people who are responsible in the hierarchy structure of the church. The Catholic Church has a hierarchy structure, not uncommon in any culture, that is present in order to define the rules that govern their faith. The ruling class differs as time periods move on, such as the Vatican City in the first photo. The pope is elected through the Conclave, which consists of seven cardinals who are responsible for legislative authority. This ultimately gives the pope power to execute laws, but through the consultation of his council. The pope acts as the spiritual leader of the community and has an influence on Catholic followers because of his role in the hierarchy. This is similar to the modern day Catholic Church culture, which is ruled by the bishops. The bishops deliver liturgy, an important aspect in the community, and encourage people to learn the word of the divine in order to have an lifetime of continuous worship (Crowley 2005, p. 27). The bishops are considered masters of understanding the text and have the authority to exercise interpretations. The priest administers the sacraments and is higher in the hierarchy than deacons. These authority roles affect how people view religion and the way they interpret Bible. By having a bishop or priest who believe in different interpretations of a specific verse, people who follow them will be exposed to this understanding and can be swayed to think that certain way. In contrast with the second photo at the Uffizi museum, the painting shows the stark authority the Medici family had on the Catholic Church. Through the symbolism of the orange tree, this painting depicts the large wealth and influence the family gained. With this accumulated power, it became easy to attain a partnership with the church. This places the family at a higher rank in the hierarchy, as they appointed four popes in the time of their ruling. Through power and authority, the Pope and Medici family were able to influence and govern the Catholic community.

Being considered a Catholic can mean an innumerable amount of things, but the Catholic Church understands this as being a member of the community and actively engaging in the culture. Both of these actions can be attained by participating in liturgy at all times, which ultimately leads to a lifetime of worship. It is first urged to fully participate in general, whether it’s through practice such as prayer, service, or partaking in activities centered around the word of God. In Eileen Crowley’s New Media and Normal Mysticism, she emphasizes, “full and active participation by all the people is the aim to be considered before all else; for it is the primary and indispensable source from which the faithful are to derive the true Christian spirit”. This is how faith is derived and how people can become attune with the world through faith.

Being a member of the community largely revolves around engaging in liturgy. Liturgy is the act of public worship and praise within the Catholic Church. They deem this act significant because it allows reflection, especially with the development of communal co-creation where, “members produce their own ‘new media’ for worship—that is, any creative combination of projected or displayed images, computer graphics and animation, video, film clips, and image magnification”. Through this process, members of the church can be acclimated with the word of God. This process also makes people more aware of the media that is presented to them in their everyday lives and how it can be related to their faith.

This photo illustrates the value of community in the Catholic religion. It exemplifies this value by presenting the importance of Christ in the shape of a shrine. As an active member of the Church, worshipping Him is one of the many acts that is preformed to exhibit Catholicism. This photo depicts a dedicated place for people to venerate God and be apart of the community.

Saint Francis is a well-known name, especially in Assisi where there are countless pilgrims sold in souvenir shops that try to sell him as a product. The objects and images found both reflect and undermine Saint Francis and the Catholic Church. The first interesting object found was a water pitcher in the shape of Saint Francis, located at a souvenir shop near the restaurant that the group ate at for lunch. This object reflects the value of family, community, and participation through personifying the use of dining tableware as the unification of families. These objects tend to be commonly used within families and can be indicative of how they come together at dinner and strengthen their bond. Furthermore, water is a necessity to survive, so to have an object that holds water with an image of Saint Francis portrayed emphasizes his importance and is a reminder of their devotion and reverence towards him.

The second object found was also near the restaurant, a little further down the hill, was a shot glass with an image of Saint Francis preaching to the doves on it. The actual image on the shot glass tells the story of Saint Francis and his adoration for animals, but tells a different contradicting and undermining story of the Catholic Church. Catholics believe it is sinful to partake in drinking alcohol, yet many shops sold the image of Saint Francis on their shot glasses. This does not align with the idea of the teachings of the Bible and challenges the value of life and dignity of the human person. If the idea of partaking in gluttony is seen as sinful, the display of Saint Francis on a drinking glass can be considered absurd and obscures the message that the church is trying to present. This image almost encourages one to sin and indulge in drinking, which contradicts the moral code and challenges the idea of the dignity of life.

These objects and images depict Saint Francis and the Catholic Church in both a positive and contradicting manner. They hold him to a high standard, but muddle the idea and teachings of the church.

The main form of media within these two paintings in accordance to Goethal’s argument within images, is the narrative of Biblical history. The first painting, found at a museum in Venice, portrays Jesus as frail and extremely pale. You can see a dove flying towards Christ’s head, which can be interpreted as the verse Luke 3:22, “The heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in the form of a dove”. This art piece illustrates the importance of Jesus suffering in order for us to live. Especially with the man behind Jesus wearing red, the color of martyrs and Christ’s death on the cross. The blue in the bottom corner represents hope for mankind as Jesus transcends into heaven.

The second image found at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France also embodies an image of Biblical history. The scene in this painting seems to be after Christ was removed from the cross, evident fro, the cross in the background and his hands and feet. This paining also has many instances of the color red, which can also evoke a correlation to blood. It can also represent the joy of life, which is ultimately due to his sacrifice. At the Louvre, we were mainly in the section with paintings which communicated religious ,estates, whereas in Venice we saw more statues that depicted religious art.

Because these images tell the story of Jesus, the interpretations of it will vary but overall be understood. This form of media was able to illustrate to it’s audience the biblical story of Jesus while still being open to interpretation.